Scholarly Works, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education
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Research articles, presentations, and other scholarship
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- Team Science: Fostering Collaboration Among DifferenceKaufman, Eric K. (2025-06-30)Presentation for faculty collaboration workshop with the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC). Invited by Dr. Woong-Ki Kim, Associate Director for Research at TNPRC.
- Leadership Strengths Escape Room [2025 Virginia 4-H Congress]Kaufman, Eric K.; Oyedare, Israel (2025-06-26)Leadership requires collective problem-solving, leveraging the potential of individuals’ strengths. This workshop will introduce participants to the strengths-based leadership framework and allow them to experience the concepts through an escape room activity. Participants must crack codes and solve puzzles to successfully access a lockbox of prizes. Get ready; the clock is ticking!
- Storying the FEW Nexus: A Framework for Cultivating Place-Based Integrated STEM Education in Rural SchoolsScherer, Hannah H.; Azano, Amy Price (MDPI, 2025-06-13)When education in STEM, social science, and the humanities are disconnected from each other and from place, it is inauthentic and nonresponsive to the lived experiences of people and communities. In rural spaces, the Food–Energy–Water (FEW) Nexus, a framework for problem solving and decision-making around these central resources, is salient because of the concentration of FEW resource production and extraction present. Storying the FEW Nexus is an interdisciplinary pedagogical framework that is theoretically rooted in a critical pedagogy of place and socio-ecological systems. Storying the FEW Nexus brings together these two related but distinct frameworks, calling attention to the need for relevant, place-based, and rural-focused narratives within STEM instruction. Developed for K-12 learners in rural places, Storying the FEW Nexus positions STEM knowledge and skills as resources that, alongside local narratives, are vital to the sustainability and viability of communities with unique and intertwined environmental justice histories and current realities. The FEW Nexus is leveraged to support rural learners in developing sustainable solutions to local socio-ecological systems issues. In this conceptual paper, we review the literature base supporting this integrated approach, describe the framework within the context of these aims, and make suggestions for researchers and practitioners.
- Boosting Workforce Readiness: Employability Skills Through Digital Learning BadgesCoartney, Jama S.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Westfall-Rudd, Donna M.; Seibel, Megan M.; Friedel, Curtis R.; White, Amy; Carmichael, Celeste (North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), 2025-06-03)In an evolving agricultural industry, students must be equipped with critical professional and employability skills to thrive in the modern workforce. The Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL) project has developed a suite of digital learning badges to help students build competencies in these essential areas. The badges are grounded in research from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU), which identified 11 key employability skills with significant gaps in workforce readiness. By earning badges such as “Communicate Effectively,” “Analyze Problems,” and “Navigate Change and Ambiguity,” learners are better positioned to meet employer expectations. Each badge requires learners to meet specific learning outcomes through practical application and reflection. The two-part learning modules involve both an interactive activity and a written reflection. The modules are flexible, allowing instructors to adjust specific activities to meet the needs of their course or program while upholding the core badge objectives. Early adopters of the AWT4CL badging system have noted that digital learning badges can help students recognize the value of life experiences. One faculty member noted the gamification used in combination with reflective practice helps students look for real-life experiences that exemplify what they are learning in the classroom. The idea of bridging experiences and acknowledging the reflections with a badge helps students gain confidence, build competence, and recognize workforce skills development. This conference presentation will introduce attendees to these digital learning badges, designed to promote critical skills such as communication, decision-making, leadership, and professionalism. The presentation will address how instructors can integrate these badges into curricula using game-based learning approaches to foster student engagement and skill development. Educators can adopt this freely available tool to improve student workforce readiness, increasing their awareness of professional competencies critical to success in agricultural careers.
- Engaging Stakeholders Through Inquiry, Story, & Presence [DSPG 2025]Kaufman, Eric K. (2025-06-23)Workshop for summer interns with Virginia Tech's Data Science for the Public Good Program.
