Progress 09/01/05 to 11/30/09
Outputs
The Heartland Agriculture Alliance was established to create at least three educational program alliances among Iowa State University, Kansas State University, University of Missouri-Columbia and University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and to develop a consortium-style infrastructure to rapidly develop and deliver high-priority collaborative distance education programs in the food and agricultural sciences. Four initial working groups have resulted in a graduate certificate in Food Safety and Defense, a strong course sharing model in Ag Mechanization with future plans for an undergraduate certificate in Precision Farming, sharing of courses within Grassland Management with the approval of a graduate certificate in process, and sharing of courses within Agricultural Education as well as the initiation of curriculum processes for a collaborative masters degree. Three of these initial working groups have expanded beyond their membership additional courses and expertise. During the duration of the grant, these programs have provided 74 distance education courses, generating 607 credit hours to 222 unique students. The program has been very successful toward the over-arching goal of establishing an infrastructure for a distance education consortium. The Heartland Agriculture Alliance Board of Directors became officially affiliated with GPIDEA This provided an instant infrastructure for the Heartland Ag group and brought buy-in from the Chief Financial Officers, Registrars, and the Graduate School Deans of the four universities in the Heartland Alliance. This affiliation culminated with the official formation of AG*IDEA as a national distance education alliance. Currently 15 institutions are fully paid members of AG*IDEA, eight institutions are part way to full membership and seven institutions have signed intents to join. By-laws and a governance structure have been developed for AG*IDEA and the Great Plains IDEA has restructured its governance to accommodate new affiliates. More information on the organization can be found at www.agidea.org. The expanded membership has resulted in development of several new programs, such as undergraduate certificates in Agricultural Law and Swine Science; graduate certificates in Biobased Products and Bioenergy, Horticultural Sciences Soil Science, Animal Breeding, and Poultry Science; and a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Communications. AG*IDEA is also being seen as a valuable tool to help schools facing major budget reductions continue to provide a complete curriculum in their current majors. An independent evaluation of the original project and AG*IDEA was conducted in 2009. While the evaluator acknowledged the tremendous potential for AG*IDEA and the excellent progress made to date, he also identified potential threats and challenges to long term success. These included the need to access supplemental funding to get the alliance through the initial years until enrollments make the program self-sustaining. The need for more staff, additional buy-in from department heads, and a constant focus on quality were also identified as needs for long-term success. PRODUCTS: Programs and courses and developed via distance as part of alliance. Ag Education: Instructional Methods, Foundations of Agriculture Education, Research in Ag Education, Theoretical Foundations of Agriculture Leadership, Supervisory Leadership in Ag Education, Assessing Program Effectiveness and Tech Transfer; Ag Mechanization: Chemical Application Systems, Energy, Environment and Economy, Machinery Management Using Precision Agriculture Technology, Preservation of Grain Quality, Precision Ag, Ag Safety & Health, and Biorenewables; Food Safety & Defense: Microbiology of Food, A Multidisciplinary Overview of Food Safety & Security, Risk Assessment for Food, Ag, & Vet Med, Food Toxicology, Principles of Food Defense, Principles of HACCP, Rapid Methods in Microbiology, Food Laws and the Regulatory Process, and Microbiology of Fermented Foods; and Grasslands: Range Management Problems: Grassland Fire Ecology. OUTCOMES: Successful launch of four multi-institutional academic programs delivered via distance education technologies. The successful development of a national distance education alliance for agriculture called AG*IDEA. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Development of the www.agidea.org web site. Oral presentations at the NACTA Conference and other professional meetings. Development of list serves to facilitate communications among current and developing program groups. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Obtain sustainable funding to keep AG*IDEA functional. Continued development of academic programs directed at areas of high need and importance.
