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Department of Communications and Agricultural Education

Tag: Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow

Professor Spotlight: Levy Randolph

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Jessica Schaeffer, agricultural education and communication master’s student

 

The department is happy to welcome one of the newest Agricultural Communications professors, Levy Randolph. Coming with new experiences, Randolph is helping students learn to use technology to communicate.

 

Living abroad in Japan until high school, Levy Randolph was first introduced to agriculture when his family settled in California. As a freshman in high school, Randolph enrolled in an agriculture class thinking it would be an easy “A,” only he found his passion. He became passionate about the agriculture industry and was involved in events and leadership roles as a member of FFA. Serving as the 2009-2010 National FFA President help solidify that he was meant to help others find their love for agriculture.

Randolph earned his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Education at Fresno State University. He went on to earn his Master of Science and a doctorate in agricultural education and communication, with an emphasis in communication, at the University of Florida. His research focuses on multimedia influences in cognition change. He enjoys incorporating virtual reality, videos, photography and other media into his research.

 

He was drawn to Kansas State University thanks to glowing reviews from close friends, and found his new home, albeit a little colder and snowier than Florida or California. Being able to work at a university, valuing its students and welcoming to others made Randolph’s choice of workplace easy. He is happy to work in such a welcoming department and enjoys living in Manhattan. He especially enjoys the great food options around town.

In his first semester, fall 2019, Randolph taught theory in agricultural communication, intro to agricultural communication and supervised the internship class. This coming spring, he will be teaching crisis communication and an updated video production class. Starting spring 2020 semester, he will also be the head advisor for the student organization Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. Thanks to the help of the amazing faculty and students he says his first semester went great and is looking forward to the next.

In his spare time, Randolph enjoys playing video games, building Legos and traveling when possible. He is the proud dog dad of Beckett and Collins, two golden retrievers. He is also co-owner with his wife, Tiffany Rogers-Randolph, of the video production company Paradigm Productions. The company focuses on the agricultural industry. He enjoys being able to get to know farmers and their passion to help educate others about where food comes from. He finds that while the process can be long, it is fun and rewarding.

ACT photo contest

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Rachel Waggie, agricultural education and communication master’s student

 

K-State’s Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow chapter hosted a photo contest for students, faculty, staff and friends of the program to select the cover photo for the 2020 ACT calendar. The calendar serves as a fundraising opportunity for the ACT chapter. Wyatt Minihan, ACJ senior, had the winning photo, pictured below. Follow K-State ACT on Facebook (@kstate.act) to learn more about ordering a 2020 calendar to support K-State ACT.

Many wins for students at Ag Media Summit

Posted on by Rachel Waggie

by Katie Burke, assistant professor in agricultural communications and journalism

Eight students from the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) Kansas State chapter attended the Ag Media Summit in Minneapolis this July. In addition to gaining knowledge from conference sessions, students received numerous awards and recognitions from National ACT. The club won Chapter of the Year for the third year in a row, Janae McKinney (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) was one of the AAEA scholarship winners, and Katherine Wist (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) was elected to the National ACT Officer Team. The K-State club also came back with several Critique and Contest awards: the Kansas State Agriculturist magazine (Fall 2018 issue) won first place in the Publication Division; Katherine Wist won first place in the Infographic Division and placed in three additional divisions; and Mary Marsh (senior in agricultural communications and journalism) won first place in the Short Feature Writing Division. “Kansas State ACT was awarded NACT Chapter of the Year … for their excellence in leadership, education, community service, social activities, and fundraising,” says the NACT Facebook page.

K-State Open House a Success

Posted on by Deanna Reid

By Deanna Reid, agricultural education and communication master’s student

ACT members created a “Launch into Aggieland” trivia game for Open House.

Perfect weather welcomed current and potential students and their families to the Manhattan campus to learn about majors, opportunities, and organizations at the 2019 All-University Open House. The event highlighted more than 250 majors and options and 475 student organizations available at K-State.

K-State agricultural education students were excited to promote their major.

