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Huck Boyd National Institute
for Rural Development
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Huck Boyd National Institute
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Get REAL a project of the with support from the Rural citizens seek to solve REAL problems
with K-State help Nine rural Kansas citizens launched an innovative program in
mid-May aimed at helping Kansas leaders identify and solve key issues in their
home communities. “The goal of the program is helping local leaders find REAL
solutions to community problems,” said Ron Wilson, program coordinator. “In this
case, REAL is an acronym for Rural Engagement and Action Leadership. I don’t
know of any other program like it in the country.” Applying for the REAL Project Application Deadline: April 7, 2008 Below, in both printable and electronic form, is the application
for the REAL Project. The criteria by which the
applications will be evaluated include demonstrated
experience and capacity of the applicant, importance
of key issues which applicants wish to address,
geographic distribution, and commitment to participate. Preference
will be given to those who have participated in leadership
development programs. Following the workshop, mini-grants of $500 will be available to each participant to help them address the key issues which they have identified. The REAL Project team will help identify appropriate university resources, expertise and information which can be directed to help with those same issues. We stand ready to help you to apply your leadership skills in making your home communities better places to live and work. REAL Application (Adobe PDF format) REAL Application (Microsoft Word format) Dr. Fred Cholick, KSU College of Agriculture Dean and Director of KSU Research & Extension and Dr. David Procter of the KSU Center for Engagement and Community Development receive their Get REAL! promotional buttons.
Pictured left to right:
The REAL Project is an innovative approach linking university expertise and outreach, leadership development, and action implementation on vital issues identified by participants. The goals of the project are as follows: 1. Involve rural citizens in a leadership capacity-building process, 2. Engage university expertise in solving rural problems and addressing rural issues, and 3. Implement specific action on a key local issue or topic. Rural citizens across Kansas would be invited to participate in the REAL Project, which is intended for up to 10 citizens. There are three stages to the project: 1. All participants would attend an overview session at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene. The KSU faculty team would facilitate a process of leadership development and issue identification. Participants would also take part in an immersion leadership experience put on by the Eisenhower Museum called the Five Star Leaders workshop. This workshop involves a role playing activity in which participants research and reenact General Eisenhower’s decision process to move forward with D-Day. The Five Star Leaders workshop has been successfully used for agency, corporate and school groups to understand decision-making using a real world example. Following the leadership education process, participants would be asked to identify a local/Kansas issue on which they seek to focus. 2. Following the initial workshop, each participant is to engage in a research, goal setting, and action planning process relating to the issue of their choice. The KSU faculty team would be responsible for identifying university faculty/research/specialist expertise which can help with each individual project. With assistance from the university resources, participants identify action items and proceed with an implementation plan. Minigrants of $500 would be made available by the project to participants for seed money to assist in implementation. The KSU faculty team would consult and work with the participants to craft their action plans. 3. One and a half years from the original meeting in Abilene, the participants will be re-convened on the K-State campus to provide an update on their individual projects, identify what further resources are needed, and evaluate the process. How would this work in practice? A rural citizen would participate in the initial workshop on leadership development and decision-making. He or she would identify a key issue of interest to them, such as improving water quality, restoring a local courthouse, strengthening local markets, encouraging local business, countering local childhood obesity, or any number of possibilities. The KSU faculty team would then identify the appropriate KSU faculty member or specialist who could help with the issue and bring their expertise to bear. Based on this expertise, the participant would identify appropriate action steps, prospective stakeholders and partners in their effort, and facilitate a process of implementing these action steps in his or her community. What is the basis for this project? This process builds on the classic land-grant university concept of taking the university to the people, and also invokes newer theoretical frameworks such as the community capitals model. This model, tested and advanced by the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, has been called the Community Capitals Framework. This framework identifies the assets in each capital, the types of