Impacts
The impact of this one HEC grant was the creation of an efficient educational infrastructure that will expand the breadth and scope of high quality academic programs delivered to both place-bound and on-campus learners. Quoting the independent evaluators report, "By adapting the Great Plains IDEA model on a national scale for an entire discipline, AG*IDEA could offer higher education an example of how to preserve quality in the face of severe fiscal constraints and limited faculty resources." As one stakeholder put it, "we are fortunate that this model came along when higher education needed to diversify its portfolio of delivery."
Publications
- Boggs, D.L., R. Williams, K. Esbenshade, D. Acker, S. Waller and P. Vaughn. 2009. AG*IDEA - A National Distance Education Alliance for Agriculture. North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, Abstracts and Awards, p. 22.
- Lewis, R. 2009. The Mid-West USDA Challenge Grant and the Early Evolution of AG*IDEA: An Evaluation Report. AG*IDEA Web Site.
|
Progress 09/01/07 to 08/31/08
Outputs
The Heartland Agriculture Alliance continued discussions with agricultural colleges outside of the alliance regarding the development of a national distance education consortium for agricultural programming. The process culminated with the official formation of AG*IDEA as a national distance education alliance affiliated the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (GP-IDEA). This affiliation provides a proven infrastructure upon which to build the national alliance. The four initial working groups in the Heartland Alliance also continued to make progress on the development and delivery of curricula and courses. A curriculum proposal for a graduate certificate in Food Safety and Defense has been approved at each of the four original Heartland institutions. An industry advisory group has also been formed and a survey of employers and academics is being conducted to try to better define learning outcomes for food safety and defense curricula, which will be used to further curricular development. KSU is working with their IFT advertising contract to increase the visibility of this program, and KSU is also working with the Army Veterinary Corps to recruit students. The GPIDEA website is being updated as well, with a new version expected to be available by the end of the 2008. In Agricultural Mechanization, course syllabi were developed and approved at each institution and promotional materials were prepared and distributed for two additional classes. Plans were initiated to develop a certificate program in Precision Agriculture. The Ag Mechanization group has also worked together to share course evaluation processes to enhance course quality and student learning. The number of universities involved in the Grassland Management Program has grown with the inclusion of Iowa State, Oklahoma State, and North Dakota State Universities. The group's goal of creating a regional graduate certificate in grassland management by 2010 should be achieved. Development of the curriculum for an M.S. degree in grassland management is being considered. An advisory board was identified as a need for the program. The Agricultural Education program is designed to provide graduate training leading to an MS degree. Texas Tech was added to Agricultural Education program group. Nine courses were offered this year. Agricultural Education is should grow rapidly and provide a tremendous service to place-bound secondary school teachers needing to continue their education. An evaluation of the alliance indicated faculty are satisfied with the communication among their partners and were positive about the level of commitment and teamwork they observed in the project facilitators, their team leaders, faculty at their home campuses as well as their teammates from partner campuses. Faculty comments indicate a clear appreciation for how the campus coordinators and the KSU project facilitators work out many of the potential obstacles to collaboration. At least half the faculty indicated that their teams had effectively used external input in shaping their academic program. Faculty have gained important insights about collaboration and distance learning. PRODUCTS: Programs and courses and developed via distance as part of alliance: 1. Ag Education: Instructional Methods, Foundations of Agriculture Education, Research in Ag Education, Theoretical Foundations of Agriculture Leadership, Supervisory Leadership in Ag Education, Assessing Program Effectiveness, Tech Transfer. 2. Ag Mechanization: Chemical Application Systems, Energy, Environment and Economy, Machinery Management Using Precision Agriculture Technology, Preservation of Grain Quality, Precision Ag, Ag Safety & Health, Biorenewables. 3. Food Safety & Defense: Microbiology of Food, A Multidisciplinary Overview of Food Safety & Security, Risk Assessment for Food, Ag, & Vet Med, Food Toxicology, Principles of Food Defense, Principles of HACCP, Rapid Methods in Microbiology, Food Laws and the Regulatory Process, Microbiology of Fermented Foods. 