Inside this Issue Upcoming Events

Volume 54, Number 22 Department of Agricultural Economics Texas A&M University August 16, 2019, 2019

Words from Waller

Words from Waller

Advising Breakfast

Let’s Celebrate

Save the Date

Upcoming Birthdays

Position Postings

August

26th-First day of classes Rosson/Whitson Reception 29th-Aggies vs Texas State

Last Friday was Graduation Day for Our Department Last Friday August 9, 2019 was graduation day, and we had about 26 undergraduate and graduate students who walked across the stage. As the Acting Department Head, it was my privilege to shake their hand and congratulate them on this fantastic achievement. This is an event that I hope all of our graduates enjoyed, and will remember fondly in the future. Congratulations and Gig‘em Aggies. Teaching in Ecuador One of our Faculty members, Desmond Ng, was recently in Quito, Ecuador. He was teaching a course on strategic thinking at the Universidad International Del Ecuador. Dr. Ng said this was an interesting experience with the students who are already involved in businesses. While some are CEOs of companies, most are in middle management and are facing some real challenges in trying to change their companies for the better. Dr. Ng said the students were very engaged and the business problems/challenges they raised, made the experience memorable.

Student Research Paper Competition Hannah Hawkins recently received a notice and congratulations for being selected for the Food Distribution Research Society 2019 Undergraduate Student Research Paper Competition. Her award includes; a travel stipend of $1,000 for the best Undergraduate Student Research Paper, complimentary one-year FDRS student membership, and complimentary conference registration fees and recognition at the 2019 FDRS Annual Conference scheduled for October 18-22, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. Congratula-tions to Hannah, and congratulations to Dr. Senarath Dharmasena, her research advisor on this project for his dedication and support of this effort. Extension Faculty Planning The Extension faculty from the Agricultural Economics Department participated in an annual planning retreat on Monday and Tuesday, August 12-13, in Galveston. This is the one time of year when all our Extension faculty in the Department get together in person for some professional development and to plan major activities for the coming year. Normally, about half of our faculty are located in College Station, and the other half are located at the 12 Research and Extension Centers located across the state. We had an interesting lineup of presentations that covered a variety of topics from farm policy and trade to mental health care, and hemp as an alternative crop. The Fall semester will be starting soon, I hope you all have a great weekend.

Click here for more position announcements

Faculty, staff, and graduate students are encouraged to submit articles and photos on current events

Deadline for all submissions is noon, Thursday.

Please send your information to valnoyes@tamu,edu

Desmond Ng 8/16

Connie Smotek 8/22

Greg Kaase 8/25

Debbie Childs 8/31

Happy Birthday!!

Position Announcements

Undergraduate Advising Office Hosts Informational Breakfast

Friday Coffee will return Fall 2019.

Several Agricultural Economics positions posted at the Ness School of Management & Economics, South Dakota State University. To view and apply, go to https://yourfuture.sdbor.edu. For questions on the position, please contact: Dr. Eluned Jones, Director, Ness School of Management and Economics: eluned.jones@sdstate.edu 605-688-4880. Mailing Address: Ness School of Management and Economics, Box 2220, Harding Hall, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007.

On Tuesday, August 13, fourteen undergraduate advisors from other departments attended an informational breakfast to learn more about the minor and certificate programs in our depart-ment. This session was beneficial as advisors learned more about the specifics of the curricula and met each of the program directors for the minor programs, which allows advisors to direct prospective students to specific individuals in the programs. Donna Adcock, Hannah Chavarria, and Rachel Martin provided leadership in organizing this informational session. Adcock led the presentations by discussing the Agricultural Economics minor, providing an overview of the Certificate for International Trade and Agriculture, and reminding attendees how federal aid may not be applicable to certificate coursework. Merritt Weeks discussed the Agribusiness Entrepreneurship minor and its curriculum, emphasizing both the hard (technical) and soft skills students, as well as provided an overview of the new University minor in Entrepreneurship. Jeanie Izurieta explained the CFP process and how the Financial Planning program fulfills the educational component for the CFP, and ex-plained the professional development opportunities with the minor. Codie Wright shared details about the AgriFood Sales Minor, giving an overview of the high-impact learning opportunities students receive in the program, including a pitch for the Professional Sales Student Association (PSSA). Attendees commented on how they can more easily understand the overlap of each of these programs and can return to their jobs better prepared and equipped to communicate the value, expectations, and experiences students they advise can gain.