(1989) Notes (JNRLSE) - American Society of Agronomy

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NOTES
designed to help them improve their writing skills by
How journalism helped
teaching them to write news features about research in
agronomy students their own areas of interest. Judging by what the agrono-
my students said they learned about writing, the quality
learn to write of their work, and their rate of publication, the experi-
ment appears to have been successful. As a result, the
College of Agriculture encouraged the journalism depart-
Lorraine Wechsler* ment to open the course to other agricultural students
beginning in fall 1989.
Abstract The same type of journalism course might be helpful
to engineering and business as well as agriculture students.
Iowa State University journalism and agronomy professors When English classes bore such students, journalism
designed an experimental journalism course for agronomy often does not. That may be because writing news sto-
undergraduates in science writing for newspapers and maga- ries about research in their own majors, stories that get
zines. The purpose was to help students improve their writing published under their by-lines, can be quite exciting. The
skills. The students interviewed researchers and, working with students learn fast and well when they have a goal that
a journalism instructor, prepared lively, readable stories about makes sense—communicating with real readers.
agronomy research in the laboratory and in the field, relating
its significance to farmers and consumers and to the state's
How the Course Came About
economy. Students checked the stories for accuracy with their
agronomy professors and other sources before submitting them
The idea for the course came from Dr. Detroy Green,
to local newspapers. In two semesters more than a dozen stories
professor of agronomy and at that time head of his
were published. The experimental course had two important
department's committee on undergraduate education. He
results. Publication in newspapers motivated the students to
thought the journalism department might help with a
learn how to write clear, readable, and accurate articles about
problem. Although agronomy graduates were in demand
agronomy research for a popular audience. Publication also
spread understanding of the research process and the impor- by agricultural businesses, employers frequently said they
tance of the work of the agronomy department's scientists. Such needed better communication skills. Dr. Green told us
a course may be a solution to a major problem on campuses- he thought the communication courses available to the
how to help undergraduates in the sciences learn to write for students were not "doing the job." He suggested that a
nonspecialized readers. journalism teacher might work with students enrolled in
an agronomy class on extra papers for the agronomy
professor.
A
GRONOMY STUDENTS at Iowa State University had
by-lines last year on over a dozen features in Iowa Writing about Science as News
and campus newspapers. The stories were lively, read-
Because my interests and background are in science
able accounts of research in the laboratory and in the
writing, I proposed that we try an experimental course
field.
for agronomy students in writing about science as news.
The students took an experimental journalism course
I thought the students might prefer learning to write news
in science writing for agronomy students. The course was
features rather than class reports about research. They
would have to avoid professional and scientific jargon
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Iowa State Univ.,
Ames, Iowa 50011. Received 21 Oct. 1988. 'Corresponding author. in such stories. They would have to learn about news
values and how to be interesting as well as clear. Those
Published in J. Agron. Educ. 18:114-115 (1989). were the skills they would need in communicating with
114 J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989
farmers, business people, and consumers. I suggested that newspaper stories about the importance of research
reports written for science classes (really for the scientist- funded by public money.
professor) had a different purpose and were unlikely to- After the stories were approved by sources, I submit-
help the students develop the writing skills they most ted them to editors. Somew ent to the student’s hometown
needed. newspaper, some to the local newspaper, and many to
The course we offered the fall semester of 1987 was the science editor of the campus newspaper. More than
for students in sophomore agronomy classes. The a dozen were published in the first year, often with photo-
teachers of the undergraduate courses agreed that they graphs, always nicely displayed and by-lined. Eight
would confer with the students on the technical accuracy students took the first class. About half of them took it
of the stories the students wrote for the journalism class. again for a second credit, which they were allowed to do.
The students would also take their stories for approval Nine were in the second class. Only one student, whop ut
to their sources, who would be agronomyp rofessors in little effort into his work, had neither of his stories pub-
most cases, although the research would often be inter- lished.
disciplinary. Students wouldg et one credit for writing two
agronomys cience stories with as manyr ewrites as it took Serendipitous Results
to maket he stories publishable, that is, well-researched,
interesting, accurate, and clearly and correctly written. Other results of the course were serendipitous. The
Weh ave since increased the number of credits to two, stories the agronomys tudents wrote spread some under-
at the suggestion of both students and instructor. standing of the agronomyd epartment’s scientists’ work.
