I shared the following message with our students the day after our department banquet. For those unable to attend, feel free to check out our comprehensive program: 2019 ACEL Banquet Program #WeAreACELBuckeyes

Thank you for a tremendous academic year! We have had such a wonderful year together as we’ve made progress on some of our goals as a departments and as you’ve been able to reach some of your professional and personal goals. As we continue together, please let us know how we can continue to play a role in your growth.

Thank you to those who were able to celebrate at our department banquet last night. I share my strongest encouragement to ALL of our students to attend our year end banquet. This is an opportunity to pause, eat good food together, and celebrate our year. This is also an opportunity to support each other and reflect upon where we want to be next year.

We had over 210 students, faculty, staff and supporters at last night’s event. We honored over 70 students with scholarships. We recognized students and alumni in new ways. We said farewell to our seniors. We connected with our student organizations. And most importantly, we did all of that in 2 hours and 5 minutes – WITH A MEAL! Thank you to those who assisted with set-up, speaking, sharing posters, tearing down and other tasks related to last night’s banquet. We couldn’t have done it without you.

To our graduating students, you are about to join a large network of over 3,000 living ACEL alumni. This network has distinguished individuals who are serving and leading communities, our industry, and our profession. We have high hopes for you, but have faith you will live up to those hopes. Please consider us part of your forever-Ohio State home. You will always be an ACEL Buckeye.

I continue to be honored to serve you as your department chair.

Most of us who spent our formative years in the 1980’s wanted and coveted the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES. It was a game changer. As Atari was looking stale with a lack of new and innovative games, the NES livened up the game system playing field with a new 16-bit look and exciting, engaging gaming storylines. I saved my money and purchased my own NES. From there, I burned away hours in front of the television, wearing down my thumbprint from excessive game controller use. For those of us who were serious players, we had our approaches to games and special techniques to advance, but the strategy I relied on most was hitting the reset button.

I am not a perfectionist per se, but I do have perfectionist tendencies, so hitting the reset button makes sense to someone like me. Here’s how it worked. I would play a game and if the conditions were not leading me to ample lives or ample coins or ample whatever, I would reset the game and start over. I wanted to walk into every difficult situation or boss level feeling the most prepared. It was part game strategy, but also part psychology on my part.

I’ve been thinking about this concept of hitting the reset button lately. The year 2018 was a great year in so many ways both personally and professionally. It was a great year for our department, as well. But, when I left my office for the last time before my break and vacation time, I felt some degree of burn out. My lives were down, my coins were low, and I wasn’t ready for the next level. I needed to step away from work and hit the reset button.

The new year time frame is usually a good time to think about a hitting the reset button. It’s a time frame usually accompanied by an embrace of what’s new. Many of us hit some sort of reset button during this time frame: a new focus word for the year, new goals that move us in a different direction, a new mantra to live by, or a new pledge to uphold where we have failed in the past. Managing weight and a new diet is of course a popular area of reset. Managing time, being present and in the moment and doing more with family are on some reset lists, as well. My recent reset button was to take time away from work and to clear my mind. And, if I’m being direct, it’s a strategy we need to do more often, even under the best of job situations. Now, I’m about to walk into a new year with a renewed energy and a focus that had been lacking the last few weeks of the year.

It’s important to distinguish between hitting the reset button and turning off the game altogether. These game off or avoidance strategies are different than reset strategies. For me, my iPhone is an easy gateway to engage in avoidance strategies, where I fail to connect, where I fail to deal with real issues, where I fail to get what I really need. Avoidance strategies leave us feeling isolated and unresolved. A good reset jumps us back into the game, renewed, refreshed and full of life. So, make sure you’re hitting the reset button and not the power button.

Hitting the reset button just isn’t a beginning of the year strategy. And, it’s doesn’t just apply to your personal and professional wellness. Hitting the reset button can be about a process or a project. For example, when I stepped into my role as department chair, efforts around our department’s centennial celebration had just been occurring through two previous department chairs. I could tell quickly that we were struggling to progress, not because the other chairs’ strategies were not good. It wasn’t working because the project had been handed through three different people. At the time, it was a scary decision but I hit the reset button. I changed our committee’s organization and processes moving forward. I believe that decision made all the difference in the world as it relates to the final product that was our centennial celebration. I was concerned about losing committee members in the process, about losing valuable time and about taking us in the wrong direction. Instead, the committee members not only stayed, but found renewed interest in our work. Our progress did not halt; instead it accelerated.

The cautionary tale in this strategy is a tale that aligns with every good strategy, in that there can be too much of a good thing. Hitting the reset button too much or even too early could mean a missed opportunity, halted progress on a project, frustration by your team for lost progress, a lack of momentum toward your goals and/or a lack of consistency in your focus or message. Be strategic about how or when you hit the reset button. Be thoughtful about how it affects not only you, but the people around you, especially if you’re in a leadership role. It’s not a fail-safe strategy, but if used in the right way, it can be a powerful one for you and your organization.

It may seem counter-intuitive to start with this statement given the title of this post, but it needs to be said: I am not a sports fan. Those who knew me as a child would likely not be shocked by this statement. While other kids were happy to be outside riding bikes, playing ball or exploring nature, I was happy playing on my Commodore 64 computer (64 because it had 64KB memory as opposed to my current iMac computer, which has 8 GB of memory or about 8,000,000 KB). I could also be found sitting at a card table in the living, watching my VHS tapes of Star Trek while designing new star ships. None of my hobbies remotely resembled anything having to do with sports. Look at my junior high school picture for goodness sakes – there’s NOTHING resembling athletics in that picture. I was a (proud) geek before comi-cons and Marvel movies were even around. Further, as it relates to the title of this post, I didn’t know the rules to any sport, and that most certainly included football.

My 8th Grade School Picture

Enter my sophomore year at Ohio State. The spring prior, I was somehow convinced to buy a student season ticket for Ohio State football. For reference, I properly use season ticket in the singular because, in the mid- to late 1990’s, my $50 ticket and was literally one single ticket that was hole-punched for each game. I digress. The purchase of that ticket started my infatuation for something I should never have cared about in the first place. So, here’s why Ohio State football won over this geeky kid’s heart those many years ago.