Students and faculty from the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education joined in on the fun. The K-State Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow created and hosted a life-size version of the game Candyland, “Launch into Aggieland” trivia game, and gave away chocolate-covered soybeans. Agricultural Education club members designed and gave away T-shirts at the event as well. Allison Wakefield, a junior in agricultural communications and journalism, said, “The open house was a lot of fun. The ACT members enjoyed interacting with everyone and especially liked playing our Aggieland game with kids!”

 

K-State Ag Ed club members designed and gave away T-shirts to Open House attendees.

ACE/AMS Roundup

Posted on by Deanna Reid

By Linda Gilmore

Faculty, staff, and students from the department attended the combined Association for Communication Excellence and Agricultural Media Summit (ACE/AMS) conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, August 4-8. Several department members presented sessions: Linda Gilmore, with Dr. Quisto Settle from Oklahoma State University, presented “Turn ‘Me’ Time into Productive Time.” Cassie Wandersee ’12, ’16  presented “Advanced Facebook Analytics,” “Building a Program Assessment Tool in Qualtrics,” and “Proving Your Worth Through Effective Social Media Metric Reporting.” Jason Hackett presented “Podcasting 101: A Direct Route to Your Audiences Through Audio.” Audrey King, Lauri Baker, and Anissa Zagonel, along with Kris Boone, Ohio State University, presented “What is Today’s Story? Exploring the Land-grant Mission Through Story Circles.” Jason Ellis ‘98 and Donna Sheffield also attended the conference.

 

Members of the department won a Silver Award in the ACE Critique and Awards Contest for the 2018 College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension Annual Report: Driving Force for Change marketing communications campaign. Those who worked on the project and are included in the award: ACE members Gloria Holcombe, Jason Hackett, Brad Beckman, Mark Stadtlander, and Amy Hartman; and non-ACE members Megan Macy, Dan Donnert, Mary Lou Peter ‘79, Jeff Wichman, Eric Atkinson, Phylicia Mau, Pat Melgares, and Randall Kowalik.

 

Donna Sheffield and Lauri Baker attended the ACE Board of Directors meeting. Donna is the Development Director and served on the conference committee as co-chair of the sponsorship committee. Lauri is the Research Director.

 

Gloria Holcombe received her 20-year certificate for ACE membership.

 

Several students also attended and participated in ACT activities. The Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) club was awarded Chapter of the Year for the second year in a row. This is a national ACT award. ACT adviser Audrey King praised the club saying, “The girls worked so hard this past year, but I know we all had a great time while doing it. Each and every one of these women will go on to do amazing things. I am so humbled and grateful to have a tiny part in their stories.”

In addition to the club award, Jill Seiler was one of four national Past President’s Scholarship recipients and was recognized at AMS. The scholarship is funded by the AAEA Professional Improvement Foundation and in part by CoBank. Sarah Moyer was a finalist for the Forrest Bassford award through the Livestock Publications Council.

 

Students who attended AMS included: Undergrads: Janae McKinney, Mary Marsh, Leah Giess, Mikey Hughes, Sarah Moyer, and Tarra Rotstein; Graduate students: Rachel Waggie; and Spring 2018 recent graduates: Jill Seiler and Chelsie Calliham. Audrey King ‘09 and Katie Burke ’10, ‘15 represented them as advisers.

Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow and Agricultural Education club Participate in Watermelon Feed

Posted on by Deanna Reid

By Leah Giess, agricultural communications and journalism senior

 

The annual Watermelon Feed, an event hosted by the College of Agriculture to celebrate the beginning of school, is a great way for students to interact with more than 35 agriculture clubs and organizations. The Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) and the Agricultural Education clubs use this event to meet potential new members and inform them about ACT and professional development opportunities.

At the 2018 Watermelon Feed, ACT officers handed out ice pops and magnets to more than 40 students interested in learning more about the club. This year, ACT officers have scheduled professional development meetings and communications workshops. They provide opportunities to grow as communicators and connect with industry professionals. Social gatherings allow club members to have fun and create strong friendships.

ACT also provides opportunities for K-State students to get involved with committees, including a fundraiser committee and a high school critique and contest committee, which is an educational outreach fundraiser for the club. ACT encourages high school students to submit writing/graphic designs and photography to be judged for a prize.

