Source: SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
THE JUSTICE CHALLENGE: ENGAGING STUDENTS IN THE FUTURE OF FOOD, CLIMATE, AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1029464
Grant No.
2023-70003-38772
Cumulative Award Amt.
$749,977.00
Proposal No.
2022-06612
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Dec 15, 2022
Project End Date
Dec 14, 2025
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[ER]- Higher Ed Challenge
Recipient Organization
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY
PO BOX 2275A
BROOKINGS,SD 57007
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
This is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary, collaborative proposal involving leading institutions in the food, agriculture, natural, and human science (FANH) programs at Land-Grant, Public, and Minority-Serving Institutions of higher education. The lead institutions are part of a nation-wide network designed to develop innovative approaches to foster the skills and competencies essential for the future workforce in FANH. The specific project objectives are to:1. Develop a comprehensive Grand Challenge Scholars Program around USDA priority areas of food justice, climate justice, and sustainable agriculture;2. Create a nationwide interdisciplinary network dedicated to addressing the multi-faceted nature of USDA Grand Challenges through a sustainable infrastructure combining university FANH and Honors professionals that can be leveraged to recruit students to graduate study and related careers in FANH;3. Cultivate critical thinking around complex problems to improve career readiness related to USDA priority areas;4. Provide faculty with training to facilitate systems thinking and high-impact, collaborative instructional strategies that will, in turn, prepare and support teachers, researchers, students, and outreach professionals in innovative problem solving.Our overall goal is to increase the number and diversity of graduates in FANH disciplines who are well prepared for the workforce and/or graduate level education related to the Grand Challenges. Funding for this three-year project establishes and refines an innovative systems-thinking approach to education within the FANH sciences. Fourteen well-established institutions will collectively harness their resources to share project findings nationwide.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
9016010302050%
9036010302050%
Knowledge Area
901 - Program and Project Design, and Statistics; 903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6010 - Individuals;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
Our project engages students and faculty in FANH disciplines and in related arts, humanities, and social sciences who are drawn to address Grand Challenges in the USDA priority areas. The project will bring together 500 undergraduate students from 14 institutions across the country, particularly from land-grant and minority-serving institutions. Over three years, participating institutions will collaborate in exploring an annual grand challenge theme related to agriculture and food justice. These themes follow the priority need areas that the USDA has identified: 1) food justice; 2) climate justice; and 3) sustainable agriculture (USDA 2022). Each year we begin with a colloquium introducing students to the theme and participating institutions to each other. Then, each participant participates in a field experience, design challenge, or hackathon. We converge each year in a culminating conference to showcase student learning and plan future directions.This innovative model of pedagogy is divergent and convergent. As students and faculty work across institutions, they will bring unique perspectives and issues specific to their location. Curricular exploration will be combined with addressing real social needs and learning through civic engagement and for innovation and leadership in the FANH disciplines. As student and faculty participants disseminate the project model and outcomes at their home institutions, the pedagogies will be replicated to reach more students. Model and outcomes are shared at professional conferences and through publications. The project objectives are to:Objective 1. Develop a comprehensive Grand Challenge Scholars Program around USDA priority areas of food justice, climate justice, and sustainable agricultureTask 1.1: Develop and deliver the annual experiences;Task 1.2: Recruit students and mentor them through the completion of the experiences;Task 1.3: Evaluate students' knowledge and understanding of the Grand Challenge themes;Task 1.4: Establish a model for the student electronic portfolios (e-portfolios);Task 1.5: Foster community engagement through field experiences.Objective 2. Create a nationwide interdisciplinary network of FANH educators dedicated to addressing the multi-faceted nature of USDA Grand Challenges through a sustainable infrastructure combining university FANH and Honors professionals that can be leveraged to recruit students to graduate study and related careers in FANH Task 2.1: Host a systems theory workshop to all key personnel;Task 2.2: Engage