1. K-State home
  2. »Research and Extension
  3. »News
  4. »News Stories
  5. »K-State Department of Agronomy brings home several awards from national conference

K-State Research and Extension News

Group picture, K-State agronomy faculty and students at NACTA conference

Faculty and students in the K-State Department of Agronomy recently attended the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture conference. Four K-Staters won awards, including (front row, left to right) Jerry Hsiao, Mickey Ransom, Tiffany Carter and Erin Bush. | Download this photo

K-State Department of Agronomy brings home several awards from national conference

Mickey Ransom and graduate students honored for excellence in teaching

June 20, 2018

MANHATTAN, Kan. – A Kansas State University professor and several graduate students were recognized for excellence in teaching recently by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. The awards were given at NACTA’s annual conference June 12-15 at Iowa State University. The conference provides an opportunity for teaching professionals in agriculture, food, and natural resources to connect and learn about new teaching techniques, ideas, and resources.

Each year, NACTA recognizes individuals whose efforts represent the best in higher education instruction in agriculture. Members of NACTA are from public and private two-year and four-year colleges. The K-State Department of Agronomy brought home several teaching awards for 2018.

Michel “Mickey” Ransom, professor of agronomy, received the NACTA Educator Award. In his 34-year career at K-State, Ransom has been involved in nearly every aspect of the college experience. In addition to teaching several undergraduate and graduate courses, he has served as the assistant head for teaching in the department since 2000. He has also invested in students through experiential learning as the soil judging team coach. The team has experienced regional and national success under his guidance. Ransom was recently named interim department head for agronomy.

Three agronomy graduates were honored with the NACTA Graduate Student Teaching Award: Tiffany Carter, a doctoral candidate under the supervision of Charles Rice; Che-Jen “Jerry” Hsiao, a doctoral candidate under the supervision of Gretchen Sassenrath and Charles Rice; and Erin Bush, a master’s student under the supervision of Mickey Ransom. This award is for NACTA graduate student members that are involved in classroom instruction and excel as teachers in agriculture.

To qualify for the award, a graduate student must have been involved in classroom teaching for a minimum of one year. A graduate student's teaching philosophy, statement of support from supervising faculty, evaluations submitted by students and an administrative officer, a self-evaluation, involvement in teaching outside the classroom, and a description of the candidate's specific teaching involvement are considered. All three K-State graduate students taught laboratory sections of an introductory soil science course under the supervision of Colby Moorberg. Bush also serves as a coach for the soil judging team and helps teach a class in soils judging.

At a glance

K-State agronomy professor, Mickey Ransom and three graduate students were honored for excellence in teaching by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture.

Website

K-State Department of Agronomy

Source

Mickey Ransom
785 532-7203
mdransom@ksu.edu

Written by

Kathy Gehl
785-532-3354
kgehl@ksu.edu

 

KSRE logo
K‑State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the wellbeing of Kansans.
Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county extension offices, experiment fields, area extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K‑State campus in Manhattan.