capital invested, the interaction among the capitals, and the resulting impacts across capitals. It recognizes the multidimensionality of community interactions, which affect natural, cultural, human, social, political, financial, and built elements. Thus, a holistic approach to community development is needed as well as the importance of open public involvement, and these will be emphasized throughout the training and implementation process. Who would be the target audience? Community volunteers, local government officials, Extension agents, or others in a rural setting. First preference would be given to those who have completed some leadership development program such as KARL, a community-based leadership program, the USDA Community Development Academy, or similar programs. How does this relate to existing leadership programs? It is intended to build on the strong framework of current leadership programs and to actualize their purposes. For example, a graduate of KARL or a local leadership program will have enhanced his or her leadership capacity. The REAL Project would provide them a framework to engage their passion and put those skills to work on a particular topic that is vital to them, while also engaging the university in solving problems and addressing issues at the front line. How would participants be selected? The KSU team would work with Extension news, the KARL program, Kansas Leadership Forum, and other groups to inform prospects and the general public of this opportunity. Our close partnerships with these groups and others will be crucial to recruit these participants and support their implementation. A promotional effort (with the theme "Get REAL") would be utilized to highlight participation in this project. What is the role of the campus team? The interdisciplinary team and additional colleagues with whom we would consult would be important resources to identify faculty expertise to be brought to bear upon the key issues identified. In effect, these faculty would be partners with our community participants in developing plans for addressing these issues on an ongoing basis. The CECD itself would be a key resource in this effort. What does this mean to the university? Instead of one engagement project, we envision this spawning ten engagement projects, each implemented locally with university support. This generates beneficial effects and goodwill at the grass roots level, while demonstrating that the university is engaged as a co-partner with local communities in solving their real-world problems. It will be important to be in close contact with the participants on an ongoing basis as well as to convene them to share commonalities and lessons learned. Based on the experience of this project, it is our hope to continue and replicate the process in future years. Why now? Rural Kansas faces significant challenges in the future. Significant efforts have been made to enhance capacity and develop leadership in the abstract. Now it is time to connect the dots. This initiative is intended to take that leadership expertise and apply it to a specific problem or issue, with sound university-based research as a resource. The education component also builds on a unique Kansas resource, the Eisenhower Presidential Library. Public institutions are increasingly being asked to demonstrate measurable impact and outcomes, which we believe this project will facilitate. This project connects university expertise with leadership capacity while solving real problems for rural people.
Collaborative Partners/Interdisciplinary Team: Jack Lindquist, Kansas Ag and Rural Leadership Program Dr. Tom Roberts, Assistant Dean, Recruitment and Leadership Development, College of Engineering Dr. Donita Whitney-Bammerlin, College of Business David Coltrain, K-State Research and Extension, Walnut Creek District Racquel Thiesen, Kansas Leadership Forum PI - Ron Wilson, Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
VITA Summaries Jack Lindquist Jack Lindquist´s professional career has been concentrated on Human Development and Agricultural Education Activities since 1981, including two years as a 4-H Youth Agent for the Dickinson County Cooperative Extension Service, eight years as a KSU Agent for Agriculture with the Douglas County Extension Service, Lawrence, and, since 1990, as President and program director for Kansas Agriculture and Rural Leadership, Inc. He is the only full time staff member of the educational not for profit organization. Jack has co-sponsored a Citizenship Washington Focus delegation for Kansas 4-H and eight adult leadership groups to Washington DC. He has also led international tours with groups traveling to Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, England, Hong Kong and China, Chile and Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, Mexico and Costa Rica, Brazil and Ghana West Africa. Dr. Tom Roberts Tom C. Roberts, P.E. is College of Engineering Assistant Dean, Recruitment & Leadership Development at Kansas State University. He has more than 35 years experience in engineering and engineering technology education. Roberts is past Zone III and Mid-West Section Chair and past-Chair of two ASEE special interest groups: Leadership Training & Development (LTD) and University Continuing Education Directors (UCED). In 1993, Roberts received the ASEE Centennial Certificate. In 1996, he received the College Industry Partnership Division "Certificate of Merit" Award. Roberts