Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL)

By Jama Coartney and Donna Westfall-Rudd --  In Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope , bell hooks writes about the stress of grading:  " Like many teachers I found grading 

By Jama Coartney --  As the demand for leadership skills increases, instructors and administrators are faced with some tough decisions about how to proceed and meet both the technical as well as leadership skills. With an education pathway already jam-packed, how do you add more leadership development into the curriculum? Segmented Approach Integrated Approach  One approach involves increasing the availability of courses dedicated to leadership skills.  Another option involves integrating aspects of leadership into already existing courses. Both approaches have their advantages.  In addition to opportunities for leadership development through coursework, students in agriculture programs also an additional option—internships.  Internships provide students a unique opportunity to gain experience and leadership development as they work toward completing their degree program.

In preparation for the Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership Project, Virginia Community College Faculty were interviewed to gain a better understanding of what is needed to prepare agriculture students for the workforce. In the following video, Amy White—Virginia Western Community College's Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics—summarizes observations from these interviews. 

In this video, Dr. Eric Kaufman provides an overview of the current state of workforce preparedness, which is being explored from multiple perspectives, including students, parents, and industry. He also introduces a couple of national reports that offer insight on employability skill development within community college programs.     Featured reports from the video include the 2021 Cengage Graduate Employability Report and the  Strada Public Viewpoint Findings