The class met for 1 h of lecture each of the first 3 wk The stories also showedr eaders something about the way
for discussion of news values, how to background, how scientists worked--the research process. The latter are
to interview, howt o observe the research process, how vogue words in science writing. Journalists are enjoined
to organize the story, and howt o edit for wordiness and to show the process, the scientific method. That is be-
jargon. Students were given plenty of handouts, one on cause most Americans do not learn much about it in
reporting and backgrounding, another with a list of sug- school, and yet we are told our survival depends on under-
gested questions that were all-purpose enough to apply standing how science works.
to any interview, and another with tips on writing the lead Whent he stories began appearing in the campusd aily
and developing the story. Also in class I analyzed science on its weekly science page and in local newspapers, both
stories about agricultural research from the Wall Street writers and scientist sources were enlightened about the
Journal and other major newspapers, as well as stories value of writing for nonspecialist readers. Both got posi-
in local newspapers by journalism science-writing tive feedback from readers who enjoyed reading about
students. research when it was described as the humana dventure
The fourth week each student left a draft of his story scientists knowi t to be. And the College of Agriculture
in my mailbox and signed up for a conference the fol- got somev isibility amongn ew readers in new places for
lowing day. The students did as manyr ewrites as neces- its vast amounto f exciting research in genetic engineer-
sary to make the stories publishable by my standards. ing of plants and animals, in plant breeding, in new crops
Then they took the stories to their agronomyp rofessors for Iowa, and in new systems of environmentally desir-
and other sources for corrections and additions. Often able sustainable agriculture.
that meant changing phrases, adding qualifiers, correct- But the classes were successful only because they were
ing the names of funding agencies, or adding names of in large part tutorials. Since you cannot teach writing by
researchers. lecturing, such classes must be small. These days, state
The scientists never demandedt hat the stories be re- universities say they cannot afford the luxury of small
written like journal articles, a demando ften made of classes, so experimental classes like this one will not
science reporters. I think that was because the stories, by happen without administrators whoa re convinced of their
the time the scientists saw them, were clearly news fea- value.
tures, obviously intended for nonspecialist readers. Also As a solution to the problem of undergraduates who
they put the research in a larger perspective, that is, can’t write, journalism courses of the kind I have
showedi ts significance tO the average person. The scien- described are expensive, but the alternative mayb e more
tists, of course, understood the value of interesting expensive to society and certainly to the students.
J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989 115
Ability of graduate students the problem is valid, we should ask howt he problem has
evolved and why it appears to be progressive. There are
to communicate: An opinion
manyp artial explanations; I will offer here only a few
that appear most relevant to me. Graduate enrollment
at some institutions may have increased faster than
David H. Hubbell* faculty numbers. Faculty may therefore have much more
student involvement and thus less time per student.
Abstract Faculty commitmentt o large grant-funded research pro-
grams may significantly reduce the amount of faculty
Twentyy ears of teachinge xperience,i ncludingb oth formal time available for attending to subtle, but critical, intellec-
courseo fferings andg raduates tudents upervision,h as led the
tual needs of students. There has also been a knowledge
authort o concludteh at typical graduatset udentsi n the agricul-
explosion that increases at present unabated. This results,
tural sciencesc annotc ommunic(arteea d, write, speak,o r listen)
unavoidably, in more formal courses and more depth to
at a professionallya cceptablele vel of proficiency.T hep roblem
the information being presented. There is also the tradi-
is seen as chronica nde ndemiicn institutions offering gradu-
tional expectation for students to be broadly conversant
ate programins the agriculturasl ciences. Lacko f studenta ware-
with information in their chosen field and in their
ness of the critical importancoef proficiencyi n communication
skills is seen as a primaryca use. Inability to masterth ese es- specialty area. There results the pressure for students to
accumulate and process massive amounts of data, fre-
sential skills is not seena s a limitingf actor. Ap ossible solu-
tion to the problemm ightb e increasede mphasios n the quality quently (I suspect) not because it necessarily should
andq uantityo f communicatiodnem andeodf students, andw ill- done but often simply becaue now it can be done. Stu-
ingness of faculty to providea ppropriatein struction ando p- dents appear to be spending progressively less time read-
portunity. Anothera pproachw ouldb e to require a formal ing, writing, talking, and listening (assimilating) relevant
course, designedt o accomplishth ose objectives, but designed to their field of study. They frequently have only a pubes-
primarilya s a "why"co urse rathert han as a "howt o" course. cent idea of why they did an experiment and what the
Al ist of optionall ecture topics anda list of recommenrdeeadd - results mean. To compoundt he felony, they often can-
ing materialsi s presented. not express their thoughts.