was a key player in developing the National Outstanding Teaching Award. Roberts is a certified management consultant. He is the author of several papers and has presented seminars to several thousand business and education professionals throughout the United States. He has a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from K-State and is a licensed professional engineer. In addition to his dean’s office responsibilities, Roberts teaches classes in engineering concepts, personal & professional development, and continuous quality improvement. He has partnered in development & delivery of campus-wide department head leadership workshops, the James R. Coffman Leadership Institute for faculty development, and is a campus-wide leadership seminar committee member. Roberts is President-elect of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers (KSPE). He has been the president or chair of 15 different national, regional and local organizations during the past 30 years. Dr. Donita Whitney-Bammerlin Donita Whitney-Bammerlin earned her Ph.D. in Education from Kansas State University. She currently teaches courses in Organizational Behavior, Leadership, Diversity, and Training and Development for the Department of Management and previously directed the Honors Program for the College of Business Administration. Her experiences prior to coming to Kansas State include 12 years in public education. She taught in a one-room school for five years in Nebraska and after that, was elected as County Superintendent of Schools for Keya Paha County. Donita has been facilitating training and designing curriculi for the development of professional growth in learning communities over the past 25 years. Her engagements have been at the local, regional, and national level including corporate organizations, civic groups, and government agencies. She has expertise in the areas of leadership, communication, dealing with difficult people, change, managing a diverse workplace, and team building. In addition to her faculty responsibilities in these areas, she is active as an advisor to six student organizations on the K-State campus and serves on several national committees dealing with agriculture, youth, environment, and health related issues. Her latest accomplishments include the distinction of being named Sam Walton Fellow through her coaching responsibilities with the K-State team of Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) and was awarded the 2007 Presidential Teaching Award for her excellence in the classroom. David Coltrain David Coltrain is the Walnut Creek District Extension (Rush, Ness and Lane counties) Agriculture and Natural Resource Agent for K-State Research and Extension. His chosen Program Focus Area is Community and Economic Development. Prior to this position, David was the Coordinator for the Kansas Cooperative Development Center, whose mission was to assist agricultural producers that were examining value-added business ventures. Previously, he was an agricultural producer in southeast Kansas. David has two degrees from Kansas State University, a B.S. in Horticulture and a M.S. in Agricultural Economics. Racquel Thiesen Racquel Thiesen has worked in the field of leadership and community development for the past 15 years with an emphasis in leadership and organizational management. She is currently serving a four year term as a Newton City Commissioner and serves on numerous community boards. Now serving as an Ambassador with the Kansas Health Foundation, Racquel's involvement in Foundation work began when she was selected for the Kansas Community Leadership Initiative in 2001. Racquel is President of the Kansas Leadership Forum and has represented this state-wide organization at national education and training conferences. She recently participated as a trainer in a nation-wide leadership advancement training program in Indiana. Racquel has worked with adults and high school students in training for personal leadership development and growth. Collectively, Racquel has received 160+ hours of education and training in leadership development, facilitation practices, appreciative inquiry, issue framing and servant leadership. Ron Wilson Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University in Manhattan. He graduated from K-State with a B.S. in Agricultural Education and a M.S. in Mass Communications, and has a Ph.D. program of study in progress. After graduation, he became a legislative assistant to Senator Nancy Kassebaum in Washington D.C. He next served as a staff member for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry and then as vice president of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. In 1985, he returned to Kansas to become a vice president of the Farm Credit Bank of Wichita and in 1989 became director of the Huck Boyd Institute. Ron is a graduate of Leadership Kansas and past president of the Kansas Leadership Forum. He writes and produces a weekly radio program and news column called "Kansas Profile." In addition, his publications and articles include "Internet Use among Rural Kansas Leaders," "Rural America in the Marketplace of the Future," "Survival Tactics in Rural Kansas," "Doing Business in Rural Kansas," "Growing Your Own Champion Communities," "Rural renewal is found in people, not buffalo," "Redefining Rural: You say metro, I say micro," and "Rural Revitalization." |
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