As the global human population increases, the need to provide sustainable food and water systems is becoming more prevalent. The United States has been at the forefront of training individuals to contribute to the agricultural and natural resource workforce by establishing the land-grant university (LGU) system. However, LGUs face challenges…

This study investigated agricultural leadership development programs within the U.S. land-grant university system, initially launched by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in 1965 and currently offered by 38 universities nationwide. Despite their widespread adoption, these programs often lack explicit integration of leadership scholarship and may…

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) provides authentic and relevant contexts for applying STEM concepts to solve real-world challenges. Land-grant institutions have expertise, mission-aligned values, and infrastructure to make local connections with K-12 teachers and students to support the integration of AFNR in STEM teaching. This…

There is a defined need to provide accessible and effective professional development for 4-H educators. Lesson study is a Community of Practice-based approach to educator professional development. Prior research has shown lesson study to be effective with 4-H staff, adult volunteers, and teen volunteers. This inquiry, a multisite case study, was…

Agricultural education teacher preparation programs constantly attempt to keep pace with 21st-century agriculture and provide relevant pedagogical and content training for pre-service teachers. The National Research Council urged land-grant universities to focus on the needs and demands of students. This study aimed to identify Iowa State…

This mixed methods study aimed to explore the perceptions of employees' belongingness, uniqueness, and inclusivity within the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) system. A survey with quantitative and qualitative questions was used for data collection from February to April 2021. Respondents were UF/IFAS…

Preparing college students with the skills to engage in multidisciplinary problem solving, especially as it relates to the wicked problems of agriculture, has been called for by scholars for nearly two decades (UNFAO, 2006; Boyer, 1998; NRC 1998). Our nation's Land Grants, with the mission to provide practical education, and particularly…

A sense of belongingness in the underrepresented minorities (URM) collegiate experience requires that the student feel the university provides a safe and welcoming environment. The purpose of this study is to explore the sense of belongingness that contributes to URM's perceptions while participating in the summer programs at Kansas State…

Land-grant colleges and universities play a crucial role in addressing the complex challenges facing the U.S. agricultural system and global food security. Multidisciplinary collaboration involving a diversity of land-grant institutions has the potential to accelerate scientific progress on those challenges. However, historical and current funding…

Recently, enrollments at numerous American universities have been trending downward. This has led to an increasingly competitive atmosphere for attracting new students, creating the need to better understand why students ultimately attend their chosen institution. Prior research has explored factors that influence students to pursue agricultural…

The history of professional organizations for teacher educators in agriculture is long and diverse. As formal vocational agriculture programs were established in the early 1900s it became evident that there was a need for professionally trained vocational agriculture teachers. This demand for agriculture teachers resulted in the new profession of…

In this article, I read Hilgard Hall as a text of whiteness to explore how one campus building at the University of California, Berkeley renders racial power relations in the academy. Through the lens of critical whiteness studies, I examine Hilgard Hall's namesake, architecture features, and weighty epigraph, "to rescue for human society the…

As the world faces increasingly complex issues, there is a recognition in many disciplines that the existing paradigm of reductionist and linear thinking is not enough to address these issues. The agriculture, food, and natural resources fields are facing a host of issues that defy solutions in part because of the level of complexity. Systems…

This article provides a historical review of the FCS profession beginning with the Progressive Era and founder Ellen Swallows Richards. The review includes a summary of significant historical events and legislation, that reveal how the FCS profession addressed the needs of individuals, families, and communities from inception to the present. From…

Many land-grant institutions with agriculture and natural resource programs in the United States offer online courses to meet student demand. The goal of this study was to understand how major educational stakeholders, including instructors and students, perceive the benefits and limitations of online teaching and learning in agriculture and…