- Investigating the Perceived Link Between Intercultural Mentoring and Cultural Competence Among Graduate Students and FacultyAdebayo, Bolanle; Sunderman, Hannah M. (Wiley, 2025-06)Intercultural mentoring relationships, which are increasing in higher education, require cultural competence to be effective and successful. Therefore, the current study focused on perceptions of cultural competence and intercultural mentoring effectiveness among graduate students and faculty in departments of Agricultural Leadership, Communication, Education, and Extension (ALCEE) and leadership educators in the United States. Using an online survey, 32 participants shared their perceptions of mentoring effectiveness and cultural competence. The findings from the thematic analysis revealed a perception of intercultural mentoring as aiding the development of cultural competence by providing an experiential learning platform where participants learned intercultural relationship skills (e.g., how to deal with cultural differences). In addition, lessons learned through intercultural mentoring were perceived as transferable to other intercultural relationships. Our findings inform specific recommendations for intercultural mentoring training.
- Elements of Leadership: Considerations for "Citizenship"Kaufman, Eric K. (2025-06-07)Opening seminar for 2025 TYIL Fellowship Program, an an initiative of the Teens and Youths in Leadership (TYIL) in Nigeria.
- How Do We Retain and Promote Followership Scholarship and Discourse? Opportunities with a Digital Followership CollectionOyedare, Israel; Kaufman, Eric K. (2025-05-29)While followership research is increasingly becoming popular, its literature is thinly dispersed, making it difficult to find. Thus, Virginia Tech, through a mini-grant and two years of research, is building a digital followership collection with the goal of supporting and advancing the field. This session will introduce participants to the platform, share its potential benefits across contexts, and demonstrate the prospect of artificial intelligence for sustaining the field of followership.
- Everyday Followership: How We Lead by Following in Life’s Most Personal ArenasKaufman, Eric K. (2025-05-30)Followership is often framed in workplace and organizational contexts, but its impact extends far beyond professional settings. This facilitated session explores followership in deeply personal aspects of life, including healthcare, fitness, religion, and civic engagement. Participants will engage in discussions about how individuals navigate power, responsibility, and decision-making as followers in these areas. The session will examine how effective followership contributes to well-being, ethical decision-making, and social cohesion. Through interactive exercises and shared experiences, attendees will identify strategies for enhancing their followership in ways that support personal growth and community development.
- The Role of Leadership in Poverty Reduction: What Works?Poudel, Sonika; Kaufman, Eric K. (American Assocaition for Agricultural Education, 2025-05-22)Leadership plays a crucial role in addressing poverty and promoting sustainable development (Chanda & Chitondo, 2024). Collective leadership can strengthen community resilience and enhance organizational performance (Arkedis et al., 2023). Through this research, we have identified the leadership characteristics and strategies that can be most effective in tackling the system of poverty. In our research, humble leadership stands out as an important leadership framework in poverty reduction efforts. Humble leadership has been found to build trust between leaders and their followers in an organizational setting (Cho et al., 2021). Our research emphasizes how it can be leveraged by the organizations and leaders working to address poverty
- Building the future: A practice-based approach to youth leadership developmentOyedare, Israel; Kaufman, Eric K.; Council, Austin (Emerald, 2025-05-06)Purpose: While leadership is a popular field of research and practice, there is a need for more studies emphasizing youth leadership development. The importance of youth leadership development in solving complex societal and organizational problems cannot be overemphasized. The purpose of this teaching tool is, first, to contribute to the field of youth leadership development. Secondly, gleaning from nonprofit work in Africa, this article aims to explore emerging leadership education approaches for developing young leaders. Design/methodology/approach: This research maximizes a recent evaluation of the Teens and Youth in Leadership (TYIL) Fellowship program, conducted using a focus group interview with previous participants and assessing the impact and relevance of TYIL’s model for the leadership development among youth. Findings: Participants believed that the model adopted by the TYIL Fellowship for youth leadership development is relevant for their personal leadership successes and can be adopted by other youth leadership programs. Originality/value: The featured program is novel, with potential for broad application. Youth program leaders, faculty members and practitioners can utilize this teaching tool research for developing young leaders in their various contexts.