faculty in leading or otherwise participating in the Signature Student Experiences;Task 2.3: Disseminate the pedagogy and supporting resources widely through presentations and workshops for faculty at regional and national professional meetings;Task 2.4: Mentor faculty interested in developing student experiences outside the scope of this project.Objective 3. Cultivate critical thinking around complex problems to improve career readiness related to USDA Grand Challenge Themes of Food Justice, Climate Justice, and Sustainable AgricultureTask 3.1: Discover and define critical, complex, real-world problems addressed in FANH;Task 3.2: Collaborate across dimensions of diversity - disciplinary, experiential, epistemological, and social identity - to integrate multiple perspectives and to generate effective solutions;Task 3.3: Evaluate multiple types of information that can inform a complex problem, including published work, expert guidance, stakeholder views, and field experiences;Task 3.4: Work productively with uncertainty, ambiguity, and failure as normal aspects of the experimental process to generate concrete, specific solutions to address the problem;Task 3.5: Evaluate the effectiveness of their individual and collective problem-solving processes;Task 3.6: Effectively communicate the nature of complex problems and potential solutions;Task 3.7: Articulate disparities resulting from differential access and consider methods by which addressing Grand Challenges can result in more just solutions.Objective 4: Train faculty to facilitate systems thinking and high-impact, collaborative, and transformational instructional strategies that will, in turn, prepare and support teachers, researchers, students, and outreach professionals in innovative problem solving.Task 4.1: Host a systems theory and FANH workshop in year 1;Task 4.2: Develop innovative pedagogical training for key personnel;Task 4.3: Orchestrate evaluative feedback on their development.
Project Methods
PDs and collaborating partners comprise our Advisory Board. Co-PDs from four lead institutions are joined by co-chairs of the Advisory Board to constitute the project Management Team which meets monthly. A national network of FANH and honors experts are organized into a Participant Experience Team, a Data and Dissemination Team, and a Curriculum Team, each meeting monthly. These teams are comprised of working committees that meet weekly.Grand Challenges Opening Workshop. Implementation of the project begins with the Scholars participating in an online Grand Challenges Opening Workshop. This workshop introduces participants to one another and project directors, and begins the reflective process, encouraging them to consider the complex nature of FANH grand challenges and the importance of collaboration and stakeholder analysis in goal setting. Participants will begin to form a cohort, receive background on the Grand Challenge Annual Theme (Food Justice, Climate Justice, and Sustainable Agriculture in years 1, 2, and 3, respectively), and participate in professional development. The workshop provides a program overview, including required individual outputs such as the scholar e-portfolio. This workshop also sets the stage for their collaborative learning within FANH Grand Challenges.Grand Challenges Colloquium. This common, grounding experience introduces each annual cohort of students to the scope of the Grand Challenge Annual Theme. It is an eight-week intensive course that meets twice per week; once to host an expert or experts and discuss the material of the week, and a second time to move from knowledge acquisition to application. Held online, the Colloquium provides the context and science-based content knowledge that students will need to credibly take on the challenges offered in the subsequent Signature Experiences. In addition, the Colloquium provides students with professional development. The cross-institutional resources built into this project ensure knowledge experts and professional development experts recruited from participating institutions achieve broader impact. Learning objectives for the Colloquium ensure that participants acquirea strong foundation in the Grand Challenge Annual Themeand FANH topics. Considering economic inequities, students will be offered, but not required, to enroll for credit at participating institutions.Following the Colloquium, scholars complete one of three Signature Experiences (Field Course, Design Challenge, or Hackathon) that range in scope and duration to accommodate student needs. Scholars may participate in a second Signature Experience as space allows.Field Course. The Field Course provides student participants with experiential learning opportunities through the application of the widely used "place as text" model to explore the annual theme. The curriculum is packed with local community visits, team building, problem solving, and culminating projects.Design Challenge. The semester-long Design Challenge is a local, in-person opportunity for students to identify and propose solutions to a local problem related to the Grand Challenges Annual Theme.This is delivered as a seminar with students