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Roads Scholars Tour 2007: Blogs

Four participants in the 2007 Roads Scholars Tour recorded their experiences along the way. Read their blogs for insights about what the tour is like and what they learned by making the trip. Read other blogs ->

More photos of the 2007 Tour

Emily Rhoades, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Communication, Department of Human and Community Resource Development, College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

The day started bright and early as we all congregated into Mount Hall for introductions and a quick breakfast. The group of travelers ranges from Deans to department chairs to Extension educators to faculty in medicine, library science, and agriculture. My first impressions tell me that as a new faculty member starting my career just in October that this group has a wide range of experiences and knowledge I will learn from. I look forward to the opportunity!

Stop 1: Ohio Project

Our first stop was in Mansfield. While growing up in Knox County, I traveled to Mansfield many times as a child. However, I had never looked at this community in this way. I never realized the community’s rich industrial past has left it in a transition, in which many residents are low income. This fact has made community leaders look at outreach in a new way, especially with things like health care.

Our stop at the Third Street Family Dental Clinic was aimed to show us how the OSU College of Dentistry is reaching community dental clinics through their OHIO Project. Every two weeks a new set of dental students comes to the clinic and participates in service-learning. The clinic, which has just gone through renovation and growth of their physical space, focuses on providing dental care for the 35,000-38,000 Richland county residents who fall into the category of Medicaid or uninsured/low income.

I am a big proponent of teaching my students through service-learning, and this program is such a win-win situation. The future dentists are being exposed to a different type of medicine and are getting an appreciation for the importance of reaching out to those in the community who are in a less than ideal position in their lives. The clinic and the community are benefiting from the support of OSU, the extra help, and the development of student interest in coming back to such clinics. This is a clinic that is growing by 100-200 patients a month and can see themselves growing more. OSU is having a great impact in educating and helping such clinics like this one across the state.

Stop 2: Mansfield Regional Campus

Our tour of Mansfield continued onto the regional OSU campus where we met with Dean and Director Evelyn Freeman. During a lunch panel discussion we heard from the Associate Dean, Chief Student Affairs Officer, and an associate professor of psychology. The panel discussed with us the opportunities for students on their campus, including in and outside of the classroom. While many programs could be started there and transferred to Columbus, they had several full 4-year programs for students who wanted to fulfill their degree in Mansfield. The smallness of a regional campus that has the opportunities of a large institution was easily visible in all of the discussions, from new dormitories for their students to the student organizations. The faculty discussed being a part of their main department on the Columbus campus and serving on campus committees yet teaching at the regional location. Research and outreach seemed to be very important to the faculty speaking with us. You could tell by every comment that they were very proud of OSU and of their campus.

After lunch a set of student ambassadors toured us through their campus. We were able to see a recently constructed building and other buildings being renovated. What surprised me was that they had their own athletic teams that played in a league for Ohio two-year institutions. The students seemed to be very supportive and excited about it.

Our final stop was a panel discussion of community leaders including the Mayor of Mansfield, the President of the Mansfield-Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Vice-chair elect of the OSU Mansfield board of trustees. Mayor Olivia Reed seemed to have a strong relationship with the campus, stating how much it has benefited the community. She discussed how individuals on campus have collaborated with the symphony and mentally disabled individuals in the community to create compositions. She discussed how they brought local children to campus to show them they can go to college. Kevin Nester, from the chamber of commerce, reiterated this by telling us how their county ranks 77th in the state in terms of educational attainment. He went on to tell us that due to the industrial history of the county, many students do not have the money or the idea that they can go to college. The UCAN [University and College Access Network] program through the Mansfield campus helps them to see that they can go to college and more high school students are now doing so.

While the panel discussed many great programs that the campus is doing in the community to expand diversity on campus and empower students, what hit home with me the most was when they started talking about retention of young adults. The panel said one of their current concerns is that they are unable to keep young adults in the community, something that is needed for community longevity. They said they are trying to recruit companies to the community that would attract youth. What they are experiencing is youth leaving for college and not coming back for many years. They hope they come back to raise families. The mayor said that they need young adults who have a sense of community and an entrepreneurial spirit who can help grow the city. Kevin Nester added they need more engineers who can give a broad outlook with new approaches to the growth of the area. This is interesting to me as a social scientist. One thing that has always concerned me is the retention of youth in our small rural communities. Several studies I have done look at how media portrays rural life and what that may do to the image of coming home after college. I think this is a concern across this country and a definite area of need for outreach and research.

Stop 3: OARDC/ATI Wooster

Our last stop of the day really hit home for me. Having family from Wooster, friends who have gone to ATI, a sister-in-law heading up there in the Fall, and being employed in the college that houses ATI and many OARDC researchers, I have a good knowledge of the facilities. After being out of Ohio, however for several years during graduate school, I did not realize how much the facility has grown and the types of research now being conducted. My academic program is one which houses a preprogram through ATI in which students who have finished their first two years in Wooster then transfer to the Columbus campus. The associate vice president and director of OSU Extension, Keith Smith; the associate vice president and director of OARDC, Steve Slack; and the associate dean and director of ATI, Stephen Nameth, all reiterated the educational opportunities for students and faculty at this facility. One concern of mine as a faculty member in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences is how are we continuing our Land Grant mission of educating the students who are lower income and often from agriculture backgrounds when our main campus admissions criteria continue to become harder and harder for students who come from poorer, rural school districts to meet. I am glad that programs like ATI and our regional campuses are serving this need for these students.

