November 2023 | Issue No. 12
The Land-Grant Ledger Tennessee State University College of Agriculture
Read more on page 6...
Inside this Issue:
Dean’s Message:
Dean’s Message
Dear friends and supporters,
Christina Jacob Intro
In our continued quest to serve stakeholders better, we have expanded our academic units in the College of Agriculture from two to five. The College of Agriculture will now have the Department of Agricultural Sciences and Engineering, the Department of Agricultural Business and Education, the Department of Environmental Sciences, the Department of Food and Animal Sciences and the Department of Human Sciences. With this new structure, we hope to offer more focused academic programming and targeted research and outreach. See page seven for more. Our leaders continue to shine at a national level. Dr. De’Etra Young, the Associate Dean for Academics and Land-Grant Programs won the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Excellence in College and University Teaching Award for Food and Agricultural Sciences. I also took home some hardware at the APLU USDA event, winning the National agInnovation Award. See pages two and six for info. Our Marketing and Communications Team is slowly shaping up and we present our new graphic designer Ms. Christina Jacob in this issue. Check out her bio on page two. There are a lot more brief glimpses of what’s happening here at the TSUAg in this issue of the Land-Grant Ledger, so please read on! Sincerely, Dean Chandra Reddy
Dr. Reddy Wins Award MENTOR Program Visit Tipton County Extension Update Cheatham County Extension Update Knox County Extension Update DeKalb County Extension Update Hamilton County Extension Updates Sevier County Extension Update De’Etra Young Wins National Teaching Award Fall ‘23 Student Showcase Atlanta Career Development Conference TSUAg Restructuring
November 2023 Newsletter | College of Agriculture
College of Agriculture Bolsters Communications Team - Part 2 In April 2023, Oakland-based designer Christina Jacob became part of TSU College of Agriculture’s communications team as a Graphic Designer. A recent graduate from Fisk University with a degree in Graphic Design, Christina uses her skills to elevate brands globally, having worked with businesses across Georgia, California, Tennessee, Michigan and more. A content creator, food enthusiast, and horror fan, Christina has embraced a new journey in Tennessee, eagerly anticipating the exciting experiences ahead.
Graphic Designer Christina Jacob has joined the College of Ag. Communications team.
Dr. Reddy wins the AgInnovation National Excellence in Leadership Award
TSU Ag Dean Dr. Chandra Reddy was recently named the winner the ESS/agInnovation National Excellence in Leadership Award.
November 2023 Newsletter | College of Agriculture
Tennessee State University College of Agriculture Dean Dr. Chandra Reddy was recently named the winner of the ESS/ agInnovation National Excellence in Leadership Award from the ARD Region at the 2023 ESS agInnovation 2023 Fall Meeting held Sept. 24 to Sept. 26 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The award recognizes individuals who have served with exemplary distinction through a regional experiment station association, national section, and the national Land-grant system. Dr. Reddy is also the Director of Research and Administrator of Extension for TSU’s College of Agriculture. Congratulations, Dr. Reddy!
Research
TSU Hosts University Partners for MENTOR Program Meeting During the last week in October, TSUAg played host to visitors from a handful of partner universities as part of the Multiinstitutional mEntoring Network for Transforming Organizational cultuRe (MENTOR) project, a collaboration that brings together five institutions to boost the presence of students in STEM-based food, agricultural, natural resources, and human (FANH) sciences disciplines. This project creates collaborative capacity-building partnerships between 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities, aiming to empower faculty leadership teams to develop campusbased mentoring programs that enhance recruitment and retention in FANH majors. The USDA-funded initiative, spearheaded on the TSU side by Dr. De’Etra Young, brought together representatives from TSU, Langston University, Tuskegee University, Ohio State University and Purdue University in their committment to fostering a supportive culture and increasing opportunities in STEM-based FANH disciplines.
Dr. De’Etra Young and TSU played host to representatives from Langston University, Tuskegee University, Ohio State University and Purdue University for a MENTOR group meeting in late October.
Extension
Tipton County Extension’s 4-H Dairy Products Judging first-place finishing team at the state competition.
The second squad from Tipton County 4-H Dairy Products Judging team took home second-place at the state competition.
