Scholarly Works, Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education
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Research articles, presentations, and other scholarship
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- Mobilizing People to Tackle Tough Challenges: The Structural Dynamics of Adaptive LeadershipKaufman, Eric K. (2026-04-07)Guest lecture for Virginia Tech's ALCE 6014 class on "Theories in Non-Formal Learning."
- Generative AI as a Cognitive Bridging Partner: Applying Adaption–Innovation Theory to Human–AI CollaborationKaufman, Eric K. (2026-04-14)As organizations increasingly integrate generative artificial intelligence (AI) into leadership, education, coaching, and knowledge work, an important question emerges: How might AI interact with or facilitate cognitive style diversity? Kirton’s (2003) Adaption–Innovation (A–I) theory provides a rigorous framework for understanding differences in problem-solving style, structure preference, cognitive gap, and coping behavior (Fridel, 2023). While AI tools are rapidly entering the workplace, they are rarely examined through the lens of cognitive style (Jablokow, 2026). This roundtable proposes that generative AI can be explored not merely as a productivity tool, but as a structured thought partner that may: support Problem A (task resolution), Influence Problem B (managing cognitive diversity), serve as a potential cognitive bridger, and/or affect coping load across wide KAI gaps. The session aligns directly with the 2026 Symposium theme, KAI at 50: Shaping the Future of Work and Wellbeing, by examining how A–I theory can guide responsible and style-aware AI integration in leadership and teamwork contexts. Rather than positioning AI as a replacement for human cognition, this roundtable situates A–I theory as an interpretive framework for understanding and shaping human–AI collaboration.
- Faith and Justice: Church Leadership's Impact on Prison ReformAkowuah, Yaw Asamoah; Adusei, Frank Y.; Kaufman, Eric K.; Crowder, Loy V. (Stephen F. Austin ScholarWorks, 2026-04-03)This study examines the Church of Pentecost’s (CoP) pioneering prison reform initiative in Ghana as a faith-based response to systemic overcrowding and inadequate rehabilitation infrastructure. Through a qualitative case study design, the research analyzes in-depth interviews with church leaders and media staff, alongside institutional documents, to explore how religious leadership intersects with correctional policy. Findings reveal that CoP’s “Vision 2023” strategy positioned prison decongestion as a moral and national imperative, leading to the construction of five “Inmates Skills Acquisition and Reformation Centres.” These facilities integrate vocational training, spiritual care, and modern infrastructure, aligning with Rehabilitation Theory’s emphasis on humane, reintegration-focused corrections. The project exemplifies transformational leadership, characterized by visionary commitment and ethical mobilization of resources. However, it encountered significant public and internal resistance due to communication gaps and the novelty of faith-based prison construction. The study contributes to scholarship on non-state actors in justice reform, demonstrating that religious organizations can drive structural change when grounded in theological mandates like missio Dei and imago Dei, yet underscores the critical need for proactive stakeholder engagement to ensure legitimacy and impact.
- Bonding & Bridging Social Capital in TeamsKaufman, Eric K. (2026-03-04)Guest lecture for Virginia Tech's LDRS 5544 class on "Leading Teams Through Change."
- CARET Connections for Sustaining the Land-grant PromiseKaufman, Eric K. (2026-02-22)
- Towards Achieving a Sustainable Future: The Need for Global Leadership in Addressing Climate ChangeAdusei, Frank Y.; Olowoyo, Olamide; Kaufman, Eric K. (Data Plus, 2026-02-27)The accelerating climate crisis presents an urgent global challenge that demands effective leadership across all levels of society. This paper argues that global leadership, characterised by vision, inclusivity, collaboration, and innovation, is essential for advancing sustainable development and responding effectively to climate change. Drawing on the Global Leadership for Sustainability (GLfS) model, this paper examines how leadership grounded in ethics, interconnectedness, and systemic thinking can bridge the gap between science and policy. The paper highlights how diverse leadership approaches catalyze tangible climate action using successful case studies such as the Montreal Protocol, the International Solar Alliance, and youth-led climate movements. It also examines persistent barriers, including misinformation, political polarization, economic inequality, and cultural divides, that hinder unified global efforts. The analysis reveals that overcoming these challenges requires empowering communities, enhancing climate financing, fostering international cooperation, and cultivating emerging youth leaders. This calls on global leaders to lead by example, engage the private sector, and prioritize equity in decision-making. Ultimately, it positions leadership not merely as a function of governance but as a moral obligation to ensure planetary survival. Adopting a global leadership mindset can help humanity forge a resilient and sustainable future amid the climate crisis.