- Exploring the Applicability of KAI in Evalpreneurship: A Pilot Study with Evaluation Consultants and EvalpreneursUwitonze, Nicolas; Archibald, Thomas G.; Friedel, Curtis R. (2025-04-07)As a pilot study contributing to a dissertation study, this poster explored the applicability of Kirton’s A-I in evalpreneurship with Intention2Impact (I2I)’s, where a purposive sample from I2I's evalpreneurs (owners or co-owners of evaluation business) and their team of 4 evaluation consultants were select for this pilot study. This qualitative pilot study informed by quantitative data (demographic survey and KAI data) took place during the Summer & Fall of 2024 and explored the preferred problem-solving styles and how preferred & coping behaviors are evidenced in their evaluation consulting practice.
- Strengthening the Voice: A Program for Local Farm Bureau LeadersCarter, Hannah S.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Rudd, Rick D. (2007-07-12)
- Got Followership? Rethinking Leadership from the Other SideKaufman, Eric K. (2025-03-04)90-second presentation for Virginia Tech's 2025 Faculty Nutshell Talks.
- Courageous Followership Amid UncertaintyKaufman, Eric K.; Oyedare, Israel; Olowoyo, Olamide (2025-03-25)Guest lecture on courageous followership for Virginia Tech's undergraduate course on "Toxic Leadership." Guiding Questions: How do we view leadership? What are the priorities with followership? When might courage be necessary?
- Am I maintaining, reforming, or transforming the status quo? Exploring the role of followership in leading changeOyedare, Israel; Kaufman, Eric K. (2025-02-14)This paper aims to uncover emerging followership discourses and themes. Additionally, this study examines how current and historic trends have shaped the direction of followership research and studies. The research utilizes the World Café approach in collecting data from participants of three professional conferences: the Global Followership Conference, the Association of Leadership Educators conference, and the International Leadership Association global conference. Artifacts from the sessions were analyzed thematically by manual sorting. The findings reveal three followership discourses — Maintaining, Reframing, and Transforming discourses. Furthermore, the study highlights the influence of social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, power relations, etc. on followership discourses. The fluid and dynamic nature of World Café increases the risk of different interpretations and misconstruals of participants’ contributions. Further research is needed to confirm the findings and advance the understanding of followership discourses. This paper will be beneficial to scholars and practitioners who are seeking understanding on how to build, recognize and appreciate a followership culture within their environment, including management development and related educational programs. This study adopts the World Café approach, an unconventional qualitative data collection method for followership research and studies, highlighting its potential within participatory research. Additionally, the research presents a novel effort to explore the influence of historical and current trends in followership discourses.
- Leadership systems for tackling the system of povertyPoudel, Sonika; Kaufman, Eric K. (2025-02-13)Leadership plays a crucial role in addressing complex social challenges, such as poverty. Traditional leadership models have evolved to incorporate more collaborative, systems-based approaches that emphasize collective action. This study examines leadership’s role in poverty reduction efforts within the Commonwealth of Virginia, where poverty rates have declined despite national trends. By exploring leadership within civic organizations and government systems, this research identifies key contextual factors that enhance or hinder poverty alleviation. Drawing on qualitative methods, the study involved interviews with 14 leaders from organizations working to combat poverty. Thematic analysis revealed two core findings: (1) poverty is a systemic issue influenced by generational cycles, economic mobility barriers, and structural inequities, and (2) leadership is multifaceted, requiring both formal (institutional) and informal (community-driven) approaches. Leaders operating at different levels—policy-makers, organizational leaders, and community advocates—play distinct yet interconnected roles in addressing poverty. The findings suggest that collective leadership enhances community resilience by fostering networks of support, enabling policy innovation, and improving access to resources. However, leadership effectiveness depends on navigating economic, social, and emotional complexities. The study highlights the importance of empowering local communities as active participants in leadership processes, ensuring sustainable poverty reduction efforts. This research contributes to interdisciplinary discussions on leadership and social change by integrating perspectives from public policy, sociology, and community development. The insights offer practical implications for policymakers, educators, and nonprofit organizations seeking to strengthen leadership strategies for poverty alleviation.