I believe that the crux of the problemi s lack of suffi-
cient practice in processing information intellectually, For
I
HAVBEE ENE MPLOYfEorD 20 yr as a soil microbiologist whatever reason, students spend inadequate time learn-
in an academic department. Myp rofessional responsi- ing howt o read, write, speak, and listen effectively in
bilities over this period were formally designated as 20°7o relation to pursuance of their science. Theyh ave the abil-
teaching and 8007o research. The teaching activities have ity to achieve reasonable mastery of communication
consisted mainly of annual presentation of a graduate skills, but they often have not yet done so. The reason
course in soil microbic.logy and extensive involvement in most cases is that our system of precollege education
with individual graduate student programs. The accumu- has donel ittle to encourageo r insist upons uch skills. Fur-
lated instructional experience, considered in retrospect, thermore, very few students will, on their own simply by
prompts this presentation. natural inclination, exert the required effort. The ability
! conclude that, in mye xperience, typical graduate stu- to achieve such mastery should be inherent in their sub-
dents in the agricultural sciences are significantly defi- sequent identity as graduate students, however. It should
cient in their mastery of communication skills. Simply be safely assumed that graduate students are generally
stated, they commonlyca nnot read, write, speak, or listen above average in intelligence as well as in manyo ther
at a level commensurate with their potential or their aspects of humane xistence (motivation, perseverance, or-
aspired-to-level of education (as opposedt o training). ganizational ability, computer literacy, etc.). What they
raise the issue here because commentsf rom many col- lack is appreciation of the importance of communication
leagues at other institutions indicate that my conclusion and subsequent practice in communicating. It is my be-
is not unique; such deficiencies appear to be chronic and lief that removalo f the first limitation will often lead to
endemic. I have not conducted an extensive formal sur- self-motivated resolution of the second limitation.
vey, so the proceedings tatement mayf ail to satisfy strictly I will support this contention with a single brief account
interpreted statistical criteria. However,o bservations from among many personal experiences. I have always
were being recorded along these lines and conclusions given essay exams in my graduate soil microbiology
were being drawn therefrom before the science of course. Traditionally, approximately half of my class con-
modern-days tatistics was even born. If it looks, walks, sists of international students for whomE nglish is a se-
and talks like a duck, it is probably (P = 0.01) a duck. cond language. In order to reduce some of the pressure
Assuming that my conclusion regarding existence of presumed to accompany required high proficiency in a
second language, I initially gave evening exams with no
associated time limit nor page limit. This was a disaster.
Dep. of Soil Science, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Contri- Nine out of 10 exams consisted of long, rambling collec-
bution from the Florida Agric. Exp. Stn. Journal Series no. 9538. tions of unrelated, irrelevant, and unorganized facts. I
Received 19 Dec. 1988. *Corresponding author.
subsequently changed my testing procedure. I retained
Published in J. Agron. Educ. 18:ll6-118 (1989). the "no time limit" proviso but stipulated a three-page
116 J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 2989
Table I. Lecture topics proposed for inclusion in a graduate-level eye-opener. The course could be taught effectively by a
course provisionally entitled "Exchange of Information in single individual (preferably of evangelistic inclination)
Agriculture."
