Texas Tech’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources will inaugurate a new faculty development initiative this month, selecting 16 faculty/staff members and advanced graduate students for the first cohort of its Engaged Scholars Program.
'We want to make sure that our faculty have the tools necessary to effectively integrate outreach and engagement into their already outstanding programs.'
The program reflects a growing emphasis within higher education on outreach and engagement – work that connects teaching and research to communities beyond campus. For Davis College, that shift is both strategic and cultural, said Erica Irlbeck, associate dean for outreach and engagement.
“Outreach and engagement continue to become more important parts of our lives in the Davis College and across Texas Tech,” Irlbeck said. “We want to make sure that our faculty have the tools necessary to effectively integrate outreach and engagement into their already outstanding programs.”
Participants include:
- Diego Gomez-Maldonado | Fiber & Biopolymer Research Institute |Assistant Professor
- Wenxuan Guo | Plant & Soil Science |Associate Professor
- Kylie Harlan-Smith | Agricultural Education & Communications | Lecturer
- Moses Katta | Agricultural & Applied Economics | Ph.D. Student
- Micayla Lamb | Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance | Ph.D. Student
- Sarahi Morales-Vanegas | Agricultural Education & Communications | Assistant Professor of Practice
- Lindsay Nakonechny | Animal & Food Sciences | Ph.D. Student
- Carlos Portillo-Quintero | Natural Resources Management | Associate Professor
- Courtney Ramsey | Natural Resources Management | Research Associate
- Abishkar Regmi | Plant & Soil Science | Post Doctoral Research Associate
- Lacey Roberts-Hill | Agricultural Education & Communications | Assistant Professor
- Deepti Singh | Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance |Research Scientist
- Rituparna Sonowal | Animal & Food Sciences | Ph.D. Student
- Bridger Sparks | Veterinary Sciences | Graduate Student Assistant
- Kolbie Tyler | Plant & Soil Science | Lecturer
- Rui Zhu | Landscape Architecture | Assistant Professor
Participants will be guided to recognize engagement work they may already be doing, often informally, and to more intentionally embed engaged scholarship into their research agendas and classrooms. The program is open to Davis College faculty/staff members, postdoctoral researchers, and Ph.D. students in the third year of their programs or beyond. Those selected are expected to attend at least five of six sessions to complete the program.
In return, participants will receive training across a broad spectrum of engagement-related topics, including engaged teaching, community-based research, and impact measurement. The program also offers assistance in developing effective problem and impact statements, a review of academic dossiers, opportunities for collaboration across the college and university, Davis College promotional materials, and a certificate of completion.
“Our team of Davis College faculty has spent the last two years participating in the Texas Tech Engaged Colleges Program and represents disciplines across the college,” said Vikram Baliga, Davis College’s Assistant Dean for Outreach & Engagement. “We’re excited to partner with an experienced and knowledgeable group of speakers to help participants find excellence in engagement.”
The program’s six-session curriculum is designed to move participants from concept to application. It begins with an introduction to outreach and engagement and the development of effective problem statements, setting a foundation for analyzing real-world challenges. Subsequent sessions focus on community-engaged learning, exploring how faculty/staff can partner with communities to enhance teaching while assessing student learning outcomes.
Another session will address community-engaged research, with an emphasis on funding opportunities and pathways to publication, an area where many scholars struggle to translate applied work into traditional academic outputs. Participants will also learn how to measure impacts, develop clear impact statements, and identify metrics to evaluate outreach and engagement efforts.
The final sessions concentrate on documentation and recognition: how to properly report outputs and participation, and how to integrate engagement work into dossiers for tenure, promotion, and other professional reviews.
By formalizing training in outreach and engaged scholarship, Davis College leaders hope the program will not only strengthen individual careers but deepen the college’s connections to the communities it serves.
CONTACT: Clint Krehbiel, Dean, Davis College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2808 or Clint.Krehbiel@ttu.edu
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