- How Do We Talk About Followership? Uncovering Followership Discourse(s) through World CaféKaufman, Eric K.; Oyedare, Israel (Emerald, 2025-03-18)This paper aims to uncover emerging followership discourses and themes. Additionally, this study examines how current and historic trends have shaped the direction of followership research and studies. The research utilizes the World Café approach in collecting data from participants of three professional conferences: the Global Followership Conference, the Association of Leadership Educators conference, and the International Leadership Association global conference. Artifacts from the sessions were analyzed thematically by manual sorting. The findings reveal three followership discourses — Maintaining, Reframing, and Transforming discourses. Furthermore, the study highlights the influence of social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, power relations, etc. on followership discourses. The fluid and dynamic nature of World Café increases the risk of different interpretations and misconstruals of participants’ contributions. Further research is needed to confirm the findings and advance the understanding of followership discourses. This paper will be beneficial to scholars and practitioners who are seeking understanding on how to build, recognize and appreciate a followership culture within their environment, including management development and related educational programs. This study adopts the World Café approach, an unconventional qualitative data collection method for followership research and studies, highlighting its potential within participatory research. Additionally, the research presents a novel effort to explore the influence of historical and current trends in followership discourses.
- Mentoring Conversations That Matter: Tools and Strategies for GrowthKaufman, Eric K.; Niewolny, Kimberly L. (2025-03-05)Mentoring is a cornerstone of academic and professional development, yet many faculty struggle to foster truly impactful mentoring relationships. To deepen their mentoring practice, this interactive workshop introduces participants to practical tools and strategies from The Encouraging Mentor: Your Guide to 40 Conversations that Matter. Designed for faculty at all career stages, the session will focus on facilitating meaningful conversations that inspire growth, encourage curiosity, and build trust. Participants will explore actionable methods to initiate and sustain mentoring relationships, including conversation prompts that help uncover mentees' goals, values, and potential. We will discuss how to tailor mentoring approaches to diverse needs and contexts, emphasizing inclusive practices and flexibility. Key topics include fostering psychological safety, navigating cross-difference mentoring, and balancing encouragement with constructive challenge. Through hands-on activities and group discussions, attendees will practice using conversation tools and develop strategies for applying these techniques in their mentoring contexts. The session will also introduce free resources, such as videos and worksheets, to support participants in extending their learning and integrating the tools into their mentoring practices.
- The Spectrum of Community EngagementKaufman, Eric K.; Johnson, Lonnie (2025-02-05)Community engagement is a key focus of Cooperative Extension’s mission to foster collaboration and develop culturally relevant solutions for communities. Drawing upon insights from the VCE situation analysis and the work of Extension Leadership Councils, this session will explore diverse models of community engagement, emphasizing how Extension’s program delivery has evolved from traditional, expert-driven approaches toward more collaborative, transformative practices. Attendees will explore the Engaged Model of Program Delivery, which offers a pathway toward sustainable, contextualized problem-solving. The session will also feature the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum of Public Participation, a model that illustrates the continuum of engagement from informing to empowering the public in decision-making processes. We will highlight how different forms of communication—one-way, two-way, and deliberative—shape the outcomes of community engagement efforts. Additionally, we will consider Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation as a critical framework for understanding the levels of public power in decision-making. This session will provide practical insights and tools for VCE professionals to enhance their community engagement strategies and navigate the spectrum of participation, from service delivery to empowerment.