from multiple majors participating.Local faculty leaders are mentored by a subset of the broader Participant Experience Team. In this proposal, design theory is firmly grounded in developing solutions by working closely with the community. As such, the Design Challenge provides participants with a lesson in participatory democracy.Hackathon. During a hackathon, enthusiastic problem solvers gather, form working teams, and develop innovative solutions for the given challenge, concluding the event with solutions presented and evaluated based on workability, feasibility, and usability (Brenner, 2011).Hackathons serve as an educational problem-solving model because of the ease in recruiting students to participate. Hackathons are known to expand student participation in STEM and FANH sciences by advancing educational opportunities, particularly for underrepresented groups (Parker & Wagner, 2016), while developing competencies with transdisciplinary collaboration.Culminating Conference. The annual program ends in a Culminating Conference for students to reflect on their learning and to provide a forum for cooperative learning among students from their Signature Experiences. Coordinated by the Professional Development Committee, the Culminating Conference is online so students can engage regardless of geographic location or travel barriers. Student participants create an asynchronous artifact that becomes available to peers, experts, and the Assessment Committee on an e-portfolio system.Professional Development. The colloquium and signature experiences focus on skill acquisition directly related to FANH topical areas.Concomitant efforts are made to support the professional development goals of this proposal through leadership skill development, systems thinking training, and career readiness. The bookend experiences of the Opening Workshop and Culminating Conference are common experiences for all participants to identify the interconnected and collaborative nature of Grand Challenges. Professional Development Committee members and relevant experts facilitate weekly conversations related to the scientific focus of the Grand Challenge Colloquium.Evaluation. The Assessment Committee collaborates regularly with the Curriculum Team, the Participant Experience Team, and the External Evaluator to ensure proper assessment of and improvements to the program are made to optimize learning outcomes. Members of the Assessment Committee have combined expertise in programmatic evaluation using the mixed methods approaches outlined in this proposal. Collaboratively, the external Project Evaluator and the Assessment Committee create: 1) Assessment Maps to identify assessment instruments, timelines for data collection and distribution, assessment of all program objectives and SLOs, and compliance with grant reporting requirements; 2) Formative Assessment Instruments for integration in program activities; and 3) Summative Assessment Instruments, including rubrics and coding schema, for evaluating discursive responses from e-portfolio artifacts. Analyses of project outcomes are conducted by the Assessment Committee and student labor. The external assessor validates data analysis and is available for consult through the analytical process, ensuring the Assessment Committee is reporting valid, accurate, and comprehensive findings from program data on an annual basis.

Progress 12/15/23 to 12/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes researchers, instructors, and other professionals in areas related to FANH and honors education. The target audience also includes honors students from any institution of higher education in the U.S.A. from any major. Changes/Problems:Two of our project partners have had to step away from the program - 1 due to retirement and the other due to a change in scope of employment. Both partners were very generous with their transition and put us in a strong place for continued success in their absence. Additionally, current partners have stepped up to ensure continued program success. We have been able to adapt our program to meet ongoing contexts and needs of participating institutions. These institutional differences are not unexpected and serve to help us develop a program that is highly adaptable. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training Activities for Project Partners Data & Dissemination co-chairs Jon Kotinek and Leigh Fine developed a training for the team on qualitative assessment.Six team members completed this training and subsequently contributed to qualitative assessment of Year 1 colloquium outcomes. Kotinek and Fine additionally hosted a mandatory training for all assessment partners on how to assess colloquium artifacts using the TJC rubrics. Project Partners Jon Kotinek and Becky Bott-Knutson hosted trainings for Hackathon judges on how to evaluate the Hackathon outcomes. Project Partner Dr. Heidi Appel, along with Dr. Joy Hart and PD Bott-Knutson hosted an onboarding training workshop for faculty partners who are hosting Design Challenges in spring of 2025. Project Partners Susan Sumner, Joy Hart, and PD Becky Bott-Knutson hosted on onboarding