Being a Part of Something that’s Good

We can talk about the records and history over the years, but ultimately, Ohio State football has a strong track record for winning. Winning seasons, bowl games, and national championships make it easy to cheer on a team. Of course, beating that team up north is always a thrill. Even when there were “disappointing” years, Ohio State’s overall record is exceptionally strong. I use the word disappointing in quotation marks because the first thing I think about is the 1998 season where the team was ranked number 1 until they lost against an unranked Michigan State at home. At the time and in that moment it was VERY disappointing. However, it’s easy to focus on a blemish like that when the team still finished the year as number 3. I’ve also studied or worked at universities where the football teams’ records have not been as consistently strong, so trust me, even amidst Ohio State’s so-called disappointing seasons, they are consistently good. People usually don’t want to be part of or give to something that is not good (or does not have the potential to be good). Being a part of something good makes you feel special. Being a part of something good is infectious. And, being a part of something good also has a way of connecting you to others who are also a part of that something that is good.

Being a Part of Something that Builds Community

I have some of my fondest Ohio State football memories connected with my group of friends. My friends are the likely culprits behind the intensity of love I have for Ohio State football. A few years ago (18 years after our last season together and my first season back living in Ohio), my group of college friends got together for a tailgate reunion. We quickly slipped back in time to our days as students. It was a magical experience. It was like those 18 years had slipped by in mere seconds. The laughing and cheering and story telling could have last for days on end. After a tour of campus to see all that had changed – including an impromptu stop by our old dorms, we were ready to cheer on the Buckeyes!

Tailgate with college friends – October 2016

I cherish the memories I share with my friends. Those football games together are an important part of the tapestry that is part of the larger cloth that is our Northwood Avenue community. Beyond my group of friends, however, there is a larger Buckeye community. For example, I was standing in line at one of the stands at a recent game when the guy next me randomly said to me, “I love how sports just bring people together.” Not being a sports aficionado, I wasn’t sure where this was heading. He proceeded to say that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe in or where you are from, we’re all here for the same thing. And he was right. When everyone is at a game, things simplify. It’s one team and it’s one cause. In this case, that one cause is a Buckeye victory. It’s nice to feel a part of a community where you might be coming at the world from different perspectives but you are bonded by a similar passion.

Ohio State football has a way of not only building new bonds, but fostering a stronger sense of community in bonds that already exist. My wife and two daughters enjoy Ohio State football as a family. It wasn’t until 2016 that my daughters were Ohio residents, but upon our move back to Ohio (back for my wife and I), I made sure we were at a game that first season. They loved it! It’s something we share together. We cheer together and we we share the entire experience together.

Me and my family at the new Script Ohio monument after the September 22, 2018 football game

Being a Part of Something Bigger than Itself

For me, I enjoy watching the football games themselves, but it is more than that. Cranking up the fight song before heading to a game. Tailgating. Attending the Skull Session. Sitting in the the Shoe. Celebrating after the football games. It’s an entire experience before and after the game. I try to be in my seats at the stadium before the band marches down the ramp. I love being a part of a stadium the cheers O – H – I – O in a round. I love when the “i” is dotted at the end of Script Ohio. I love that the team sings Carmen Ohio at the end of every game. It’s a package deal. What happens for four quarters on the field is fun and exhilarating, but it’s even more so because of the other pieces before, during and after. If those other pieces were not in place, I might still love Ohio State football, but likely not as much. Sometimes, we tend to hone in on one singular aspect of an experience, and we forget to look up to see the larger landscape. I like looking up at the big picture to see my entire Ohio State football experience. It’s a breathtaking view when you think of the components of that picture.

So What?

My should I wax poetic about Ohio State football, especially if I’m not a huge sports fan? One, because it’s OHIO STATE FOOTBALL. But two, and more seriously, because this one part of my life is an excellent example of me: 1. being open to trying new things and 2. finding things that are good, build community and are bigger than itself. There are reasons I shed a few tears when the band plays Carmen Ohio or when the team runs out on the field or when the “i” is dotted in Script Ohio. This one part of my life has been enriching in ways that I can only begin to fathom (and translate into a blog post). However, I have other parts of my life that fit the bill of being good, building community, and being bigger than itself. Growing up, 4-H and FFA definitely fit the criteria. Being a part of my profession also fits the bill. I hope you have things in your life like I have with Ohio State football. Reflect on those things for a moment. What are they and why do they fit the bill? And if you don’t have an example, stop for a moment, open your eyes and be on the lookout for such opportunities.We need things that enrich us and help us find meaning. I’m glad I found something like Ohio State football, even if it seems I was destined not to find it in my life!

So my question to you is: what’s your Ohio State football? or FFA and 4-H? What things do you find that are good, where you feel part of a growing community, where being a part of that thing is bigger than that thing itself?

Buffet meals – love ’em or leave ’em? When I was a college student, my friends and I would save our pennies and go to your run-of-the-mill, inexpensive, all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant. We would gorge ourselves on a Sunday evening so we could live off ramen noodles the rest of the week. It was great. We would grab plate after plate of food until we were more than full.  We would then coax your stomach to handle dessert by making a trip to the self serve ice cream machine as we left. The only limit to our trip to the restaurant was dictated by our stomachs. Wouldn’t life be great if our time limits were dictated only by a sense of fullness? Some weeks you could gorge on time and have days that are well beyond 24 hours. Other weeks, you could live slimmer and have days that are less hours. Unfortunately, our hunger for productivity cannot dictate the hours in a day.  Time is static – your day does not change size. To align with the buffet analogy, instead of time being a product of your stomach, it is a product of your plate.  In this case, one, single, 24-hour plate at a time. And, the only way to get a new plate is to enter a new day.