One thing that surprised and encouraged me was the two elected officials, a senator and representative, who talked with our group and even stayed with us for the tour. The faculty and program directors at OARDC have forged a good relationship with these officials. This is imperative if we as faculty and a university are going to work to better Ohio and our communities. The best part of it however was that one of the officials indicated working at this facility helping with research when he was in high school.

While there we toured the genetic research facilities and talked with some faculty about what research was being conducted. The equipment being used was top of the line and you could tell the researchers were very proud of the contributions they were making to their fields of study. One interesting project we got to see was a program to develop natural rubber with Russian Dandelions. With rubber becoming so expensive and the freight to ship natural rubber going up with our fuel crises, researchers are looking for ways to produce rubber closer to the rubber plants here in Ohio. Researchers have found that in this particular plant, the roots can be ground into a natural rubber product. It was exciting to hear that a plant that many of us consider a pest may soon be farmed in our state in large quantities.

The last part of this tour really gave us a great glimpse of some of how this facility is reaching out to the community around it. There is an arboretum on the campus that is open to the community. The faculty does many walks and workshops, not only with their Master Gardner program but with children, families, and community members. The large rose garden and tree stands used for research seemed to be a wonderful way to connect OSU and education to the community.

Stop 4: Our hotel

After a long day we have ended in Canton, home of the Football Hall of Fame. Evening activities included a dinner with Young Scholars and 4-H members from the community. Collegiate 4-H members joined us as well to talk about their outreach beyond Columbus. During dinner we also listened to a panel of current college students.

The students we interacted with truly amazed me with the activities they are involved in and the professionalism they showed. I had the chance to have a collegiate 4-H member sit next to me. The young man told me about his plans and what his group was doing by traveling to different counties across the state to teach leadership skills to 4-H youth. We at OSU are blessed by the great students we currently have and those that are planning on coming our way.

After dinner and a few introductions a panel of current OSU students talked with us about what they like about faculty at OSU and what they wish they’d known about college. It was encouraging to hear that they appreciated all of the opportunities available to them on campus and the fact that there is some great faculty out there. They encouraged us all to care for our students and to always have open doors for them to stop by and talk. They surprised me by saying that many of them were not prepared for the type of studying they would need once they got to college, but they wanted us to continue to challenge them. It was great to hear they were interested in being involved in our research and learning more about their future industry.

Day 2: Friday, April 13

Stop 1: Jackson High School

After another early morning (can you tell I am not a morning person?) we departed on our way to visit Jackson High School in Massillon. Pulling into this urban school I was in awe. The building was larger and newer than many buildings on campus. It was amazing to see the facilities available to help in educating these students. I came from a small high school in central Ohio where we never could have imagined a school like this one.

We started the day with a panel of faculty and administrators discussing what trends were currently being seen in secondary education and how students had changed over the years. The school with 1,900 students in 9-12 (I graduated in a school with 500 students in 7-12) has a rate of 82-86% attending college and a 98% graduation rate. They indicated that many students go to college but aren’t sure what they want to do after that.

It was interesting to me that they said their students are used to varied teaching methods and being actively involved in their education. They said we as higher educators must be ready to answer that learning style. I am glad to hear that since that is something I have worked very hard to bring into my classroom. The school’s superintendent said that they are still working on getting technology updated and integrated more into the classroom. They also are also trying not to treat standards as the end all by integrating class topics more and giving more of an international perspective. It is surprising to see that we are having similar discussions in higher education.

We then had a few minutes to talk with a panel of amazing juniors and seniors about what they expect out of colleges in terms of academics and recruiting. It was amazing to see how well rounded and educated these individuals were. All wanted to head to college and all were interested in the sciences. It was obvious that these may not have been a true sample of their student body, but were some of their stellar students. Either way it shows us as educators that to reach them we may need to step up our game and learn to challenge ourselves and those in our classrooms more.

A fellow Roads Scholar asked the students about their social networking and use of online sources. It was not surprising that all of them use sites like MySpace to stay connected to their friends. What was disturbing, but not surprising, many said they do not use books unless forced to when doing school research. They would rather get online and “google” the information. I was glad to hear a few of them say that sites like Wikipedia are not always valid sources but mostly a springboard to more information. I did a recent study on college students on this topic and found similar conclusions. We must be doing a good job telling them not to trust everything online, but what can we do to get them back into the library?

Stop 2: Alpine Cheese Co., Inc., Winesburg, OH

I must admit by this stop I was getting a little tired due to a long week of classes and two early mornings. However, the stops were so inspiring and interesting I kept going. We picked up Richard Moore, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Human and Community Resource Development and lead project investigator on the Sugar Creek Watershed project. This project, which was recently awarded a million dollar grant through the National Institutes of Health, works closely with area farmers, community leaders, businesses and Amish to improve the water quality in a watershed that at one point was the second worst in the state. We stopped at the Alpine Cheese Co., Inc., in Winesburg, Ohio, to discuss their current work in getting this company to clean up the water it is flowing into the watershed.