Leah Giess (president), Mary Marsh (vice president of development), Janae McKinney (vice president of membership), Tarra Rotstein (secretary/treasurer), Katie Harbert (public relations officer), and Allison Wakefield (agriculture student council representative) make up the 2018-2019 ACT officer team.  

(Left to Right: Mary Marsh, Katie Harbert, Allison Wakefield, Tarra Rotstein, Leah Geiss, and Janae McKinney)

ACT finds success at NACTA competition

Posted on by Anissa Zagonel

Story by Deanna Reid, master’s student

On April 21, four members of the Kansas State University Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) club competed in the Agricultural Communications/Agricultural Sales contest at the 2018 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Conference at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska.

This year’s contest topic was “Waters of the U.S.” All participating teams were required to prepare a communication plan, a presentation and take a test during the competition. Even though the K-State ACT club has not participated in the competition before,  they scored high in all aspects of the competition and placed second in the contest.

Their advisor, Audrey King, is proud of the students’ work. When asked about their performance during the competition, she said, “I think one of the things that made our team really strong is that it was comprised of students from different states who had unique views about water. They were also all in different class levels, which provided a good opportunity for them to mentor and learn from each other.”

Leah Geiss (’19), Chelsie Callaham (’18), Mary Marsh (’20), and Tarra Rottstein (’19) created an organization called the “Concerned Kansans for Water Rights” and presented their ideas on agricultural water use and conservation.

Student organizations take part in university Open House

Posted on by Anissa Zagonel

 

Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student

The Agricultural Education Club and the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) club each hosted a booth at the university-wide K-State Open House on Saturday, April 7. These booths were among many in the College of Agriculture (COA) “hub,” where several other agricultural student organizations hosted booths.

The weather wasn’t ideal, so the agricultural organizations’ booths were housed inside Waters Hall. However, it didn’t stop alumni, kids, or students from visiting campus for this fun weekend event.

The AgEd Club coordinated the COA Scavenger Hunt with the help of Matthew Schick, a junior in agricultural education, who spearheaded the event for the club. He gathered donations from 13 different organizations to sponsor over 300 printed t-shirts. Individuals who visited the booth and completed the scavenger hunt earned a free t-shirt, while student volunteers passed out scavenger hunt cards and t-shirts.

Continue reading “Student organizations take part in university Open House” →

ACJ students travel to Ohio for Professional Development Conference

Posted on by Anissa Zagonel

Story by Anissa Zagonel, master’s student

Six ACJ students and two advisors attended and participated in the 2018 National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) Professional Development Conference (PDC) held January 11-13 in Wooster, Ohio.

This year’s conference was hosted by The Ohio State University’s ACT organization and the theme was “Cultivating Communicators.”

Students (front, left-right): Mary Marsh, Jill Seiler, Samantha Albers, Janae McKinney, Chelsie Calliham, and Leah Giess. Advisors: (back, left-right): Dr. Katie Burke and Audrey King.

During the conference, students took part in discussions about crisis communication and public relations event planning. Attendees were also able to tour Weaver Leather and Certified Angus Beef.

“It’s so wonderful seeing our members attend and engage in their first PDC and really reap the benefits of our national organization and the network it provides,” says K-State ACT President and fourth year ACJ student, Jill Seiler.

The next PDC will be in conjunction with the National Association for Farm Broadcaster’s Convention held in November 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri.

ACT to Host High School Critique and Contest

Posted on by Anissa Zagonel

Story by Janae McKinney, sophomore (ACJ)

K-State’s Agricultural Communicator’s of Tomorrow (ACT) chapter is hosting its first Critique and Contest for Kansas high school students interested in photography, writing, and design.

The chapter is asking for ACJ alumni to help support the program through donations that would provide an award to the winners of each category to support their studies at K-State. Awards are planned to be $100 for each overall winner of the categories, which are open to all ages in high school.

The contest will be opened from January until March. Winners will be announced following spring break. For more information regarding sponsoring, please contact Audrey King at audreyking@ksu.edu.