UF Agricultural Education and Communications ranked No. 1 in nation

October 30, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Recently, the University of Florida’s Department of Agricultural Education and Communication has been identified as the leading department of its kind in the nation.

A research team at The Ohio State University conducted a national survey of agricultural education department chairs to rank the top-10 departments. UF’s Department of Agricultural Education and Communication was listed as No. 1 by 25 percent of the respondents, and nearly half listed the UF department as one of the top two.

Respondents cited the faculty, graduate program and research program as the department’s outstanding features.

Kirby Barrick, dean of UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said he was pleased by the ranking. “We are very proud of the accomplishments of the faculty and students. Our doctoral program in agricultural education is less than 10 years old, so this recognition of the graduate and research programs is especially noteworthy,” he said.

Department Chairman Ed Osborne attributed the strong showing to a faculty filled with prolific researchers who undertake high-profile leadership posts in their academic fields. “Our faculty is outstanding, they’re highly visible on a national level, well respected and some of the most prolific researchers around,” he said.

The department has worked to strengthen its graduate program in the last decade, and students’ visibility on the national scene is another key to the department’s success, he said.

Texas A&M University and The Ohio State University ranked second and third, respectively, in the study. The study’s results were presented in May at the annual conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education in Louisville, Ky.

UF’s Department of Agricultural Education and Communication is part of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and offers undergraduate through doctoral degree programs, including an online master’s degree program for agriscience teachers and extension educators.