Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications

http://alec.tamu.edu

Head: Mathew Baker

Associate Head for Graduate Programs: Scott R. Cummings

The Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications offers graduate studies leading to the degrees of: Master of Agriculture in agricultural development, a degree program approved for distance education delivery, and three campus degree program options, Master of Science (Thesis) option, Master of Science (Non-Thesis option), and Doctor of Philosophy, all of which major in agricultural leadership, education, and communications.

Professionals completing these degrees work in a variety of contextual settings including agricultural communications/journalism, organizational and community leadership, extension education, instructional design and delivery, international agricultural development, and teacher education. Departmental faculty members maintain contact with professionals in their field. These contacts enable faculty members to teach and direct research in support of graduate programs with an appreciation of the important and complex problems encountered by professional practitioners. The faculty provide leadership to international and national organizations within the discipline. Students will benefit from the faculty members’ different research inquiries, professional interests, perspectives and knowledge.

Master's Programs

Three Master’s degree program options are available for individuals interested in career areas such as public relations account manager, communications coordinator, agricultural science teacher, sales representative, county extension agent, leadership consultant, social and public service, instructional designer, and international development specialist. Because of the diverse social and behavioral sciences nature of these careers, degree plans will vary considerably and are generally unique for each individual's career aspirations.

For more information about the degree programs, visit the specific degree program page.

Doctoral Programs

The Department offers a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications. The PhD is a campus-based degree program and a specialized, research-oriented degree. The program prepares individuals for university faculty positions, opportunities in natural resource management, extension education, international development, public and corporate leadership roles in education, and many other professional careers in agriculture and life sciences. Coursework gives the candidate a thorough and comprehensive knowledge in the field of study and methods of research.

For more information about the degree programs, visit the degree program page.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

For additional information about the graduate faculty and programs available in the department, contact the program coordinator or visit the ALEC website.

Certificates

The Department offers four certificate programs that will enable individuals to gain specific knowledge and skillsets. All certificates are available for students in our department and from other departments across campus. The Agriculture eLearning Development and the Leadership Theory certificates are approved for distance education delivery, however some courses may also be offered as campus-based courses. The Extension and International Agriculture certificates are obtained by completing synchronous campus-based courses, however some courses may also be completed via distance education delivery. All departmental certificates may be completed as: 1) Part of a degree program, 2) by applying as a certificate option only (non-degree status), or 3) continuing education.

For more information about each certificate program, click on the certificate program tab above or visit the links below.

Cost to Complete a Certificate

All certificates offered by the department may be completed in an academic degree program, in certificate only status (non-degree) as academic credit (active enrollment at Texas A&M University), or by Continuing Education.

If an individual is not currently enrolled at Texas A&M University, completion of the certificate courses and "transcripted" completion on a university transcript is obtained by enrolling at Texas A&M University by submitting an certificate only application (non-degree). If accepted, students will complete the courses for academic credit. These courses may be applied towards a degree program in the department. Completing the certificate in this status requires that academic credit is based on Texas A&M University tuition and fees. Review tuition and fee charges on the Student Business Services website. Tuition and fees charges may be subject to change.

Individuals not wishing to enroll academically at Texas A&M University, may inquire about completing a certificate as Continuing Education. Cost of continuing education credit is currently $525/course and may be subject to change. No continuing education credit units are awarded. A certificate completed through continuing education will not be listed on a university transcript, and many people prefer "transcripted" certificate programs.

The expenses related to required software or textbooks is not included in the fees associated with Texas A&M tuition and/or fees for the certificate.

For more information about completing a transcripted certificate program or a non-transcripted certificate through Continuing Education, visit the ALEC Certificate website.

Agriculture Leadership, Education and Communication

ALEC 601 Advanced Methods in Agricultural Education

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Learning theories; techniques and procedures to enhance the teaching-learning process; methods to evaluate learning.
Prerequisite: Graduate Classification.