Moore really encouraged us that when take on outreach projects as big as this to work in groups to get collaboration and bring in different expertise. He indicated that he liked bringing in young faculty who are eager to join into the work and the academy. This was a promising statement for me being a new faculty member. Richard is in my department, and I have learned a lot about this project in the past, but for me it was great to see the community he was actually impacting.

Stop 3: Lunch in Amish Home

For lunch we headed to Mrs. Raber’s in Holmes County. On the way, Sharon Strouse, assistant professor, OSU Extension, talked with us about Amish country and Holmes County. She indicated that Holmes County was the biggest in furniture production in the state and had the most horses per capita due to the Amish work and buggy horses. This was not a new experience for me as I have grown up close to Amish country and my husband does business with them on a regular basis since we have draft horses. She discussed with us the challenges of working with different cultures in a community and thinking about how you present yourself to those individuals. She also said for the county it is the “viewsheds,” or the views along the roads, that are important.

The lunch we were served in the Amish home was wonderful, as Amish food always is. What surprised most of the group was how much the family travels. Mrs. Raber indicated that she and her husband had traveled to all but two of the contiguous 48 states.

Stop 4: OSU Extension, Coshocton

We then did a quick stop to visit OSU Extension in Coshocton. This was a great stop for me as my mother grew up in Coshocton, and I spent much time there as a child. This was another town I realized had an industrial past, but did not realize the level of poverty in the county due to this.

The first part of the visit included discussion of the Economic Development Plan developed by community leaders and the Extension program. The leaders discussed how they used the media and the community heavily to get full community input in the plan. They developed a community development council and started a strategic plan to improve the first impressions of visitors, and redefine who they are in terms of commerce, amongst other things. This program has seen early success they hope will continue.

As an agricultural communicator it was very positive for me to see how the media played such a crucial role in the development and success of the program. All of the speakers mentioned the media’s activeness in the program. Without the relationship developed with the media they would not have been able to get the planning out to the community and keep it in their radars. This was very evident with the four media professionals, from print to radio, who were at our meeting. Much research on media talks about their “gatekeeping” function and how they set the agendas in many communities. This is a great example of how these theories, which usually are discussed as having a negative impact, can be used to help us as we do outreach in a community.

Another highlight of the event was the announcement of a $10 million endowment given by Joe Engle to Ohio State to be used, starting in 2007, for students in lower income homes from Coshocton County. This was a great announcement for this community that would help many of their youth get to college. The three principals of the local high schools and Senator Joy Padgett were all present for this announcement. It was great to see how Ohio State alumni are giving back to the communities that they came from.

Stop 5: Newark Earthworks/Newark Campus

Our last stop of the day was the Newark Earthworks. In 2002 President Holbrook challenged the faculty at the OSU Newark campus to set themselves apart to bring people to their campus to study and do research. Several faculty already interested in the Earthworks worked to develop an interdisciplinary academic center, Newark Earthworks Center, that studies the Earthworks and Native American culture. Working with the community and Native Americans, the faculty has worked to get the mounds in Newark to be recognized worldwide as the amazing man made structure it was.

Faculty here have worked with local schools and partnered with researchers at Stonehenge to further learn about the individuals who built the mounds and spread that knowledge to future generations. Fourth graders who have worked with the Newark group lobbied the Ohio government and got the mounds to be declared Ohio’s official ancient monument.

To further the project and reach out to the community they have also worked to get oral histories of Native Americans around Ohio to learn the stories behind the mounds. This project was one of the first programs to earn an outreach and engagement grant. This was an amazing example how a group of faculty can work in their community to foster community pride and support for a local site. There has been much controversy in the community around the mounds since one of the mounds currently has a private golf course sitting on it. A contract that was developed in the early 1900s and was recently renewed until 2078 allows the country club to run the golf course there and has caused controversy in the community. Many in the community, including the faculty are hoping to see the mounds become a federal or state park so that research and preservation can be further monitored on these amazing mounds. They are also working with the United Nations to get World Heritage Status for the Earthworks.

This was an incredible stop, mostly because these mounds are amazing. I remember seeing these as a child, but was not able to appreciate them until now. The sophistication behind their development is still being unveiled to the researchers and friends of the mounds. This is a topic and outreach program to definitely watch in the future!

Concluding Thoughts

What can I say about this trip other than wow? It was eye opening to me to see the quality and dedication of faculty and staff across Ohio State who are reaching out to their communities and the state. The level of mutual engagement between these researchers and the communities they are trying to better is inspiring. As a new faculty member, I am coming away from this experience not only with many new contacts from my fellow scholars on the bus, but with many great ideas on how to work with the community around me. While I can see my research and expertise fitting into many different projects, I feel my next step is to do what Richard Moore suggested—find a team with a variety of expertise and work together for one cause. I think the challenge now will be picking what project hits home with my abilities the most to make an impact. I hope several years down the road they are visiting my projects and seeing that I have accepted the challenge of reaching out to my community and engaging others!