4. Grasslands: Range Management Problems: Grassland Fire Ecology OUTCOMES: The Heartland Agriculture Alliance officially affiliated as a discipline board with the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance and has now expanded with university participation from across the United States in to AG*IDEA a national distance education alliance for agriculture. By-laws were developed and approved for AG*IDEA and an Executive Board of Directors has been elected. Curriculum subcommittees for Agriculture Technology/Mechanization, Food Safety and Security, Grassland Management, and Agricultural Education made significant progress in developing and delivering programs and coursework within the distance education alliance. Numerous other curricula are being evaluated for initiation within AG*IDEA. A board member has been assigned as a liaison to all program committees. Numerous courses were delivered as part of the alliance during the 2008 academic year, resulting in 91 registrations for 241 credit hours. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Flyers and other marketing materials have been developed for the Agriculture mechanization and Food Safety and Security curricula. Numerous meetings were held with faculty from a consortium of southern region states and with the ACOP and APS sections of NASULGC regarding the expansion into a national alliance. A website is being developed for AG*IDEA and course offerings are posted on the GPIDEA website. FUTURE INITIATIVES: The two primary future initiatives will be (1) to develop certificate or degree programs for the four original curriculum initiatives and (2) to transition the four-state alliance into a national distance education alliance for agriculture. National marketing efforts need to be initiated to enhance the enrollments.
Impacts
Collaborative efforts across the four institutions that originated this grant have been strengthened and are yielding excellent progress. The successful development of this alliance has led to the development of a national alliance which will rapidly enhance the delivery of agriculture curricula to place bound students and provide the necessary tool to develop successful collaborative programs in economically important fields of study.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
Progress 09/01/06 to 09/01/07
Outputs
The chief financial officers from the participating inst. met twice and reached agreement on a common pricing structure for the distance courses. Ag Mech: May eventually result in a certificate program, initially the group will start with a course sharing arrangement designed to augment the current course offerings at the four institutions. Two courses are being offered Spring 2007 Ag Safety from the Univ.of MO and Precision Ag from Iowa State. Iowa State will also be a develop an Advanced Machinery course to cover planters, etc. Two other courses Pesticide App. Equip. from KSU, and Environ., Energy & Ethics from Univ. of MO are being converted to distance technologies for the Fall of 2007. Food Safety and Security: Developed a curriculum for a graduate certificate in Food Safety and Defense. The faculty have discussed learning outcomes for the certificate and have agreed upon a core curriculum of 10 credits and have determined acceptable electives (5 credits) that
students will use to complete the certificate. Each inst. is working to get the necessary paperwork through the curricular process at their respective university in an attempt to get the certificate approved at all four universities by Fall 2007. Grassland Mgnt: Identified a target of sharing graduate courses with the potential to someday develop a graduate certificate in grassland management. They have initially identified four or five courses that would interest students looking for continuing education units. Faculty have agreed to develop the following courses: Forage quality by Fall 2007; Basics of rangeland mngt. by Fall 2007/Spring 2008); Vegetation Measurement by Walt Fick (KSU); Grassland Ecology to be developed by Walt Schacht and Jim Stubbendieck; Range Plant Ident. that could be taken at the undergraduate and/or graduate level; Basics of Rangeland Mngt. This group has expanded to include faculty from South Dakota State Univ. in the consortium. Ag Education while not
included in the original proposal, the consortium has developed an additional thrust area in Ag Education with the goal of expanding the opportunities for high school ag teachers to obtain a Master of Education in Agricultural Education degree. Iowa State has already committed to develop their masters into an online degree; however, the consortium will allow other inst./faculty to also share courses for the degree and potentially offer the Med through their own inst. LearnShops: The Univ. of Nebraska has hosted two LearnShops designed to enhance the abilities of faculty participating to develop and deliver outstanding courses via distance education. Faculty from all four working groups have attended and they are incorporating these new teaching methodologies into their courses. Evaluation: Initiating evaluation activities for Collaborative Ag and Food Sciences Distance Education Program in the Heartland began upon award of the grant in fall 2005. The evaluator attended a meeting in
Manhattan, KS in Sept., 2005 with the project leadership. A representative of the evaluator attended a regular meeting of the full leadership team in K.C., MO in May 2006. Email correspondence was a primary form of communication.