training for our 4 Year 2 teaching assistants - all graduates of the Year 1 program. Training Activities for Faculty Beyond Project Partners Dedicated efforts to mentor faculty interested in developing student experiences outside the scope of this project was an area of focus for Year 2. During our onboarding and training of faculty partners who will be hosting official Design Challenges in 2025, we welcomed another faculty member who plans to launch a DC experience independent of the program. We've had ongoing dialog with this faculty member who will be hosting a DC in the spring semester of 2025. Additionally, PD Bott-Knutson and Project Partner Noah Roerig introduced the Reacting to the Past pedagogy to the SDSU community. SDSU Honors Faculty member Dr. Larson (not a project partner) obtained a grant from the National Collegiate Honors Council to obtain an institutional RTTP membership. Jointly, Bott-Knutson, Roerig, and Larson developed and hosted a campus-wide training on RTTP. Five more faculty members completed the two-day training, and three more participated in RTTP gameplay and reflections. Thus far, the RTTP pedagogy has been incorporated into 4 courses on the SDSU campus, two of which are beyond the scope of The Justice Challenge. Four additional faculty are planning to incorporate this pedagogy into their classrooms in 2025, and we are planning a second workshop for additional faculty who wish to be trained in this educational tool. Professional Development for Project Partners and Student Participants Heidi Appel, Becky Bott-Knutson, Joy Hart, Jon Kotinek, Tim Nichols, and Andrea Radasanu participated in a professional development workshop hosted in Lexington on May 20, 2024. The workshop began with a deeper dive and immersive discussion on applications of systems thinking in honors education. The team then dove into recruitment planning for Years 2 & 3 and then reflections and major takeaways from Year 1. After lunch, the team outlined a comprehensive plan for TJC-related publications for the next three years. Though the team has exceeded dissemination projections presented in the HEC application, we are committed to a robust suite of publications moving forward. Finally, they reviewed plans for award nominations and their upcoming presentation. We planned for 3 winter book clubs to engage participants between the end of colloquium and the beginning of their respective signature experiences. The book clubs will take place in Y3Q1 with details below: Our Iceberg Is Melting: Changing and Succeeding Under Any Circumstances by John Kotter is being hosted by PD Bott-Knutson from South Dakota State University and will include students from four universities as well as TAs. What if We Get It Right: Visions of Climate Futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is being hosted by Dr. Tim Nichols from the University of Montana. This book club will serve students from eight universities as well as TAs and the PD. The Parrot and The Igloo by David Lipsky is being hosted by Peter McDonough from the University of Montana. This book club will serve students from six universities as well as TAs, a project partner and the PD. Additional professional development was sought on the issues of honors education, climate, and justice: Heidi Appel, Becky Bott-Knutson, Joy Hart, Jon Kotinek, Tim Nichols, and Andrea Radasanu attended the "Honors Education at Research Universities" bi-annual conference, May 21-23, 2024. Becky Bott-Knutson participated online in the National Academies "Climate Crossroads Summit" on July 16-17, 2024. Joy Hart participated in the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities' (NIMHD) "Climate Change, Health, and Justice: A Workshop on Community Engaged Research to Promote Health Equity", July 29-30, 2024. Heidi Appel, Becky Bott-Knutson, Joy Hart, Jon Kotinek, Tim Nichols, Andrea Radasanu, and Dan Roberts attended the "National Collegiate Honors Council" annual conference, October 30-November 2, 2024. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Program activities were robustly disseminated in the form of 1 state, 2 regional, and 4 national/international conference presentations, 2 accepted monograph chapters, and 4 submitted journal articles. USDA NIFA funding was acknowledged on each. Project results have additionally been disseminated to communities of interest via the following: Inviting faculty and community members to attend virtual Hackathon presentations. Inviting broad audiences including all community partners with whom we made contact during Design Challenges to attend the Design Challenge final presentations either in person or via Zoom. Providing key community partners and constituents with copies of the final Design Challenge team pitch-books. Inviting all constituents to attend the culminating conference. Promoting The Justice Challenge during Faculty Senate (SDSU) and in classes, student organizations, and New Student Orientation. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Analyze data obtained during the Opening Workshop/Colloquium as well as the signature experiences and prepare for dissemination. Launch 3 official Climate Justice Design Challenge Experiences at Virginia Tech, U. Houston, and U. Montana. Host 2 virtual Climate Justice Hackathons. Host 1 Climate Justice Field Course at U. Montana. Host Year 2 Culminating Conference. Recruit participants and partners for Year 3: Sustainable Agriculture. Prepare and submit a publication on outcomes related to Year 2: Climate Justice.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1 We have completed one full cohort of the year-long The Justice Challenge program and our second cohort is on-track to complete the program in June 2025. Our retention rates remain high in Year 2. We recruited 80 student participants from 23 universities into Year 2 of The Justice Challenge. 75 students from 22 universities completed the Opening Workshop and Colloquium. Members of our Data & Dissemination team meet twice monthly to evaluate students' knowledge and understanding of the Grand Challenges themes as well as to ensure project integrity: All partners who will be involved with data completed CITI Training or procured their current, active certification. Employed standardized syllabi in the colloquium and signature experiences across all host sites. Partners are trained annually in the use of assessment tools. All project outcomes are slated for dissemination at conferences and in the form of publication. Data are accurately represented. USDA NIFA funding is credited in all disseminated fora. Our Assessment team in consultation with our External Assessor decided that electronic student profiles were not the optimum fora for showcasing student artifacts related to The Justice Challenge. Instead, the team opted to utilize a shared page on Canvas as well as social media. The Food Justice Field Course was held between May 18th and May 24th at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Fundamental areas of experience during this field camp were, food production, food justice in an urban environment, and food justice issues confronting rural and indigenous peoples. Utilising the resources of Oklahoma State's Division of Agricultural sciences students were exposed to aspects of food production including wheat breeding, industrial food preparation, and had a hands-on experience. The urban experience was built around a visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma looking at the historical origins of food in equities in the Tulsa area and the modern-day issues facing the area. Insight into the issues facing indigenous and rural populations was addressed through a visit to the Chickasaw Cultural Centre where students were introduced to traditional farming methods and traditional diet of the Chickasaw people. They also visited the Chickasaw Nation capital in Ada and met with administrators at the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center where they were introduced to the programs addressing food justice and health. The field course was concluded with students working in groups to design pilot programmes to begin addressing issues of food justice in their own communities. Goal 2 Since the launch of The Justice Challenge, 180 students from 33 universities have participated. Four participants from Year 1 joined the facilitation team as TJC Teaching Assistants in Year 2. Fourteen Honors professionals from 12 universities were joined by 4 leaders in the FANH sciences, 4 Food Justice content facilitators, 4 Climate Justice content facilitators, an additional 6 Climate Justice partners, and 28 (6 from Kentucky, 4 from Oklahoma, 8 from SD, 4 from VA, 6 from MT) community partners to deliver this novel program. Student participants represent a multitude of academic programs of study. In fact, in Year 2 alone, our students represented 36 unique CIP codes. All partners were invited to a systems thinking workshop in May 2024. The team then went on to plan and host a systems thinking workshop at the 2024 National Collegiate Honors Council annual conference and submitted a manuscript on applications for systems thinking in Honors and in The Justice Challenge this month. Program activities were robustly disseminated (see products table). USDA NIFA funding was acknowledged on each. Please see section 6B. Goal 3 Students, faculty, and staff associated with our Year 1 cohort of The Justice Challenge reconvened via Zoom in early June to share and synthesize lessons learned over the year-long examination of Food Justice. The culminating conference featured an address by Allison Alkon and Julian Ageyman. The conference also included presentations by participants in each of the distinct signature experiences (i.e., hackathons, design challenges, and field course) who proudly and enthusiastically shared their work, thus contributing to a broader, collective sense of learning among the students. Design Challenge and Hackathon presentation awards (which had been previously announced during those programs) were shared with the whole group. Program facilitators and student participants offered summative reflections, evaluative input, and highlighted opportunities for students to continue their project involvement. Transdisciplinary Food Justice Experience Empowers Students