Last summer, I helped to lead a session for the Ohio Agriculture Teachers’ Conference. The session was less of a traditional workshop and more of a “conversation” around the future of school-based agricultural education (SBAE). We had over 30 teachers attend ranging from pre-service teachers (college students) to teachers in or beyond the 30-year mark. We would pose questions and collect immediate data using the polling platform Poll Everywhere. Although these results were not generalizable to the entire state of Ohio, the data gave us a glimpse as to what some Ohio ag teachers are thinking.  One of the themes that emerged was that of time management. Although time management is not a unique problem to agriculture teachers, I would argue that managing time is specific to your career and the demands placed on you in your work setting, within your profession and among your stakeholders. We have to think about the strategies we apply to the buffet line of life.

We have one plate per day (24 hours). When you walk through the buffet line of life, you can lump all kinds of things on that plate. You can mound stuff on top of each other, but then things get messy and out of control. Certain foods may not mesh well; your dinner roll might get soggy or a savory dish might bleed into your sweet dish. If you’re strategic, you might be able to fill your plate without consequences to your different foods on your plate. No matter the strategy or philosophy, there is one truth that you have to wrestle with – that plate isn’t getting any bigger. You can only control portions.

There’s a good reason why we shouldn’t go to the buffet restaurants every day.  It’s unhealthy.  Even if we can convince ourselves it’s fine to eat more, it doesn’t mean we should eat more. But, if I let you loose in a buffet line and give you one plate, you start to think about your choices differently than if you had unlimited plates. You might be strategic about how your approach the buffet. Your approach might be to stick to foods you know and get more of what’s comfortable, which may mean less types of food. Your approach could be the opposite where you take smaller portions of many foods. You might sample less so you leave less unfinished food waste on your plate. Regardless, you probably wouldn’t mindlessly add food to your plate because there would be consequences to that choice.

Different phases of my life have required different approaches to time management. As an agriculture teacher, 7 hours of your day are locked to teaching classes. There were many balls up in the air to juggle and there were numerous events and opportunities with which I could engage my students. I didn’t always have the time to reflect on my teaching like I wanted to do. At the end of my days, it was common to be both mentally and physically tired. As a college professor, the stakes were high to publish research so I could earn tenure and keep my job (and a job I had spend years in graduate school having taken a major pay cut).  Yes, I’m teaching less hours than when I was a high school teacher and therefore my schedule is more flexible. However, I’m also doing jobs like researching (which, if done correctly, is not a fast process), advising, attending (many more) meetings, and building stakeholder and collaborative relationships in ways I did not as a high school teacher. At the end of my day, my tired looks different as compared to when I was an agriculture teacher. Two different positions – or two different types of buffets – both requiring different approaches.

Time changes how we approach this buffet we call life.  I draw upon my experiences as an agriculture teacher/FFA advisor to illustrate. The opportunities for high school agriculture students/FFA members doubled from the time I was teaching in the early 2000’s from when I was an agriculture student in 1990. For a single teacher program in a school, that’s more opportunity to juggle. And not only that, but changes in education profession have required certain helpings of food on your plate regarding accountability measures and parental involvement, whether you want those portions on your plate or not. Student accountability measures, early career benchmarks and programs, paperwork, and classroom procedure requirements from your school administrators have all changed over the years.

As you think about your strategy of ways you want to build your buffet plate and ways you don’t, I recommend asking these questions before taking a spoonful:

• Does it move the needle? (Do my foods have nutritional value?) – In this question, I look for impact. There are really “neat” things out there that can occupy your time. Dig deep to determine if those neat opportunities make a real impact or simply look cool. For example, I see this play out with novice teachers (both high school and college) who spend hours preparing for activities that have a “cool appeal” but ultimately add little to real, powerful learning.
• Does it allow me to have a life outside of this job? (Am I choosing different kinds of food?) – There is a Forbes article that teases out the conversation of work-life balance versus work-life integration. Regardless of what you call it, I challenge you to think about having an identity that is beyond work, whether that’s family, friends, hobbies, interests, and/or passions. Sometimes, those things overlap your work (e.g. if you love showing livestock and are in a job where you are involved with fairs and shows) and sometimes they don’t. Find ways to spend time on things that don’t overlap – unplug from work and come back to it refreshed.
• Does it bring me joy? (Did I splurge, just a little?) – This seems like a simple question, but sometimes we die on hills doing things because we think we have to do them, not because we want to do them. It is more than acceptable to choose to do something at work, not because you should, but because it makes you happy.  It will make the things that drain your joy more tolerable (let’s face it, no job let’s you do 100% of what you want to do 100% of the time – we just need to get as close to that as possible). You can’t choose the fun things all the time (your plate shouldn’t be filled with desserts), but you have to make room for them.
• Can it wait? (Can I find room for that food on tomorrow’s plate?) – I would be remiss if I didn’t share that this one is particularly difficult for me. I love to crossing things off my list. I love seeing a small red bubble on my mail app indicating few unread emails (which has been my true to do list as of late). But, many of us are in jobs where the “end of the list” simply does not exist. When we finish one big project there’s more to do and more that could be improved. When possible, find a way to identify an end of your work day. Set boundaries. Turn off email notifications on your phone (or for some, take it off your phone completely). Leave that text unread until the morning unless it’s an emergency. You will likely have all-day work days occasionally because of events or activities where you play an integral role last beyond the standard work day – sometimes that is part of the job. Just make sure the days that follow are ones where you can leave work at work.

This is not easy, but finding a framework (or a set of questions) that helps you evaluate what to add on your plate – and if you are going to add it to your plate HOW MUCH to add – can be a powerful tool in determining priorities. If you ask the right questions, they will, from time to time, force you to face bad habits or face decisions that could lead to bad habits. Finally, there are many ways to be successful and there are different strategies that help us achieve our outcomes. Finds the strategies that fill your plate in a way that leaves you full, healthy and satisfied.

I still struggle with time management.  I’m not sure you ever master time management. But, like any relationship, your relationship with time requires work. Like any relationship, your relationship with time will change as you get older.  And like any relationship, your relationship with time can bring your great joy.