ALEC 602 Advanced Instructional Design in Agricultural Science

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Designing instruction to meet learning outcomes, motivate students, and evaluate objectives; learning theories and their impact on the teaching and learning process; choosing appropriate teaching methods for specific content; evaluating the teaching-learning process for improvement within the context of secondary agricultural science classrooms.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

ALEC 603 Experiential Learning

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Theory and practice in facilitating learning from experiences in formal, informal, and non-formal settings; experiential learning in classroom/laboratory settings, guided inquiry, internships/externships, service learning, project-based learning, and outdoor/adventure learning.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 604 Writing for Professional Publication

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Provides students in Agricultural and Extension Education with the skills necessary to compose research manuscripts, conference papers, and journal articles.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

ALEC 605 Facilitating Complete Secondary Agricultural Science Programs

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Theory and practice in facilitating secondary agricultural science programs that include classroom instruction, supervised experience, and youth leadership development. Designed for students preparing to teach agricultural science in Texas public schools.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 606 Foundations of Leadership Theory

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Theory and Practice of leadership theory foundational to leadership education. Focus on analysis of leadership theories and models; synthesis of leadership theory as a philosophy; and application of leadership theories in various professional settings.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 607 Youth Leadership Programs

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Methods and procedures of organizing and conducting youth leadership programs in school and non-school settings.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 608 Leadership of Volunteers

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Models of volunteerism; reasons for volunteers; assessment and evaluation techniques; task descriptions; organizational relationships.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 609 Learning Organizations

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Theory of instruction to support education in social systems language and archetypes; systems thinking theory including mental models; mastery, team learning, concept models of human organizations.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

ALEC 610 Principles of Adult Education

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Identification of basic principles motivating adults to learn. Procedures to implement these principles in bringing about changes in adult behavior.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 611 Advanced Methods in Distance Education

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Course design theory for synchronous and asynchronous instructional methodology; teaching and training models for distance education.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 612 Advanced Instructional Design for Online Learning

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Emphasis on applying learning and teaching theory as the foundation for developing engaging online instruction; designed to pull together theory, concepts, and strategies for a broad understanding of the fundamentals of online learning from the conceptual stage to the development and delivery stages.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

ALEC 613 Techniques in eLearning Development and Delivery

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Provides the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and deliver effective online courses, training programs, and learning units; specific topics include: management of eLearning projects, needs assessment and audience analysis, creation and editing of documents, images, audio, and video.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

ALEC 615 Philosophy of Agricultural Education

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Historical and philosophical developments in education that brought about education in agriculture; ideas of individuals that culminated in agricultural education institutions and organizations.
Prerequisite: Graduate Classification.

ALEC 616 Facilitation of Leadership Programs

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Investigate models to design leadership education programs; incorporate strategies to enhance the leadership education process; critically analyze leadership education research and group leadership education processes.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 617 Leadership in Organizational Culture and Ethics

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Integration of organizational culture and ethical theories; implications and role of leaders in organizational culture and ethical situations; critical analysis of organizational culture and ethics in agricultural organizations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 618 Leadership of Teams

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Team development theory within the context of the agricultural industry; emphasis on research on team member behaviors, team decision making models and positive conflict in team environments; examination of principles of building highly effective teams by analysis of the variety of interrelated practices underlying group dynamics within agricultural organizations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 620 Instrumentation and Survey Research Methods

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Principles, theories, techniques, and applications for developing survey questionnaires and conducting survey research in agriculture; developing questions; constructing instruments; implementing surveys; and reducing coverage and sampling errors.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 622 Data Collection, Analysis, and Interpretation in Research in ALEC

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Data Collection, Analysis, and Interpretation in Research in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications. Principles and techniques of data collection, analysis, and interpretation in agricultural leadership, education, and communications; interpretation and implications of finds/results in relation to current research; data analysis performed using statistical package software; collection, analysis, and interpretation to conform to published research in agricultural leadership, education, and communications.
Prerequisite: Research methods and basic statistics courses; graduate classification.

ALEC 623 Survey of Evaluation Strategies for Agriculture

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Designed to pull together theory, concepts, and strategies to give a broad understanding of the fundamentals of evaluation and to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to design and administer appropriate and effective evaluations.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 624 Developing Funded Research Projects

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Students team with faculty mentor to develop a proposal for external funding from a federal agency; principles discussed to produce competitive proposals; proposal steps adapted to fit interests of the students and faculty.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 625 Program Evaluation and Organizational Accountability

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Examines the philosophy, methods, and issues of accountability and evaluation necessary to meet expectations of institutional mandates. Special emphasis on analytical tools and performance measures.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 630 Guidance and Counseling for Rural Youth

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Problems of youth with special attention given to rural youth; theories of vocational development reviewed and techniques and procedures developed to help youth make career choices.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 631 Development and Planning of Community Education Programs

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Focuses on the principles, theories, techniques, and applications for developing and planning educational program in a community setting; program development strategies, focusing educational programming in relation to issues identified citizens will be developed and enhanced in this course.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 640 Methods of Technological Change

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Dynamics of cultural change as theoretical framework for planned technological change; methods of planning and implementing change, its effects and how it can be predicted.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 644 The Agricultural Advisor in Developing Nations