to Engage Wicked Problems The reflections from students at the end of the colloquium and following their signature experiences, as well as the demonstrations of student learning and comments shared by participants in the Culminating Conference, highlight how the goals for this experience were met. Almost all student reflections referenced an expanded understanding of the complex issues that undergird food justice. In each case, students made it clear that their participation in The Justice Challenge was a valuable experience that helped them build concrete skills that will enable, motivate, and empower them to effectively advocate for food justice in their own communities. Reacting to the Past as a Leadership Pedagogy Tool At the end of the Colloquium, a survey question asked students to reflect on which assignment had the greatest impact on their learning. In their written responses, students reported appreciating gaining perspective-taking skills through adopting an assigned position, the invitation to conduct relevant external research on food security, and role-playing's ability to make academic learning relevant via interpersonal practice. Further, and perhaps most heartening and relevant to The Justice Challenge's leadership learning outcomes, students reported co-realizing real-world implications of food policy and stakeholder action in efforts to propose solutions to wicked problems. Initial Outcomes of Systems Thinking in the Justice Challenge A survey was conducted at the completion of the colloquium in both Years 1 and 2. Students appreciated the utility of systems approaches and identified this tool as one that they will be able to use in the future. In both years, 100% of respondents indicated that they had learned to define critical, complex, real-world problems and developed other similar systems-thinking skills. In an exercise which engaged teams of students drawing systems thinking iceberg models for climate justice, each group skillfully detailed events, trends, structures and mental models associated with the wicked problem. Additional Outcomes: Two teams of participants from our The Justice Challenge program formed to compete in the International Hult Prize competition. Both formed businesses and were selected in the top 3.6% from more than 10,000 entries from 111 countries. The team from South Dakota State University included Hunter Eide, Samuel Hadacek, Kylie Rosenau, and Nicole Schilling and was mentored by Dr. Srinivas Janaswamy, PD Bott-Knutson, and Project Partner Noah Roerig. This team was invited to present at the Nairobi International Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, June of 2024. The team from the University of Louisville included Sarah Belcher, Aysha Khan, Hannah Limbong, and Robel Schwarz and was mentored by Project Partner Dr. Joy Hart. This team was invited to present at the Mexico City International Summit but elected to compete in the online summit, June of 2024. Goal 4 PD Becky Bott-Knutson met weekly with our team of climate content facilitators from VT, TAMU, and U Montana. The climate team established goals for the colloquium and, in partnership with the Professional Development team, developed a syllabus for Year 2. Please see section 6B.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bott-Knutson, R., Roerig, N., Spreng, J., Rosenau, K., & Khuu, N. (2024). Honors Education Redefined: The Justice Challenge Experience. Presented at the Upper Midwest Regional Honors Conference, Dubuque, IA. The group included 3 Justice Challenge participants from South Dakota State University.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Beed, J., Sherwood, A., Wynne, J., Cordingly, K. (2024). Workshop. Presented at the Western Regional Honors Conference. The group included 2 Justice Challenge participants from the University of Montana.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Radasanu, A., Appel, H., Bott-Knutson, R., Hart, J. L., & Nichols, T. (2024, May). Making Honors More Permeable: From Contagion to Permeability. Presented at the Biennial Honors Education at Research Universities Conference, Lexington, Kentucky.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: J. Hart and a colleague presented Science, Health, and Communication: Translating Research, Engaging Communities at the University of Louisvilles Research Town Hall. The Justice Challenge was one of three featured projects, July 25, 2024.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bott-Knutson, R. C., Hart, J. L., Garbutt, K., Radasanu, A., Nichols, T. J., Appel, H., Cooke, K., & Anderson, M. (2024, October 30-November 3). Elevating Honors Education Through Systems Thinking: Applications in Community Engagement, Self-studies, and Strategic Thinking. Presented at the annual meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Kansas City, Missouri.?
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Nichols, T. J., Bott-Knutson, R. C., Hart, J. L., & Kotinek, J. A National Honors Endeavor to Address Food Justice.?(2024, October 30-November 3). Presented at the annual meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Kansas City, Missouri.?