Though age may dim our mem’ry’s store
We’ll think of happy days of yore
True to friend and frank to foe
As sturdy sons of Ohio
If on seas of care we roll
Neath blackened sky or barren shoal
Thoughts of thee bid darkness go
Dear Alma Mater…OHIO!

This third verse of our Alma Mater, Carmen Ohio, is not as well known, but I’ve been drawn to it since moving back to Ohio. It begins to acknowledge that as we get older, our memory will diminish, but we will still hold on to those happy moments from Ohio State. The verse continues about how we should act beyond our years at Ohio State: with loyalty, respect, and resilience. The verse ends with the notion that should darker days come our way, we merely need to think of our times at Ohio State.  Even though it would be great if life was that simple, that our mere memories as a Buckeye would chase away all of our issues, there is value on reflecting on our growth while at Ohio State. It’s with that notion that I share these thoughts regarding my hopes for our graduates as you reflect on your time here.

Find a Career Path that is Fulfilling

My first hope is that you are able to take what you’ve learned at Ohio State – both in and out of the classroom – and find a career path that is fulfilling. For some, the path is direct and for others, the path is winding. When a career path is winding, it can be stressful especially to those who appreciate a more linear approach to life. I appreciate linear, but would say my career path has both winding and linear elements. At the beginning of my career, I was not certain I wanted to be an agriculture teacher until after I graduated and was in the middle of my master’s degree program. More recently, I didn’t plan on returning to Ohio State until a bend in the road presented itself unexpectedly. I found joy in both the turns and the straight lengths of my career path and I think you will, too.

Regardless of your career path preference, it is my hope that you are on a path that is fulfilling in ways that are important to you. It’s easy to get caught up in what others think you should do or to fixate on a fantasy of what your career should look like. I tell many individuals aspiring to start a Ph.D. program that it is easy to fall in love with the idea of getting a Ph.D. and being called a doctor, but if you are serious about getting a Ph.D., fall in love with the reality of it (which involves reading, studying, conducting research, then reading more). Find ways to get to know yourself better and I think your career path will become clearer. The process of self-awareness rarely ends after completing a degree – in many ways, it’s just the beginning.

Be Impactful

My second hope is that you are able to take what you’ve learned and be impactful, meaning that you should find ways to enhance the lives of others. Being impactful does not mean you need to lead an industry or field of study (although, that’s cool, too). Being impactful can be a very local act… and it can be as local as your own home. This degree you have earned – one that focuses on working with people – is transferable to so many positions and tasks. When I speak to our Introduction to ACEL course each fall, I share a list of job titles of our ACEL alumni. The list is expansive and includes those in national and state positions and those who are at the local level. The thread they all have in common is the opportunity they have to make an impact on the lives of others.

Being impactful and enhancing the lives of others sounds onerous – and it’s certainly not an easy task. One, I think it takes a sense of service. I don’t think you would be in one of our degree programs that focuses on people if you didn’t have a sense of service to others. You should want to serve to make something better or you should want to serve to provide opportunities or you should want to serve because it’s a calling.  Being impactful to others also takes a sense of community. You’re simply not going to “conquer the world” (or your country or your state or your county or your organization or your school) without the help of others. Surround yourself with people who can support you, but will also ask you critical questions. Find people who believe in moving toward the same general destination, yet also see how to get there differently than you. And embrace the fact that you need mentoring your entire career and not from the same person, people or group of people – and find ways to be a mentor yourself.

Remember, You Now Have More than One Home

Our relationship with you is not defined by whether or not you pay tuition. If we do our jobs well as your faculty and staff, our relationship with you is in the understanding that when you show up at our door, you feel at home.

Even during those 14 years when I was not an Ohio resident, the few times I had the opportunity to step on campus were times I treasured. I know I talk a lot about enjoying “coming home” to work at Ohio State, but I mean every word of it. For me, this place was about tremendous growth, finding a new family made of Buckeye friends, and building a network of people who have a similar passion. After all this time, after 20 years of time and change, this place has a special place in my heart. So remember, you are always welcome back home.

Best wishes to our ACEL graduates! We’re proud of what you’ve accomplished and we will be proud of who you will become!

The students in our department are great. There, I said it. It’s my bias, but I believe there is a compelling argument to support my premise. This has been on my mind lately because, during the spring semester, many types of recognition, awards and positions are announced in the college, across our campus and beyond. To me, there is no surprise that our students are selected for many these accolades and responsibilities. In sum, we have students in majors who focus on people – communicating with people, educating people and leading people. When you have students who study in “people majors,” it should be no surprise they excel at interacting with others and engaging in solutions to issues.

We have excellent example of the ways our students are interacting and engaging across several levels. Let me give you a quick snapshot from 0ur 2017-2018 academic year:

• Mariah Stollar (Senior, COMLDR) was invited to present her undergraduate research to the Ohio House of Representatives after participating in the campus Denman Undergraduate Research Forum; related, Brianna Gwirtz (Senior, AGRCOMM) received first place in the social sciences division at the 2018 CFAES Undergraduate Research Forum
• Fally Masambuka (PhD student, AEE) was selected to represent Ohio State at the Global Food Security Symposium held in Chicago during spring 2018
• Micah Mensing (Junior, ASE) was selected to serve on the 2018-2019 Student Advisory Team of national career development organization AFA
• Ryan Vonderhaar (Senior, AGRCOMM) is a member of the prestigious OSU senior honorary Sphinx
• Ellyse Shafer (Junior, ASE) and Sydney Snider (Senior, AGRCOMM) were 2017 recipients of the Ohio State Alumni Endowed Scholarship – they were two recipients of only 11 from across the campus and only one other department on campus had more than one student selected
• Abby Motter (Junior, ASE) serves as a board member to the university-level Edward S. “Beanie” Drake Student Leadership Endowment Fund
• Carlee Stewart (Sophomore, AGRCOMM) was selected to be a part of the Buckeye Leadership Fellows
• On this year’s (2017-2018) Ohio FFA State Officer team, 4 of the 11 are studying ACEL majors at Ohio State
• Out of the 2018 CFAES Outstanding Seniors, seven of them are studying in ACEL majors (AGRCOMM, ASE, COMLDR)

We would like to congratulate the CFAES Outstanding Seniors! These students will be recognized at our banquet on April 12th! #AdventureAwaitsCFAES #ComeCelebrate pic.twitter.com/ROmc7gXg6F

— CFAES Celebration (@cfaesbanquet) March 2, 2018

Our student success is not a recent phenomenon.  For example, we have had strong representation in the college’s outstanding senior competition. Twenty years ago, I was one of nine from this department selected as a “Top 20 Senior.” At that point in time, that Top 20 list was narrowed to a Top 10 list and announced at our college banquet. Even more striking than having nine of 20 is that out of the Top 10 honorees, eight of us came from this department. But our markers of excellence over time are not only within our college.