Tipton County 4-H Teams Dominate Annual Dairy Products Judging Contest Under the guidance of UT-TSU Tipton County Extension Office agents Sydney Smith and Brigitte Passman, a pair of 4-H Dairy Products Judging teams from Tipton County 4-H finished in first and second place respectively at the annual Tennessee state 4-H Dairy Products Judging competition, held Oct. 7 in Knoxville. The first-place team was made up of Bella Forrester from Brighton High School along with Alayla McCoy and Arriyonna Roberts from Covington High School. Roberts took home fourth in the individual honors. The second-place team featured Kaylee Higgs from Munford High School, Annalyse Sanders from Covington High School and homeschooled student Valarie Diaz. Sanders was the contest’s overall high scorer. Dairy Products Judging trains young people in decision-making skills related to milk and milk products.
November 2023 Newsletter | College of Agriculture
Extension
Cheatham County Welcomes Two New Extension Agents The UT-TSU Cheatham County Extension Office welcomed two new Extension Agents to its team in recent months, bringing on Amos Wilson and Amber Work to the team. Wilson, a native of Dickson County, earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agri-business from the University of Tennessee at Martin. His favorite pastime activities include supporting UT football, spending time with family and friends and doing just about anything in the outdoors. Amber Work graduated from TSU with a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Family Consumer Sciences Education. She received her Master of Business Administration degree from Trevecca University and is currently working on her doctorate degree in Business Administration. Amber has served as a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher and Business teacher with the Montgomery County and Dickson County school systems. Amber was born and raised in Dickson County, TN. She and her husband, Lance, currently live in the Burns community. Amber loves to cook, travel and spend time with family. She is also an avid Vols football fan.
Amos AmberWilson Work recently joined the the UT-TSU Cheatham County TSU-UT Extension Office as an Extension Extension Office Agent.as an agent.
Amos WilsonUT-TSU recently joined the Newly-hired Cheatham TSU-UT Cheatham County Extension’s Extension Office County Extension Office. Extension Agent Amber Work.
Correction: Knox County Extension Smart Yards Event
We erred in giving TSU Extension Agent Rylan Thompson (pictured) creative credit for the TN Smart Yards & Friends event last month. Credit for the event should have gone instead to UT’s Dr. Andrea Ludwig and Smart Yards project leader Mona Yethiraj of the Knox County Master Gardener volunteers.
Last month, we erred in stating that our colleague, TSU Extension Agent Rylan Thompson of the UT-TSU Knox County Extension Office “spearheaded” the Office’s Sept. 16 TN Smart Yards & Friends event held at the University of Tennessee gardens. In hindsight, we should have made it clear that while TSU’s Thompson contributed to the event, it was UT’s Dr. Andrea Ludwig and Smart Yards project leader Mona Yethiraj of the Knox County Master Gardener volunteers who were the driving forces for the event. Our apologies Dr. Ludwig and Mona!
DeKalb County Extension Office Hosts Chick Chain Finale
DeKalb County 4-H Chick Chain Poultry Show and Auction participants (from left to right) Lydia Slager, Joley Fortner, Carly Fortner, Kaylee Womack, and Autumn Crook show off awards they took home.
November 2023 Newsletter | College of Agriculture
In October, the TSU DeKalb County Extension Office played host to the Dekalb County 4-H Chick Chain Poultry Show and Auction, which serves as the final event for its 2023 4-H Chick Chain program. Program participants brought the best three hens from their Chick Chain flock for judging at the event, which is highlighted by cash prizes for winners. A total of 45 students participated in this year’s program, which raised over $7,000 to fund this year’s prizes and next year’s Chick Chain program. TSU Extension Agent Brooklynn Gunter helped oversee the competition.
Extension
Hamilton County Extension Works Scrappy’s Cupboard TSUAg’s Hamilton County Extension Office took part in a produce giveaway and educational session at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga’s student food pantry Scrappy’s Cupboard last month. Hamilton County SNAP-Ed Extension Agent Janice Hartman chipped in at the giveaway, sharing recipes and tips on how to prepare the produce and stretch food resources with approximately 50 participants. The event was just a part of Hartman’s busy October SNAP-Ed curriculum during which she held an additional seven classes that provided nutrition, food resource management and physical activity advice and information to limited-resources adults in Hamilton County.
Hamilton County Extension Agent Janice Hartman participated in a recent food giveaway at UT Chattanooga’s Scrappy’s Cupboard food pantry.
Amarasekare Visits Hamilton County Gardeners
Junior Master Gardeners from Sevier County learned some lessons in ecology recently with members of the Great Smoky Mountain Rangers.