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Budowle, R., Demko, B., Largen, I., moderated by Niewolny, K. (November, 2024). Reflections on a community-engaged learning partnership for just and equitable approaches to student food security. Invited presentation and panel discussion for Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation Fellow Speaker Series.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Blecher, S., Campbell, C., Causey, A., Hart, J., Hernandez, A., Jaikumar, G., Karimi, I., Konshak, M., Limbong, H. Nagarajan, D., Wu, Lin. (Submitted). Addressing Wicked Problems through Systems Thinking: Honors Students and The Justice Challenge. Kentucky Honors Roundtable  Jan 31-Feb 1, 2025.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Wu, L., Nagarajan, D., Konshak, M., Jaikumar, G., Causey, A., Belcher, S. (Submitted). Transforming the Plot of Wicked Problems: Our Story of Systems Thinking in The Justice Challenge. Southern Regional Honors Conference  March 26-29, 2025.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2024 Citation: Hart JL, Bott-Knutson RC, Appel H, Kotinek J, Knox P, Sumner S, Roerig N, Ziegler W, Fine LE. Hacking through the Silos: Honors Faculty Development. Accepted for publication in Honors and Faculty Development, edited by J. Zubizarreta & V. M. Bryan (Eds.), National Collegiate Honors Council, 2024.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bott-Knutson RC, Kotinek J, Appel H, Hart JL, Knox P, Radasanu A, Roberts DM, Nichols T, Fine L, Ziegler W, Bryk M, Sumner S, Cordingley K, Bastian GE, Budowle R, Roerig N, Stroud A, Garbutt K. An edifying honors collaborative. Provisionally accepted for publication in J. Zubizarreta & V. M. Bryan (Eds.), Honors and faculty development. National Collegiate Honors Council, 2024.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Hart, J.L., Bryk, M., Fine, L., Kotinek, J., Bott-Knutson, R.C. (Submitted, June 2024). Reacting to the Past as a Leadership Pedagogy Tool: Running an mMORP(L)G. Submitted to the Journal of Leadership Education.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2024 Citation: Hart, J.L., Radasanu, A., Nichols, T., Bott-Knutson, R.C., Kotinek, J. (Submitted, July 2024). From Individuals to Neighbors: Growth Through Embracing Positionality. Submitted to the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council.
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bott-Knutson, R. C., Kotinek, J., Nichols. T., Appel, H., Radasanu, R., Hart, J.L. (Submitted, December 2024). Applications of Systems Thinking in Honors Education: The Justice Challenge. Submitted to Honors in Practice
  • Type: Other Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Nichols, T.J., Bott-Knutson, R. C., Hart, J. L., Radasanu, A., Kotinek, J., Appel, H./, Garbutt, K., Bastian, G. E., Budowle, R. (Submitted, September 2024). Transdisciplinary Food Justice Experience Empowers Students to Engage Wicked Problems. Submitted to the NACTA Journal.


Progress 12/15/22 to 12/14/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this project includes researchers, instructors, and other professionals in areas related to FANH and honors education. Changes/Problems:Coordinating a robust team of professionals from 14 institutions has been a unique challenge, but certainly one that has yielded more outcomes than problems. The project is achieving its purpose of bringing together people from multiple institutions to explore grand challenges. Six student participants did not give informed consent for their provided data to be used in future research. Data points associated with these participants will be removed from research analytics. Some members of the team were temporarily unavailable due to moving institutions, illness in the family, or other factors. This did create hardship in terms of the load carried by the remaining team members. Though, due to the commitment of the core team, no deadlines or objectives were missed. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PD Bott-Knutson completed certificated in Systems Thinking from Cornell, Change Management from Washington University, and Leadership and Management from the University of Pennsylvania. She then developed and led training on systems thinking. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Information regarding the justice challenge has been published in peer reviewed journals, book chapters, and presented at professional conferences. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Analyze data obtained during the Opening Workshop/Colloquium and prepare for dissemination. Launch 3 official Design Challenge Experiences at Virginia Tech, SDSU, and U. Louisville, plus 2 additional at U. Houston and U. Montana. Host 2 virtual Hackathons. Host 1 Field Course at OSU. Host Year 1 Culminating Conference. Our year 2 syllabi will be completed and available for recruitment by January 31st each year.