or team-taught, according to the available expertise and
Course philosophy and organization will of departmental faculty. A paramount advantage of
Nature and importance of communication
the latter approachi s inherently greater flexibility in the
Role of communicationi n knowledge/technology transfer
Preparation of a curriculum vitae choice of topics to be covered and the relative emphasis
Preparation of a research proposal (with literature review) to be given each topic. The treatment of each topic can
Professional correspondence
Laboratory notebooks depend largely on the experience, conviction, creativity,
Theses and dissertations and dedication of the individual instructor(s). A list
Use and mis-use of statistics potential topics to be included in such a course, provi-
Use and mis-use of computers
Consulting and patents sionally entitled "Exchange of Information in Agricul-
Extension writings ture," is presented in Table 1. I have intentionally made
Other written presentations
no attempt to prioritize the topics, since their relative im-
Oral presentations
Poster preparation portance is expected to vary widely between departments
Manuscript reviews and schools.
Ethical and legal considerations
The following comments are offered as examples of
Preparation of grant proposals
Job interviews hows ome of the lecture topics might be developed in the
Information management context of the course.
limit on overall length. There was an immediater eversal 1. Preparation of a curriculum vitae.
in quality of the responses. The answers contained rele- ¯ Need for brevity; include only information that
vant, related information; were well organized and ex- is useful and important to the recipient; what you
pressed both clearly and concisely; and had significantly say and howy ou say it is critical; it creates a first
improved grammatically. They were aware that quality impression of you (are you organized, thorough,
was important--and that grades hung in the balance. literate, able to distinguish betweenr elevant and
Grades in the course have been uniformly and justifiably irrelevant, etc.).
high since that time. I do not believe that similar or related ¯ Put on word processor and revise periodically
experiences are unique to me. (keep it current).
Public identification of a problemc arries with it some ¯ Represent your situation honestly and factually.
obligation to propose a solution as well. There are sever- 2. Professional correspondence.
al feasible approaches. As a faculty member, one might ¯ Make special note of requested information,
spend more time working with his or her students on an deadlines, etc.
individual basis in order to improve their skills as re- ¯ m late response is the same as no response;
quired. This can degenerate into a high-handed process, procrastination usually inconveniences the
however, if the students are not or cannot be convinced recipient and is therefore discourteous; it ultimate-
of their deficiency. This optimistically presupposes en- ly results in feelings of anger, frustration, and
lightened faculty whoa re themselves convincedo f the im- resentment toward you as a person and a profes-
portance of communication and who have both the will sional.
and the expertise to work with their students in this ¯ Response should be complete and accurate. You
regard. are leaving a paper trail with your name on it--
A second approach avoids situations where individual does it reflect well on you and your abilities?
faculty cannot or will not assume their largely abdicated ¯ Formal letters and informal memos--when are
responsibility for developmento f this aspect of their stu- they appropriate?
dents’ education. This approach consists of presenting ¯ Keeping files of correspondence--including de-
a required course to graduate students along such lines tails of phone calls. What did you say and what
during their first or second terms of study. Such a course did they say?
should concentrate more on the nature and importance 3. Manuscript review.
of communicationr ather than on the finer details of how ¯ Reviews of any description--formal or informal,
to communicate. The former is rarely expressed formal- writen or oral--should be honest, constructive,
ly and is not intuitively obvious, even to seasoned profes- and courteous. If they are not then everybody
sionals who mayh ave learned it in the sometimes-bitter loses, but you lose most because you will be recog-
school of experience. The latter aspect, howt o communi- nized as unprofessional.
cate, can be self-taught or learned in a wide variety of ¯ Be accurate or you will be recognized as incompe-
commonlyo ffered special courses, taught by experts, tent; if you are unsure of your competence,
once individual needs have been identified. decline to review (recommenda qualified alter-
This approach has many advantages. Most students, nate, if known).
with supreme naivete, honestly believe that mastery of ¯ Avoid any suspicion of bias, conflict of interest,
communications kills is either of minor importance or al- etc.
ready sufficiently developedf or their needs. Such a course ¯ Respect confidentiality.
would provide both types of student with an invaluable ¯ Adhere to guidelines for reviewers, whenever
J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989 117
Table 2. Recommended reading materials in support of a graduate- described (Davis and Wolf, 1988). The ideas presented
level course provisionally entitled "Exchange of Information in here are not to be considered as my own invention. They
Agriculture."
are the result of observations and ideas from many col-
The art of scientific investigation. 1950. W.I.B. Beveridge. Vintage Books, leagues and students over the years, and may well have
New York.
appeared formally, in whole or in part, in various publi-
The elements of style. 1964. William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. The Mac-
MiUan Co., New York. cations.