- From Compliance to Culture: Ethics in Agricultural Education ResearchKaufman, Eric K.; Haugen, Inga (2026-02-02)Ethics in agricultural and life science research is often treated as a matter of compliance, yet the integrity of our work—and public trust in it—depends on everyday decisions made in labs, classrooms, and communities. This interactive session adapts Virginia Tech’s Innovative Research and Ethical Impact (IREI) model to the context of the American Association for Agricultural Education (AAAE), positioning Southern Region scholars as catalysts for ethical cultures in academia. Participants will (1) explore how social norms and informal mentoring shape “how we do things” in research groups and departments, (2) identify ethical dimensions within their own current or planned projects across the research pipeline—from formulating questions to disseminating findings, and (3) practice strategies for communicating and addressing ethical concerns in ways that align with AAAE Research Values and AFNR priorities such as environmental health, diversity and inclusion, youth development, and safety. Using brief case scenarios and peer discussion, we will foreground questions of who is affected, how, and with what scope and severity, emphasizing the human consequences of decisions in agricultural and related social science research. The session is designed for faculty, graduate students, and academic leaders who want practical, discipline-relevant tools for moving beyond one-off responsible conduct of research trainings toward a sustained community of practice around ethics in academia. Participants will leave with concrete conversation prompts, reflective questions for research teams and classrooms, and an action plan for modeling ethical research and teaching practices within their own spheres of influence.
- Strategies for Transformational Leadership Development Among 4-H YouthKaufman, Eric K.; Oyedare, Israel (American Association for Agricultural Education, 2026-02-09)
- Youth Transformational Leadership Development: Identifying Bottlenecks and BarriersOyedare, Israel; Kaufman, Eric K. (American Association for Agricultural Education, 2026-02-01)
- One Continuous Side: Rethinking Followership with the Möbius StripKaufman, Eric K.; Council, Austin (2026-02-07)What if leading and following aren’t opposites, but the same continuous skill? Using the Möbius Strip as a hands-on metaphor, this session reimagines leadership as shared, dynamic, and courageous—no matter where you stand.
- Leading in Place with Teams: Building Better CollaborationKaufman, Eric K. (2026-01-16)Workshop for the Provost's Leadership Development Program: 2025-26 Leading in Place Cohort
- Factors Influencing Gen Z Volunteerism: Insights from a Multistate Study of 4-H Alumni Values and PreferencesNayak, Roshan; Butterfield, Cheryl; Miner, Gemma; MacArthur, Stacey; Sinha, Aditya; Schwarting, Donna (American Association for Agricultural Education, 2025-12-08)This multistate exploratory study examines factors and preferences influencing volunteering decisions of Generation Z early 4-H alumni. Guided by the I.S.O.T.U.R.E. volunteer administration model, the study surveyed 910 Gen Z 4-H alumni across six states in the Western region of the U.S. to identify key factors affecting their decisions to begin and continue volunteering. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that personal value alignment, readiness to commit, and organizational support significantly influenced Gen Zers’ volunteering decisions. Volunteer preferences (short-, medium-, or long-term) were also found to moderate the impact of certain factors, particularly for those motivated by long-term commitment and value congruence. Cluster analysis further identified two distinct groups based on how strongly they were influenced by these emerging factors. The results showed those in the highly influenced cluster were more likely to value education, community-building, and family. Additionally, we found that volunteering decisions are driven by a cause and influenced by personal connections, invitations, and prior relationships with the organization. The multistate study underscores the importance of tailoring recruitment, training, and engagement strategies to align with Gen Zers' social values, career interests, and preferences for meaningful, tech-enabled experiences. The findings offer practical implications for 4-H youth development program aiming to enhance volunteer recruitment and retention by adapting strategies to meet the expectations of Gen Zers.
