Using Community Engagement to Enhance Student Learning in Animal Science: Farm to Fork - At Home and Abroad

Abstract Text: Community engagement in the animal sciences takes many different forms. Our Pioneer Academic Center for Community Engagement (PACCE) was founded as a way to help faculty from all across campus to engage students with community partners to increase learning opportunities that involve problem-solving. PACCE projects are funded through segregated student fees and allow each faculty member to design projects that will engage students without a significant financial burden on the course. Many disciplines, such as engineering and business, have community partners looking for the specific expertise of the course and the students within. Animal science courses have historically been less able to attract community partners and so we have had to seek them out more intentionally and controversy exists as to whether this approach compromises the engagement process. Surveys and interviews were conducted in animal science, agribusiness, and agriculture engineering technology to determine if differences in approach to finding community partners changed the experiences and outcomes for faculty, students, and community partners in the different disciplines.  From on-farm projects creating standard operating procedures to exploring ice cream flavors for a local business to doing community service during study abroad experiences (such as Ghana and Romania), students that engage in these activities have an increased investment in the course, a greater sense of civic responsibility, and an overall awareness of how they fit into the larger community regardless of discipline. Community partners felt equally engaged throughout the projects.  Struggles for faculty include finding time to organize these projects as well as garnering acceptance from colleagues that these projects are worthy of the same weight as grant-writing and research publications.

Keywords: community engagement, study abroad, farm to fork