agricultural and extension education

Meet the Faculty: Tracy Kitchel

Although just recently hired to the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership as a professor and the chair of the department, Dr. Kitchel is anything but the new kid on the block. Before graduating with both his bachelor’s and

1998 Top 10 Seniors of CFAES

1998 Top 10 Seniors of CFAES

master’s degrees from The Ohio State University in 1998 and 1998 respectively, Dr. Kitchel was an active and involved student. His resume included being the president of Ag Ed Society, the president of Phalanx (today known as CFAES ambassadors), and a brother of Alpha Tau Zeta, (now FarmHouse Fraterntiy, ATZ Chapter), just to name a few.

After graduation in 1999 Dr. Kitchel spent a few years teaching agriculture and serving as the FFA advisor at Archbold High School where he met his wife Laura, who at the time was the choir teacher across the hall.

2013 National FFA Board of Directors

2013 National FFA Board of Directors

Returning back to school to earn his PhD in agricultural education from the University of Missouri in 2002, Dr. Kitchel then spent the next decade teaching both undergraduate and graduate classes, serving as director of graduate studies, as well as serving as assistant vice provost for graduate and postdoctoral affairs. His work took him to the University of Kentucky as well as back to the University of Missouri.

“When I had the opportunity to return home in a role allowing me to provide leadership for a department where I fell in love with higher education, I jumped at the chance. My career has come full circle from Ohio to Missouri to Kentucky back to Missouri and now back to Ohio,” Kitchel said.

Growing up on a hog and crops farm in northern Preble County, Dr. Kitchel was involved in 4-H and FFA. He attributes this background as being the guiding factor of pursing a career in agricultural education. To students, Dr. Kitchel advises to get involved in as much as you can and to study abroad, as travel will never be this affordable at any other time in your life. While grades are important, he is a firm believer that there is a lot of learning to be had outside of the classroom.

A movie buff in his spare time, the Dr. Kitchel says his basement is decorated in movie posters such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Harry Potter. For vacation, Tracy and his wife Laura – along with their two daughters Isabel and Violet -love going to Disney World. 

Tracy, wife Laura, and daughters Isabel and Violet at Disneyworld meeting Chewbaca from Star Wars.

Tracy, wife Laura, and daughters Isabel and Violet at Disneyworld meeting Chewbaca from Star Wars.

Bowen completes thesis oral exam

Jessica Bowen successfully completing her Master’s Oral Examination on Monday, August 10, 2015. Her thesis “Exploring Similarities and Differences in Perceptions of Organizational Culture by Generations Present in The Ohio State University Extension Organization” was supported by the Gist Chair in Extension Education and Leadership.

Graham Cochran, interim Department Chair for Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership and member of Combs’ graduate committee said “Her work was an important part of a larger organizational culture study and will be valuable as we continue to explore various aspects of organizational culture.”

Below, Bowen shares about her research,

 A descriptive study was completed to explore the relationship between the generation one belongs to and their perceptions of the organizational culture of OSU Extension. This study was a part of a larger organizational culture study of the North Central Region Extension organizations. Perceptions of organizational culture were recorded using the, established, Denison Organizational Culture Survey. There were many similarities and a few areas of difference among the organizational traits and management practices across OSUE as a whole and the three generations. This was true for the percentile reports from Denison Consulting as well as ANOVA analysis. Due to minimal variation in the responses of the generations, the overall percentile report for OSU Extension is a fairly good representation of the generations in the organization. The similarities shown as well as the few instances of variation can provide important knowledge for leaders of the organization. Practical recommendations from this study include using the knowledge of generational difference to inform personnel and raise generational awareness as well as further research conducting a qualitative follow up study to further explore the perceptions of organizational culture by personnel.

Bowen will graduate in December with a Master’s in Agricultural and Extension Education. Following graduation she plans to spend additional time with her family, work in the extension profession and return to graduate school for her PhD.

Congratulations Jessica!

Jessica Bowen and her family

Jessica Bowen and her family

Combs completes Master’s Examination

Tami Combs successfully completed her Master’s Examination in early June. Her project, Dining with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen 2.0, focused on online learning.

Graham Cochran, interim Department Chair for Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership and member of Combs’ graduate committee said “Tami’s work with the Dining with Diabetes team in OSU Extension will be valuable for Ohio and nationally as we continue to expand and enhance the online footprint for Extension teaching.”

Below, Combs shares about her project,

For my project Dining with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen 2.0  I worked with the original Dinning with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen Moodle team to make updates and give a facelift to the original course. The Dinning with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen team included: Daniel Remley Ph.D.; Cheryl Spires R.D., L.D., M.F.C.S.; Jamie Seger; Susan Zies M.S.; and Barbara Hennard M.A. For the project I researched and developed an evaluation tool specific to the non-formal, knowledge-based education courses that Extension teaches online such as Dinning with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen. I used this tool to evaluate four Moodle courses, including the Dining with Diabetes: Beyond the Kitchen course. From the evaluations, I developed a set of recommendations for improvement to the course.  Last, I made updates to the course which included:  (1) a complete restructure of the welcome unit including the addition of course goals and updating the welcome email, (2) reorganization of  each unit to fit the 4 “A” model (3) improvements to the course aesthetics by deleting and moving course content and making the units collapsible and (4) creating new login instructions with recorded video instructions.

Combs is an employee for Ohio State Extension in Highland County and completed the Distance Learning program in agricultural and extension education. She will graduate in August with her master of science degree, along with a minor in educational technology.

Congratulations Tami!

 

Tami is pictured with her family, daughter Mercy (2), son Shannon (5) and husband James.

Tami is pictured with her family, daughter Mercy (2), son Shannon (5) and husband James.

 

 

ACEL and the Linden Community

By: Lindsay Breuler
Cleveland, Ohio
M.S. Agricultural and Extension Education

Over the past two years, the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership has nurtured a partnership with the Linden community in Columbus. In an effort to promote community and youth development, several programs have been established. During the summer months a small, 4-H club was established to teach the Linden youth (ages 14-18) leadership, gardening, nutrition, and community service. The youth completed a variety of learning workshops including a nutrition scavenger hunt, HANDS CPR training, and hours of hands-on gardening. In addition, several community service events were held which the youth helped to organize and facilitate.

Lindsay Breuler, photo 3

 

Now that the summer is over, a new community-focused program is being developed and piloted. Within the community of Linden, access to fresh, wholesome food is limited making it difficult to obtain food for a healthy lifestyle. As such, a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program has been developed and pilot tested in Linden. The CSA program and Farmer’s market provides fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables to the community. During the pilot test, outside produce was brought in from local producers to gage the interest of the community.

Lindsay Breuler, photo 2

The Linden Community Farmer’s Market was held for three weeks in October starting at the annual Cabbage and Greens Festival. Community members were very excited about the program and expressed significant interest in using the program. After evaluating the three markets in October, it was decided that the program will start back up in April 2015. Plans are in place to include acceptance of SNAP-ED benefits at the market and grow 50-80% of the produce sold at the Linden community garden, Ama Vera’s Garden.

Lindsay Breuler, photo 4

Until April, 2015 the CSA and Farmer’s market will continue to be organized and planned for the next season. Plans are also in place to host three workshops on college and career readiness in the community. Topics covered will include college applications, scholarships, FAFSA, resumes, and interviewing. These workshops will be held starting in January 2015 and will continue through February 2015.

If readers have any questions about the Linden community programs or would like to volunteer please contact myself (breuler.2@osu.edu) or Dr. Gary Straquadine (straquadine.5@osu.edu).