Profiles of the 1998 CFAES Outstanding Seniors, from the 1998 AgriNaturalist

Our students have also been well represented across the campus. Aforementioned students in the list above join ACEL alumni who have also served in those organizations and received similar recognition. When you peruse the list of former university leadership award recipients, you may notice several ACEL alumni. During our centennial, we had the opportunity to reflect on our student involvement over the years. In our 100 Facts for 100 Years booklet, we shared many statistics about our student involvement over time:

• Seventy-eight students have served as CFAES Ambassadors. Numerous other students served in phalanx student organization, the precursor to the ambassador program.
• Forty students have represented our department on the Edward S. “Beanie” Drake Student Leader Endowment Fund Board of Directors.
• Stacie Seger McCracken, ‘15, served a two-year term as the undergraduate student trustee on the University’s Board of Trustees. She was appointed to the board by Ohio Governor John Kasich.
• Ellen S. Gilliland, ‘14, won the Spirit of Ohio State in 2013, which recognizes students who represent the values, traditions, and spirit of Ohio State through their engagement in and commitment to the campus community.
• Twenty-four students have been members of Ohio Staters, Inc., a student, faculty and staff organization.
• Our department has had at least 79 students named outstanding senior (Top 20) in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
• Twelve students have been honored as an outstanding University Senior.
• Dustin Homan, ‘12, and Jarred Shellhouse, ‘17, are recipients of the University’s Stanley D. Gottsegan Leadership Award, which recognizes one student leader annually who has demonstrated outstanding involvement in co-curricular activities. Homan was also awarded the Scarlet, Gray and Green Student Leadership Award, presented to an individual student who has shown leadership in furthering sustainability efforts on campus.
• Fifteen students have served as senators for the University’s Undergraduate Student Government.
• Eleven officers of the National FFA Organization have been students in our Department at the time of their service: Ralph Bender, ‘33, ‘41, ‘47 (1930-1931), Glenn Lackey, ‘54 (1949-1950), Dale Ring, ‘59 (1955-1956), Jerome Donovan, Jr., ‘63, ‘89 (1960-1961), Dennis C. Sargent, ‘76, ‘78 (1971-1972), Doug Loudenslager, ‘78 (1975-1976), Rob Hovis, ‘81 (1977-1978), Dan Schroer, ‘93, ‘99 (1989-1990), Katy Poth Endsley, ‘04 (2000-2001), Hannah Crossen Everetts, ‘12 (2008-2009) and Sydney Snider, current AGRCOMM student, (2015-2016).
• Seven graduate students have served on the University’s Council of Graduate Students.
• As a doctoral student, Dr. Jamie Cano, ‘88, served as president of the Council of Graduate students during the 1987-1988 academic year, a position which allowed him to serve on the university’s Graduate Council and the University’s President Cabinet.
• Twenty-four students have been members of the Bucket and Dipper junior class honorary.
• Four students have been inducted into Chimes Junior Class Honorary.
• 133 students have been part of an Ohio State’s ROTC. One-hundred nine ACEL ROTC cadets received a B.S. in agricultural education. Two cadets received a B.S. in agricultural communication. Fort-two received a master’s degree in agricultural education. Ten received a PhD in agricultural education.
• Thirteen students have been members of the Ohio State University Homecoming Court, including Katy Poth Endsley ’04 (AGRCOMM) who was named queen in 2003.
• Forty-five students have marched as part of The Ohio State University Marching Band.
• Forty-seven students have earned a letter as a varsity athlete.

Even further than recognition during your time in college is to ask how our students fare after they graduate and enter their careers? Again, the evidence is strong that we fare well.  During the first weekend this March, CFAES Alumni recognized Ag Ed alum and retired agriculture teacher Cliff Baughman ’59, ’68 with a Distinguished Alumni Award for his years of positive influence on his agriculture students and the greater community in Champaign County, Ohio. Cliff joins the ranks of numerous ACEL alumni who have received this or other college alumni awards.

Beyond awards, we have leaders playing important roles across the broader agricultural industry. In our centennial video, you heard Ohio Farm Bureau Executive Vice President Adam Sharp ’94 (AGRCOMM alum) and Ohio Agribusiness Association (OABA) President Chris Henney ’98 (AGREDUC alum) discuss how this department helped to cultivate their respective futures. Other examples include AGRCOMM alum Hannah Thompson-Weeman ’11, ’12, Vice President of Communications for the Animal Agriculture Alliance, who provides influence and leadership beyond Ohio in her role. This is just the tip of the iceberg as I’ve not even talked about the award-winning agriculture teachers and Extension educators who have provided leadership within the state and across the country in their fields.

Among our graduate student alumni ranks, we have a strong history of MS and PhD alums being selected for university faculty positions. Our alums-turned-faculty win teaching and research awards within and beyond our discipline. Some of those faculty have emerged as academic leaders on their campuses such as Professor Emeritus Dr. Kirby Barrick ,’70, ’73, ’80, who was a Dean at the University of Florida. Dr. Blannie Bowen, ’80 PhD retired as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Penn State; Dr. Barbara Kirby, ’76, ’81 served North Carolina State University as Associate Vice Provost of Administration and Curricular Programs in the University College. And, Dr. David Doerfert, ’89 MS/PhD is an Associate Dean of the Graduate School at Texas Tech University. And if you are a university faculty member in an ACEL-type department or program but don’t have a degree from ACEL, you likely have someone in your academic lineage who does hold such a degree.