The Hamilton County 4-H Gardening Club welcomed TSU Associate Professor of Entomology Dr. Kaushalya Amarasekare to the club’s Oct. 30 spider-themed meeting. Dr. Amarasekare gave a presentation on spiders to the club members, who are all 4th through 8th graders. Dr. Amarasekare included information on identifying spiders (including poisonous spiders) and how to attract beneficial spiders to the garden. Both the club members and the parents who attended had lots of questions about spiders and very much enjoyed the presentation.
Learning Ecology with the Junior Masters Gardeners of Sevier County The Tennessee State University College of Agriculture’s Sevier County Extension Office has been doing some important work with its Junior Master Gardener program. In October, Sevier County Extension Agent Matthew Anderson and the group took to the Smoky Mountains with members of the Great Smoky Mountain Rangers team to learn about ecology. The youngsters learned how to measure the health of the local environment through the observation of insects, fish and other wildlife populations. Students had the chance to find insects in the forest and the streams, identify them and make connections to ecology health.
Junior Master Gardeners from Sevier County learned some lessons in ecology recently with members of the Great Smoky Mountain Rangers.
November 2023 Newsletter | College of Agriculture
Academics
Young Takes Home National Teaching Award The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this month named TSUAg Professor and Associate Dean of Academics and Land-Grant Programs Dr. De’Etra Young as a national recipient of the organization’s Excellence in College and University Teaching Award for Food and Agricultural Sciences. The ceremony for the award took place last month, in Seattle. Dr. Young was one of two educators the APLU named winners of the award, which celebrates university faculty for their quality of teaching, service to students, the teaching profession and scholarship of teaching and learning. In recognition of her scholarship, exemplary pedagogy and dedication to instruction Young took back to campus a stipend of $5,000 to be used for improving teaching at TSUAg.
Dr. De’Etra Young (pictured here with USDA NIFA Director Dr. Manjit Misra) was recently named the winner of a national APLU teaching award.
Fall 2023 Student Showcase In October, students, faculty members and representatives of the TSUAg administration assembled for the Fall 2023 Student Showcase, highlighting the experiences of undergraduate students’ summer internship programs. In short, this past summer was a productive one for students at the College. A total of 21 TSUAg undergrads presented their summer internship experiences throughout the country at the Showcase, held Oct. 20 at the Agriculture Information Technology Center on campus. At the event, students who’d participated in summer internships each took their turn at the podium, spending five to 10 minutes presenting their experiences, which ranged from agriculture-focused research projects, to study abroad experiences, to corporate-based non-agriculture projects.
Dean Reddy and Dr. De’Etra Young with the 2023 class of TSUAg summer interns last month at AITC.
USDA’s Williams Leads Career Development Trip The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) TSU liaison Eston Williams and a group of students from the Colleges of Agriculture and Engineering took off from campus for an 1890 Land-Grant University-focused career development conference in Atlanta earlier this month. There, the students were educated on the soft skills necessary to enter the job market, spending time updating their resumes and transcripts and even interviewing with USDA officials for positions with the government after graduation.
November 2023 Newsletter | College of Agriculture
TSU students (from left) Amani Matlock, Elana Bodude, Grace Colvin, Reaghan Cohen, USDA liaison Eston Williams, Zaria Bullard, Ruba Nasif, Angelica Smith, and Charity McWilliams recently ventured to Atlanta for an 1890 Land-Grant University-focused career development conference.
Academics
Faculty members from the four newly created departments at the College of Agricutlure met in November to plan the new departmental rollout.
TSUAg Prepares for Restructuring In November, TSU’s College of Agriculture faculty descended upon the FarrellWestbrook Agricultural Complex auditorium for an important meeting on the College’s upcoming departmental restructuring. More than 70 faculty from the College of Agriculture showed up for the gathering, which saw the four new departments that will debut in the spring semester assemble as groups for the first time. Each of the new departments, the Agricultural Sciences and Engineering Department, the Environmental Sciences Department, the Food and Animal Sciences Department and the Agricultural Business and Education Department came together as collective units for breakout meetings during the event, spending time considering curriculum and organizational changes that could be implemented as part of the new organizational structure of the College.
November 2023 Newsletter | College of Agriculture
Editor/Writer: Charles Morrison Graphic Designer: Christina Jacob
Phone/Fax: 615-963-7561 Website: www.tnstate.edu/ agriculture
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