- Growth-based grading: A non-traditional approach to grading in leadership educationSunderman, Hannah M. (Emerald, 2025-07-01)Purpose: A principal pursuit of higher education in the United States is fostering critical thinking, application and empowerment among students. However, a gap exists between this pursuit and traditional grading structures, which can restrict students’ thinking and motivation in pursuit of grade achievement. Therefore, the current pedagogy manuscript describes the development, implementation and evaluation of one system of non-traditional grading, growth-based grading (GBG), within leadership education. Design/methodology/approach: GBG emphasizes students’ self-assessment of their learning in collaboration with the instructor. Specifically, GBG utilizes complete/incomplete assignments, heavy feedback and reflective portfolios to document course engagement and encourage students’ metacognition. GBG was implemented over five courses at two large, land-grant institutions. Participants (N = 83) completed a survey evaluating their perceptions of GBG in comparison to traditional grading. Findings: Quantitative survey results revealed a significant difference between perceptions of GBG and traditional grading with participants perceiving GBG more favorably than traditional grading. Open-ended survey responses emphasized that GBG reduced stress while enhancing focus on class content, learning and creativity. Participants also shared critiques of and suggestions for GBG, including providing more feedback on performance. Practical implications: Curricular leadership educators are urged to regard grading as foundational to pedagogy, interrogating if and how assessment structures align with content, learning objectives and overarching beliefs about leadership education. Originality/value: The field of leadership education has actively explored instructional practices and pedagogy; yet, grading structures, although a significant component of students’ curricular experience, have largely been absent from inquiry.
- “Who Am I?” Exploring Leader Identity Low Point Narratives for College Student Leadership DevelopmentSunderman, Hannah M.; McCain, Kate D.; Orsini, Jonathan; Adebayo, Bolanle; Cheng, Abigail H. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025-11-01)Leader identity development (LID) is an essential component of leadership development in meaning-making processes. Previous study of LID focused on positive leadership experiences. The current study explored stories of leader identity low points (i.e., negative leadership experiences) of 26 college students at four large institutions across the United States. A multimethod data collection process studied narrative thematic analysis and emotion coding. Results revealed that participants’ LID low points occurred during times of transition, rejection, toxic leaders and environments, or self-worth struggles, including low points of sadness, embarrassment, and anxiety. When participants made meaning of low points through support networks and reflection, they experienced coherent positive resolution, reframing the low point as a period of growth. The current study emphasizes the essentiality of studying and discussing negative leadership experiences among college students, centering emotions in student leadership development theory and practice, encouraging the development of coherent authors following LID low points, and arguing for support networks as having a social buffering effect for challenging experiences.
- Insights from the Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership ProjectKaufman, Eric K. (2025-12-05)Join the Agriculture & Extension Leadership Focus Area Network for an engaging session with Dr. Eric Kaufman from Virginia Tech, who will share insights from the Agriculture Workforce Training for Collaborative Leadership (AWT4CL) project. This initiative leverages digital badging to recognize and assess leadership competencies, equipping students with verifiable credentials that strengthen their employability and career readiness. Dr. Kaufman will provide an overview of the AWT4CL digital badging framework, lessons learned from implementation, and practical tips for writing grants and building programs that integrate digital credentials into agricultural and leadership education.
- Virginia Cooperative Extension 2026 Faculty Leadership Development Program PreviewSeibel, Megan M.; Kaufman, Eric K. (2025-12-05)The VCE Faculty Leadership Development Program (FLDP) is a dynamic professional development opportunity designed to enhance VCE faculty leadership competencies. Goals of FLDP are to increase programmatic, community, administrative and/or volunteer leadership effectiveness. Participants graduate from the program better prepared for future leadership opportunities. The FLDP leads, Eric Kaufman & Megan Seibel, will share more details about the program & the positive impacts/outcomes of those who have participated in previous years. This session is just in time before applications are made available to participate in the 2026 FLDP cohort.