I am very proud of our students and alumni. By mere proportion, our presence is strong given the size of our department in comparison to other units across campus. The breadth of ways of students and alumni are represented across the campus and beyond is also impressive. Given those points, I conclude that our representation is not one-dimensional, which is something of which we should be rather proud. Finally, the successes of our alumni provide longitudinal support of the excellence our students bring to their work and interactions.

CFAES Vice President and Dean Cathann Kress shares with our constituents and partners that in our college we have one mission: We Sustain Life. On reflection, I contend ACEL’s specific role in carrying out that mission may be more nuanced. Our alums will likely not be the ones to develop the biological, chemical, environmental or engineering-related discoveries connected to some of our issues surrounding food, agriculture and the environment (unless they obtain an advanced degree in those areas). However, there is one thing our fields’ problems have in common: they all involve people. This leads me back to the title and initial conversation of this post. When you have students who study in “people majors”… you have people dedicated to the mantra: We Enhance Living! I see the way that you all enhance the lives of the people, communities, teams and industries around you and it makes me proud to not only serve as chair, but to be an alum of this department, as well.

As I’m writing this post, I’m sitting in the Orlando airport at my gate and I’m watching a little boy, probably around 3 years old, who is having a massive meltdown. I mean, this is a volcano-level massive meltdown with tears, yelling and swinging of arms. It’s clear that he’s exhausted. And if I had to guess, he probably spent days at one or more of the theme parks. You know, those things that kids love but ultimately leave them exhausted and/or over-stimulated. It’s one of those cases where he will have great memories of his trip, but one where it was also probably too much of a good thing. Watching this process had me ponder a few things. As I write this, we are on the cusp of yet another FFA Week. The interaction of this boy with the onset of FFA Week brought about a question: is there too much of a good thing (FFA)? In other words, can there be too much FFA?

I can certainly think of non-FFA examples of having too much of a good thing. For example, when I was a freshman in college, I learned many things about being independent. In many ways, my parents prepared me well for that transition. But, I did make a few mistakes as I learned to be a self-sufficient adult. As an 18-year-old, I had an unhealthy relationship with Hawaiian Punch, the kind in soda cans. I loved the stuff. I couldn’t get enough – or at least that’s what I thought. Shortly after my parents dropped me off to college, I bought a 12-pack of Hawaiian Punch. I was in heaven. The exciting part was that there was nobody around to restrict my consumption. So, I went to town and had 8 or 9 cans in a two-hour period. And then I paid for having too much of a good thing. Without giving too much detail, I will just say this… Hawaiian Punch burns on the return back up. I don’t think I’ve had a can of it ever since. So, indulgence like this can lead to too much of a good thing, but I go back to the question at hand: can there be too much FFA? Moreover, is there such a thing as FFA indulgence?

As I think about my FFA experience in high school, there was a point where I would have said I couldn’t get enough of FFA. I loved going to conferences, conventions, meetings, activities, and competitions (career development events). I was somewhat obsessed with FFA in a way that culminated in a goal of me wanting to serve as a state FFA officer. I’ve previously shared the story about telling my FFA advisor I wanted to be a state officer.  The gist is this: I told him I wanted to be an officer, he asked me if I was doing this for FFA members or doing this for myself, and knowing it was the latter, I was crushed. I’ve called it a defining moment in my FFA career. It helped me to reflect and ultimately reset my priorities around what was important. In many ways, it was like that unfortunate Hawaiian Punch incident as it felt like it burned on the way up. I lost sight on what was important with FFA and therefore, I probably was indulging in too much of a good thing.

Even though I had many successes with FFA, I also had some difficult moments. These moments helped to build resiliency in me. Whether it was not getting selected to represent my chapter for a competition, not getting my state FFA degree the first time around, or some other defeat, there were time I felt like I had enough of FFA. I was fortunate to have friends and family who helped me find some perspective.  For example, when I was ready to quit FFA after not getting elected as a chapter officer for my junior year, my friend Amy (who was also in the same boat) helped me process why I was in FFA in the first place. In hindsight, I find great value with those experiences. I was able to bounce back from adversity and keep moving forward. I also learned the journey was far more important than the destination. Focusing on the journey allowed me to eventually reach some great destinations.

There are some themes that are emerging. I think there’s some advice in here, too. So, if I can take stab at answering the question – can you have too much FFA – I would say this… FFA is too much of a good thing when you’ve lost perspective. Given that, here are my thoughts for FFA members (and perhaps some advice for FFA advisors embedded in there, too) in thinking about making sure FFA never becomes too much:

1. Think about the learning that occurs through FFA and focus on that. Winning awards and being elected to offices are great things, but those represent the destination. And don’t get me wrong, I think it’s important to work hard and have goals like that. However, when you also focus on the journey – the learning along the way – it doesn’t matter if reach that immediate destination (that award, that office) because you will reach much better destinations in the future. If I’m being honest, there are times I still think about having earned second place in the state 3 years in a row for Parliamentary Procedure and feeling sad having missed winning state all those years. Fortunately, I focus on the bigger picture – the journey – which is having great knowledge about engaging in effective meetings. When I’ve been in meetings at the universities I’ve worked at, I am revered for my parliamentary procedure skills, allowing me to earn credibility when running for faculty leadership positions, which is a more meaningful destination than that first place banner.Newspaper clipping from the Register Herald about earning second place in the Ohio FFA Parliamentary Procedure competition for the 1991-1992 school year. This was the first of a three-year streak of second place wins.
2. Related to the first point, keep yourself in perspective in regard to FFA. There’s no doubt that a large part of FFA is about personal growth. Although personal growth implies there’s a focus on you, your growth isn’t defined by YOU winning, achieving and being elected. Sometimes, the best personal growth is about not winning. It’s about what you learn about yourself from not winning and how you react to adversity. It’s also about how you put others before yourself. Personal growth can be about how you perform as a group as much as how you perform as an individual. Those are skills that will serve you well in the future.
3. In ensuring that you don’t have too much of one thing – have several things. Focusing and prioritizing is great. But, I’ve seen FFA members burn out because they poured everything into FFA. For me, that occurred after my state FFA officer year. I chose not to run for national office because I had indulged in too much of FFA. Part of the problem was that I didn’t have other things to focus on other than my college coursework. So, here are bonuses of diversifying your experiences: one, you get to share with other groups of people the great things you’ve learned through FFA and two, you get to bring new experiences and ideas from other groups to your FFA chapter. It’s a win-win.