PRODUCTS: Food Science 630 - Problems in Food Safety and Security has been developed and is currently being taught via the internet.
OUTCOMES: 1. Financial officers have agreed upon a common pricing structure for the distance education courses offered in the consortium. 2. Curriculum subcommittees have been initiated for Agriculture Technology/Mechanization, Food Safety and Security, Grassland Management, and Agricultural Education. 3. Curriculum plans have been developed in all four working groups and all four institutions are working to get curriculum approvals for a graduate certificate in Food Security and Defense. 4. Two LearnShops have been conducted to train faculty in the latest methodologies of distance course delivery. 5. One new course in food security has been developed ad is currently available to distance education students. Two more courses will be offered in the Spring semester 2007 within the consortium.
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Flyers and other marketing materials have been developed for the Agriculture mechanization and Food Safety and Security curricula.
FUTURE INITIATIVES: Initiate the four institution curriculum in the Food Safety and Defense and Agricultural Mechanization groups. Complete the curriculum plans for the Grassland Management and Agricultural Education groups. Capture courses for distance delivery in all four working groups and make available to students. Develop marketing plans for all four of the curricula. Implement a strong program of assessment of all four curricula initiatives.
Impacts
Collaborative efforts across the four institutions that originated this grant have been strengthened and are yielding excellent progress. A new graduate certificate program in Food Safety and Defense has been developed and is now being implemented.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
Progress 09/01/05 to 08/31/06
Outputs
Numerous activities have been conducted during the first four months of the project in order to establish the needed collaborations for accomplishing the distance education objectives of the project. The co-investigators meet regularly via conference call to maintain communications and coordination of the various sub-committees. The chief financial officers from the participating institutions have met twice and have reached agreement on a common pricing structure for the distance courses offered through this consortium. Updates on the curriculum development sub-committees follow. Ag Mechanization: This group has met twice. This collaboration may eventually result in a certificate program, however initially the group will start with a course sharing arrangement designed to augment the current course offerings at the four institutions. At the November meeting, they agreed upon the following:One course will be offered from each institution as early as Fall 2006. Prior to
the April 2006 meeting, faculty will review syllabi, secure industry support and review content of each course and be prepared to discuss at April 2006 meeting. Schedule a LearnShop after the April 2006 meeting Four subject matter areas agreed upon include: Pesticides (led by K-State with Missouri as supporting institution); Grain Handling (led by Iowa State with K-State, Nebraska or Missouri as supporting institutions); Electricity (led by Nebraska with Missouri as supporting institution); and Safety (led by Missouri with Iowa State as supporting institution). Food Safety and Security: The faculty sub-committee met in November to compare current programs available at the participating institutions and to discuss whether a certificate program or a full degree program would be the most appropriate end-point. Current target will be development of a certificate program. The group discussed core requirements for such a program and initiated discussions on potential distance offerings.
This sub-committee will meet again in spring 2006. Grassland Management: This sub-committee has met one time and has agreed upon the following: Agreed on the development of graduate courses to support professional development the group feels a course sharing model to augment current programs is more needed than additional degree programs. Set a goal of developing 4 courses in the next year: forage quality (UNL), plant identification (MU), vegetation monitoring and assessment (K-State), and grassland ecology (UNL). Attempting to schedule LearnShop in spring 2006. Evaluation: With the curriculum programs still in the formative perspective, the programs are difficult to evaluate thus far. A Logic program planning/ evaluation model to assist in the evaluation of the program will be developed summer 2006. The Logic model will be used as a guide in determining the evaluation questions and components. Using the Logic model, evaluation questions will be solicited from all key partners and
stakeholders.
Impacts
We have none to report at this time.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
|
|