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Trends, conditions, critical incidents, techniques, roles and preparation affecting the success of persons desiring to provide technical assistance in projects of agricultural development by serving as agricultural advisors in developing nations, especially in cross-cultural settings.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 645 Initiating, Managing and Monitoring Projects of International Agricultural Development

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Origin of projects in agricultural development involving host governments; procedures in developing contracts with sponsors; duties and responsibilities of contract administrators, project leaders and the home institution; reporting systems, project reviews and evaluation procedures; procedures effective in managing projects.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 646 Institutions Serving Agriculture in Developing Nations

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Comparisons among programs and functions, strengths and weaknesses, organization, and relationships of institutions and agencies in public sectors serving agriculture in developing nations; includes those responsible for agricultural extension, agricultural research, agrarian reform, price stabilization, agricultural credit and agricultural cooperatives.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 652 Images of Agriculture: Visual Communication Research

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Explore visual communication from theoretical, physiological, and interpretive perspectives as it applies to media images used to depict agriculture and agricultural issues; current research in visual communication and its application to agriculture; use of visual images in agricultural communication research.
Prerequisite: ALEC 695 or introductory research methods.

ALEC 681 Seminar

Credit 1. 1 Lecture Hour.

Group study and discussion of current developments in agricultural education; research and legislation as they affect programs in teacher education, agricultural science and related areas of education.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 684 Professional Internship

Credits 1 to 6. 1 to 6 Other Hours.

On-the-job supervised experience program conducted in the area of the student's specialization.
Prerequisites: Graduate classification.

ALEC 685 Directed Studies

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Other Hours.

Studies related to classroom, laboratory, supervised activities in agriculture, work experience, extension education and adult educational activities in agricultural programs.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 689 Special Topics in...

Credits 1 to 4. 1 to 4 Lecture Hours.

Selected topics in an identified area of agricultural education. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 690 Theory of Agricultural Education Research

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Theory and design of research problems in agricultural education; communication of research proposal and results of research; evaluation of current research of faculty and students; review of current research literature. May be taken three times for credit.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 691 Research

Credits 1 to 23. 1 to 23 Other Hours.

Initiation and completion of research for advanced degree.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 692 Professional Study

Credits 1 to 23. 1 to 23 Other Hours.

Approved professional study of project undertaken as the terminal requirement for degree of Doctor of Education; preparation of a record of study summarizing the rationale, procedure and results of the completed project.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 693 Professional Study in Agricultural Leadership Education and Communications

Credits 1 to 3. 1 to 3 Other Hours.

Approved professional paper undertaken as the requirement for the Master of Agriculture. May be taken more than once, but not to exceed 3 hours of credit toward a degree.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 695 Frontiers in Research

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Basic concepts of quantitative and qualitative research; understanding the social science research process; using appropriate methods to address research problems; enabling students to effectively evaluate, consume, and communicate research findings.
Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

ALEC 696 Qualitative Research Methods

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours.

Overview of qualitative research in agricultural education including conducting a literature review, writing a working hypothesis, keeping methodological and reflexive journals, developing data gathering tools, performing data analysis, ensuring trustworthiness measures, and writing a research manuscript.
Prerequisites: ALEC 690 or ALEC 695 and graduate classification.

Archer, Holli R, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2013

Baker, Mathew, Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Ohio State University, 1990

Boyd, Barry L, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1991

Briers, Gary E, Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Iowa State University, 1978

Dooley, Kim E, Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1995

Dunn, Allison L, Instructional Assistant Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2018

Dunsford, Deborah W, Senior Lecturer
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1993

Elbert, Chanda D, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, The Pennsylvania State University, 2000

Elliot, John F, Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Ohio State University, 1988

Felton Odom, Summer R, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2011

Harlin, Julie F, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Oklahoma State University, 1999

Lockett, Landry L, Senior Lecturer
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
EDD, Texas A&M University, 2007

Moore, Lori L, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, University of Florida, 2003

Murphrey, Theresa P, Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1997

Murphy, Timothy H, Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1995

Preston, Tammie M, Instructional Assistant Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2014

Redwine, Tobin D, Instructional Assistant Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 2014

Strong Jr, Robert L, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, University of Florida, 2010

Strong, Jennifer R, Associate Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Oklahoma State University, 2007

Wingenbach, Gary J, Professor
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Iowa State University, 1995

Zent, Rodney L, Assistant Lecturer
Ag Leadership, Educ & Comm
PHD, Texas A&M University, 1981