This is me, reciting the reporter part of the FFA Opening Ceremony at the 1995 Ohio FFA Convention.

For FFA Week, go ahead and have too much of this great thing we call FFA. That’s what the week is about! When the week is over, reflect about your experiences so you can continue to get all you can out of FFA and never feel like you’ve had too much!

When I was a 4-H’er in Preble County, I took “Genealogy” as a project. It was my opportunity to dig into my family’s history, to determine how circumstances developed in a way leading to my mother and father’s families to eventually settle in Preble County, Ohio. I find that genealogy is a form of self-exploration, which is why I still dabble in it when I have the time. It’s a way to learn about the people who contributed to your DNA and thus an opportunity to  see yourself through people who lived a different way in a different time. It’s a way to understand maybe why you and your family have certain traditions or why your family believes certain things. I think people are constantly searching for themselves and this is a reason why genetic products such as Ancestry DNA and 23 and Me are so popular right now.  But, I also think there are different kinds of family trees you can explore to learn more about yourself.  One such tree is the tree you’ve developed for your career.

So, who do you consider to be in your career or professional family tree? I asked our cooperating agriculture teachers that question in a workshop this past November.  In that context, I asked them to think about their agriculture teacher when they were in high school, their cooperating teacher, any previous student teachers they mentored, influential state staff, beginning career mentors, current mentors and their teacher educators/professors.  Call me nostalgic, but I enjoy reflecting on the relationships I have forged in my career… the people who have mentored me or guided me and those I have had the opportunity and pleasure to mentor. (It’s probably no coincidence that part of my research focuses on mentoring.) But why might it be important to think about your professional network?

Similar to genealogy, thinking about your professional network is important because it can become a tool for reflection. No matter your career path, your professional identity was not created in a vacuum.  Your identity was forged by the people around you. Recognizing the external forces that are a part of you, helps you understand why you do what you do or why you think what you think.  Further, it can be a tool to help you think about your growth – what is is you want to continue doing and what it is you want to change.

When I shared my family tree story with our cooperating teachers, I talked about my career as an agriculture teacher. For example, when I told my high school students that we will “leave a place with a better reputation than the one with which we arrived,” that was a signature Joe Slone (my high school ag teacher) mentality. I have similar stories when I worked with my cooperating teacher, Dena Wuebker, and my early career mentor, John Poulson. My professional family tree continued as my career began to take shape. I had excellent teaching and research mentors from my university training. Dr. Jamie Cano, now retired from Ohio State, taught me how to teach and helped me to fall in love with what it means to be a researcher. The faculty from my Ph.D. program (Drs. Torres, Garton, Terry, Vaughn, Huntze, and Alspaugh) were instrumental in my development as a college teacher and researcher. My faculty mentors (Drs. Zimmerman and Maurer) at the University of Kentucky made sure I survived the promotion and tenure process as a new Assistant Professor.  When I returned to Mizzou, I would lean on individuals like Drs. Rubin, Spain, Ball, Garton and Justice to help me understand what it means to be a faculty leader and eventually what it means to be an administrator.

These stories I shared were not born out of thin air. Said differently, this professional family tree did not happen by accident. Mentoring is a very intentional process from both the mentor and the mentee’s perspectives. There’s a pattern through my career: I have identified mentors at every step even though I was actively engaged in mentoring others. The mentoring process is ongoing.  It’s not an early career process – it’s an entire career process. If you want a robust career, work on your professional family tree – those branches that come before you (mentors) and those branches you nurture that come after you (mentees).

The other part of the story is that I found mentoring in places I did not expect. To be mentored as an agriculture teacher, I did lean other agriculture teachers, but I also received mentoring from the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher at Archbold High School (Bev Emch).  Sharon Huntze, a special education faculty member, taught me so much about how to deconstruct complex content for novice teachers and how to set high expectations as a college teacher.  Before leaving Mizzou to return to Ohio State, I learned a great deal about thinking strategically from Leona Rubin, a Vet Med faculty member turned administrator who was my boss in the Office of Graduate Studies.  Each one provided mentoring in ways I would not have received through typical routes or connections.

According to Kram (1984), there are five psychosocial functions a mentor can provide: acceptance into the profession, role modeling what someone in the profession should “look like”, counseling through problems and issues, building a professional friendship in someone who is approachable and looking out for you, and as noted by the work of Raggins and McFarland (1990), a fifth function of social or building appropriate relationships both in and out of the work place.  A mentor can also provide career-specific mentoring in addition to psychosocial mentoring.  Different mentors will provide some or all of these functions. Look for a range of people to help round out your mentoring team. Even though the mentoring-attraction paradigm tells us we are generally more satisfied with mentors who are more like us, it does not say the mentoring itself is better. It may take someone with a different perspective to help us grow. My career is richer because I had so many mentors who were not white men like me. I think my experiences with a variety of mentors has helped shape and improve my abilities to mentor.

To me, the exciting part of this professional family tree conversation is thinking about how you can be a positive influence or mentor in the lives of others. Early in my career as a professor, I saw that come full circle when I had the opportunity to advise, teach and mentor my agriculture teacher’s daughter, Jessica Helsinger. I was honored when my former teacher dropped his daughter off at UK and said he trusted me to take care of her. I was even more honored as she developed into a successful agriculture teacher and FFA advisor.

Pictured L to R: Me, Jessica Helsinger, and Joe Slone (Jessica’s father) at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture commencement in May 2009.