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1-4 (25% Accomplished) The assessment team met with the Assessment Coordinator regularly to develop project assessments and to train partners on use of assessment tools. Developed recruitment and informational materials such as flyers, emails, project webpage. A curriculum map for addressing SLO among our participant experiments was developed. Participated in the USDA Project Directors Meeting. Hosted a 2-day workshop for faculty and project partners from multiple institutions to be trained on project-related skills. This included a meeting with the USDA Program Officer Solomon Haile. Developed a dissemination plan to support communication of project outcomes. PD Bott-Knutson and Co-PD Kotinek completed training in the Reacting to the Past pedagogy. All partners who will be involved with data completed CITI Training or procured their current, active certification. We recruited 105 student participants from 24 universities into The Justice Challenge. 96 students from 19 universities completed the Opening Workshop and Colloquium. Syllabi and assessments were created for the Opening Workshop, Colloquium, Design Challenge, and Hackathon. Artifacts from the opening workshop and colloquium were collected and assessed. We developed our syllabus for the Colloquium in summer which meant that universities that require completed syllabi to officially post a course for students to enroll in were not provided with sufficient time to recruit students.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Nichols T, Bott-Knutson RC, Radasanu A, Kotinek J and Roberts D. (2023). Engage Breakfast: The Justice Challenge. Presented at the 58th National Collegiate Honors Council Annual Conference, Chicago, IL.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Hart J, Bott-Knutson R, Radasanu A, Roerig N, & Ziegler B (2023). Just food: Honors hackathons to develop transdisciplinary team-oriented skills toward equity [Conference session]. Presented at the 58th National Collegiate Honors Council Annual Conference, Chicago, IL. The group was joined by 3 Justice Challenge participants from the University of Louisville, 1 from South Dakota State University, and 1 from Northern Illinois University.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Roerig N & Eide H (2023). The justice challenge: Lets change the world! [Conference session]. Presented at the 2nd Annual South Dakota Honors Showcase, Madison, SD.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Joy Hart and Justice Challenge student, Mary Muluberehan, participated in the annual Environmental Justice conference of the West Jefferson County Community Task Force, held on September 30th.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Bott-Knutson R, Nichols T, Hickman K, Appel H, Hart J, Kotinek J, Ziegler W, Garbutt K, Radasanu A, Knox P, Roberts D (2023). Leveraging Honors Education in Food, Climate, and Sustainable Agriculture via The Justice Challenge. Presented at the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Annual Conference, June 20-24, Las Cruces, NM.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Hart JL, Bott-Knutson RC, Appel H, Kotinek J, Knox P, Sumner S, Roerig N, Ziegler W, Fine LE. Hacking through the Silos: Honors Faculty Development. Accepted for publication in Honors and Faculty Development, edited by J. Zubizarreta & V. M. Bryan (Eds.), National Collegiate Honors Council, 2024.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Appel H, Bott?Knutson R, Hart J, Knox P, Radasanu A, Fine L, Nichols T, Roberts D, Garbutt K, Ziegler W, Kotinek J, Cooke K, Keen R, Anderson M, Kapur J (2023). Teaching and Learning in the Fourth Space: Preparing Scholars to Engage in Solving Community Problems. In Honors Colleges in the 21st Century: Opportunities and Challenges, edited by Richard Badenhausen, National Collegiate Honors Council.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Bott-Knutson RC, Hart J, Appel H, Kotinek J, Knox P, Ziegler W, Roberts D, Radasanu A, Nichols T, Fine L (2023). Simul Fortior: The Rise of an Honors Collaborative and The Justice Challenge. Journal of the European Honors Council. 6(2):5.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Radasanu R, Bott-Knutson RC, Fine LE, Kotinek J, Hart, JL, Nichols T, Appel H, Roberts DM, Knox P, Ziegler W (2023). A Relational Model for Honors Education: From Contagion to Permeability. 2023. Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council. 24:47-62.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Kotinek J, Bott?Knutson RC, Fine LE, Hart JL, Ziegler W, Knox P, Nichols T, Sumner S, Appel H, Andersen M C, Bryk M, Radasanu A, Cassady J, Garbutt K (2023). The Justice Challenge: Honors endeavors innovative pedagogies through the Grand Challenge Scholars Program. In Honors in Practice. 19:121-24.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Hart JL, Bott?Knutson RC, Appel H, Kotinek J, Knox P, Ziegler W (2023). Pedagogy of engagement, innovation, and reflection: Hackathons in honors education. In Honors in Practice. 19:125-28.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Submitted Year Published: 2024 Citation: Bott-Knutson RC, Kotinek J, Appel H, Hart JL, Knox P, Radasanu A, Roberts DM, Nichols T, Fine L, Ziegler W, Bryk M, Sumner S, Cordingley K, Bastian GE, Budowle R, Roerig N, Stroud A, Garbutt K. An edifying honors collaborative. Provisionally accepted for publication in J. Zubizarreta & V. M. Bryan (Eds.), Honors and faculty development. National Collegiate Honors Council, 2024.