- Identifying solutions for youth participation in Agriculture in Rural HondurasSkhisazana, Nompumelelo; Aljawharah, Aljohani; Humay, Sadig; Mitchell, Garber; Alsudairy, Dima; Oyedare, Israel (2025-05-19)
- Suitability of paddy cultivation in the Western province of Sri Lanka under different climate change scenariosPitawala, Kasuni G.; Vidanage, Shamen P.; Mutuwatte, Lal P.; Alotaibi, Bader Alhafi; Najim, M. M. M.; Nayak, Roshan K. (Public Library of Science, 2025-10-27)Climate change poses a significant threat to global agriculture, with implications for food security. Regions that rely heavily on rain-fed agriculture, especially in developing countries, such as the Western province of Sri Lanka are particularly vulnerable. The current research aims to assess future climate expectations and their impacts on paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka's Western province for the purpose of identifying measures to address the multi-faceted consequences of climate change. The main objective of the study was to determine the spatial suitability of paddy in the Western province for the years 2030 and 2050 under different climate change scenarios. Rice occurrence points and bioclimatic variables were employed to model the spatial suitability of paddy under current, 2030 SSP 245, 2030 SSP 585, 2050 SSP 245, and 2050 SSP 585 climatic conditions using 'biomod2' package of RStudio software. The results revealed that areas unsuitable for paddy cultivation increased under 2030 SSP 245 (1,437.30 km2), 2030 SSP 585 (1,594.80 km2), 2050 SSP 245 (2,624.40 km2), and 2050 SSP 585 (2,627.10 km2) conditions when compared with current (1,044 km2) climatic conditions. Further, the simulation indicated that the species range change between the current climatic conditions and 2030 SSP 245 (-16.58), 2030 SSP 585 (-13.62), 2050 SSP 245 (-37.03), and 2050 SSP 585 (-50.51) is negative. The percentage loss in paddy range between current and 2030 SSP 245, 2030 SSP 585, 2050 SSP 245 and 2050 SSP 585 climatic conditions were shown to be 52.94%, 47.89%, 22.07% and 67.85%, respectively. Therefore, the results of the present study highlight the need for a comprehensive approach that integrates climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture to ensure food security and to protect vital ecosystems. The findings of this study can be utilized by researchers, policymakers, and practitioners aiming to achieve global sustainability goals.
- Nanofood insights: A survey of US consumers' attitudes toward the use of nanotechnology in food processingParrella, Jean A.; Leggette, Holli R.; Lu, Peng; Wingenbach, Gary; Baker, Matt; Murano, Elsa (Academic Press-Elsevier, 2024-10-01)Novel applications of nanotechnology in food processing hold tremendous potential to revolutionize the food industry and address challenges in food security and public health. Understanding and addressing consumers' evolving attitudes toward the use of nanotechnology in food processing is important to promote the technology's adoption and inform the development of regulatory frameworks that align with societal values. We used a survey research design to explore U.S. consumers' attitudes toward such uses of nanotechnology. Through the literature, we identified various cognitive and affective factors that have influenced, or have the potential to influence, consumers' attitudes, and we used those factors to develop a comprehensive regression model. We collected data from a national sample of U.S. consumers (N = 1071). The regression model accounted for 64.22% of the variance in attitudes toward nanotechnology (adjusted R2 = 62.94%). Perceived benefits, subjective norms, institutional trust, and subjective knowledge significantly and positively influenced participants' attitudes toward the use of nanotechnology in food processing while perceived risks and food technology neophobia significantly and negatively influenced participants' attitudes. These results suggest that communication strategies should emphasize consumer-centric benefits of nanotechnology, mitigate perceived risks, leverage social influences, and prioritize food safety-related messaging from institutional bodies.
- Social change isn’t always in technicolor: teaching group values in leadership with 12 Angry MenCouncil, Austin; Olowoyo, Olamide; Moore, Autumn (Emerald, 2025-03-21)Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the usage of the film 12 Angry Men as a way to teach group values in leadership education. In this process, the paper showcases student voices based on a qualitative thematic analysis of existing course data to provide evidence for the film’s usefulness in this context. Design/methodology/approach: We used a basic qualitative approach within a single case study design. The “case” was an online introductory leadership course at a large, land-grant university. Using existing data (n = 83 responses) from a discussion post assignment, we conducted a thematic analysis, developed codes based on the in vivo technique, which led to larger, emergent themes. The data were initially arranged based on three areas: initial reactions to the film, identified Social Change Model (SCM) group values and observed leadership behaviors. Findings: Findings show that most students were engaged while watching despite the slower-paced, black-and-white format and that it depicted all three of the group values of the SCM: collaboration, common purpose and controversy with (and without) civility. Students also observed key leadership behaviors based on the actions of juror #8, who turned the tide of the film through his courage, influence and congruence of values throughout the jury deliberation process. Originality/value: 12 Angry Men highlights the benefits of using film to teach hard-to-grasp leadership concepts involving group dynamics, standing up for your beliefs and the notion of “change” having a snowball effect. Despite being a film shot in an entirely different time period in American society, students nonetheless were captivated by the film’s powerful depiction of the nuances of group dynamics, which makes 12 Angry Men both original and valuable to use in leadership education.