When I returned to Ohio, I had the opportunity to reconnect with some of my “early branches” of my professional family tree and to see new branches that had emerged. For example, at this past Ohio FFA Convention, I got to connect with my student teacher, Erica Hillard and her most recent student teacher, Shelby Faulkner.

Pictured L to R: Me, Erica Hillard and Shelby Faulkner at the 2017 Ohio FFA Convention

My challenge is this… think about your professional family tree. Reflect on who you are as a professional and how you got there. Find ways to be mentored by others. Find mentors who look at life differently that you. Be a mentor to someone else. Grow your professional family tree and I think you will see that you will also grow your profession.

We have been using the word “change” frequently in ACEL.  Change has been on my mind almost every day. Those thoughts started on August 1, 2016 as I began to take note of what was different from when I was a student in the mid- to late 1990’s. In sum, there were aspects of the department that were familiar, but many that were not not.  For example, of the 13 ACEL faculty in place in 2016, only three of those faculty were here when I was a student; today there are only two of them.

We have been reflecting upon 100 years of changes in the department through our centennial celebration, but I would argue that we are in a period of particularly large change for the department as we prepare to step into the second century on July 1, 2018.  Changes in people of the department can be major gauge of departmental change and we have changed tremendously in that arena over the last 6 years. I thought I would summarize those changes in people to give you a sense of what’s different with the department, starting with the name change to ACEL. And, to give you perspective as you review the list, keep in mind the last ACEL faculty member* hired prior to Dr. Specht in 2014 was Dr. Emily Buck in 2006. The list below includes both faculty and staff changes in the department since 2012:

• The department changed its name from Department of Human and Community Resource Development (HCRD) to Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership (ACEL) on December 9, 2011
• Dr. Gary Straquedine was hired as Professor and Chair beginning July 2012; Straquedine leaves Utah State to join ACEL
• Dr. Annie Specht was hired as Assistant Professor of Agricultural Communication starting autumn 2014; Specht leaves University of Nebraska-Lincoln to join ACEL
• Dr. Caryn Filson was hired as Lecturer in 2014; Dr. Filson teaches various courses for ACEL across all areas
• Dr. Brian Raison was hired in an Extension/ACEL split role as Assistant Professor in spring 2015; he dedicates 20% of his effort to ACEL
• Dr. Gary Straquedine leaves Ohio State after spring 2015 to assume an administrative role at Utah State; Dr. Graham Cochran, Associate Professor in the department, was named interim chair
• Dr. Mary Rodriguez was hired as Assistant Professor of Community Leadership starting August 2015; Rodriguez joins ACEL after graduating from the University of Florida
• Graduate Coordinator and Administrative Assistant Greta Wyrick retires and Mary Kivel is hired in the re-purposed role of Graduate and E-learning Coordinator role in spring 2016
• Dr. Tracy Kitchel was hired as Professor and Chair starting August 2016; Kitchel leaves the University of Missouri to join ACEL
• Dr. Graham Cochran was promoted to Professor and moves out of ACEL in the full-time Interim Senior Administrative Officer position for the college starting August 2016
• Dr. Robert Agunga transitions back to ACEL full-time in Autumn 2016 after having served as Director of the Ohio State Center for African Studies
• In Autumn 2016, Jody Termeer, administrative assistant for ACEL and the OSU Leadership Center, retires from Ohio State; Tamra Booker replaces her and joins ACEL shortly after
• Dr. Jamie Cano retires from Ohio State and takes an administrative position at Utah State over summer 2017
• Dr. Caryn Filson’s role formalizes as she is hired as Assistant Professor of Professional Practice and Agriscience Education Program Coordinator in July 2017
• Dr. Jera Niewoehner-Green was hired as Assistant Professor of Community Leadership starting August 2017; Niewoehner-Green joins ACEL after graduating from the University of Florida and will replace Bob Birkenholz’s faculty line
• Dr. Amanda Bowling was hired as Visiting Assistant Professor of Agriscience Education starting August 2017; Bowling joins ACEL after graduating from the University of Missouri and replaces Jamie Cano’s teaching appointment
• Dr. Susie Whittington, Professor was hired part-time as Director of STEP in October 2017 at 25% time; she will move to 60% time starting January 1, 2018
• Dr. Bob Birkenholz, who is on a 50% appointment, finishes teaching his last course in December 2017; he is set to fully retire in August 2018

Some of our “newer” faculty in ACEL (taken October 6 at the Centennial Celebration); from left to right: Drs. Rodriguez, Buck, Niewoehner-Green, Bowling and Specht

Also during this time, we have college (CFAES) administrators who are hired in the college who would tenure homes with our department:

• Dr. Roger Rennekamp, Associate Dean and Director of Extension
• Dr. Kris Boone, Director of the Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI)
• Dr. Cathann Kress, Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Dean

Outside of the changes in people, here’s what is on the horizon:

• ACEL faculty and staff completely move out of the department spaces in the rooms numbered in the 200’s of the Agricultural Administration Building by mid-December 2017 in preparation for massive renovations beginning January 2018 (set to be completed Summer 2018)
• ACEL graduate faculty assemble major curricular changes for consideration regarding the graduate program; changes were approved by the department in Autumn 2017 and move forward with college and university approval processes in 2018
• In 2017, ACEL undergraduate programs begin reviewing curriculum for potential changes
• In Autumn 2017, we began to look at our ACEL Alumni Board, its make-up and its purpose.  In 2018, we launch a revised board with continuing and new members.

Needless to say, it’s an exciting time to be a part of ACEL.  There are many other points of change I could surface, but this gives you an idea of the trajectory we’re heading in regard to change.  In a department of our size with 13 faculty and 5 staff, the change has proportionally large. Personally, I enjoy change as both a leader and as a follower, but there will probably be a point when I’ll be excited for us to enter a period of stability… and then ready for more change.  The cycle continues where Time and Change will surely show not only our friendship, but our progress.

* I want to fully acknowledge there was an era where our Rural Sociology colleagues were part of the department when we were HCRD; this post focuses on the department in its current configuration (ACEL)