On writing well. 1985. William K. Zinsser. Harper and Row, Publ., New The course, as presented here, was first taught 2 yr ago
York.
The art of teaching. 1950. Gilbert Highet. Random House, Inc., New York. by a team of soil science professors at the University of
Publications handbook and style manual. 1988. ASA, CSSA, SSSA, Madi- Florida. It has been received enthusiastically by its stu-
son, WI.
dent enrollees and even, paradoxically, by other students
How to write and publish a scientific paper. 1988. Robert A. Day. Oryx
Press, New York. who nonetheless have not elected to include the course
Communication skills for the foreign-born professional. 1982. Gregory A. in their programs of study. We have proposed incorporat-
Barnes. 151 Press, Philadelphia.
ing the course, as a 1-h offering, in the program of study
Making successful presentations. 1984. Terry C. Smith, John Wiley & Sons,
New York. for each entering graduate student of the department.
A handbook of public speaking for scientists and engineers. 1983. Adam The opinion that I have tried to convey is that gradu-
Hilger, Ltd., Bristol, England.
Effective writing. 1982. C. Turk and J. Kirkham. E. and F.N. Spon, New ate students generally do not communicate (read, write,
York. speak, or listen) at a professionally acceptable level of
Lecturing and explaining. 1978. G. Brown. Methuen Publ., London.
proficiency. They are capable of learning these skills but
Scientists must write—A guide to better writing for scientists, engineers
and students. 1978. R. Barass. John Wiley & Sons, New York. they have not done so. In most cases they will graduate
The elements of graphing data. 1985. William S. Cleveland. Wadsworth Ad- without having done so. They seem to spend an inordinate
vanced Books and Software, Monterey, CA.
amount of time gathering and statistically analyzing mas-
The reader over your shoulder. 1947. Robert Graves and Alan Hodge. Ran-
dom House, Inc., New York. sive amounts of data, leaving inadequate time for com-
Winning the games scientists play. 1982. C.J. Sinderman. Plenum Press, munication (intellectual processing) of the work. The
New York.
critical importance of effective communication in all
facets of their education is unsuspected by students
provided, or use guidelines from another source
through lack of experience; our education system does
that may apply.
not emphasize that it is a high priority consideration.
4. Information management.
Most instructors cannot or will not set an example of
• Are you a generalist or a specialist? What is the
good communication and they will not insist that their
scope of your information retrieval? Can you ef-
students do so. For most of us, both students and faculty,
fectively collect, index, store, read, and assimi-
effective communication requires expenditure of con-
late all the information available on subjects of
siderable time and mental effort—we are lazy. The ulti-
interest?
mate message to students is that effective communication
• Use of review articles.
requires hard work and that it is not important. The end
• Use of computerized information storage and
does not justify the means.
retrieval.
But it does! Convinced of this at an early point in their
• Separate the grain from the chaff.
graduate education, students can and will learn to com-
As supporting reference material there is a multitude municate good science concomitantly with learning to do
of excellent books on every conceivable aspect of com- good science. Indeed, can the two be separated?
munication. The following references (Table 2) are A why course in communication, emphasizing the con-
offered here with the single qualification that they have sequences of failure to communicate effectively, is a pro-
proven useful to me. Most of them came to me fortui- posed solution. The accumulated practical experience of
tously rather than as a result of intentional search. I instructors, not found in any single book or how to course
recommend them solely in terms of my own personal ex- on any aspect of communication, should be an integral
perience. part of the why course and it should be reenforced by
faculty example.
Since conceiving and initiating organization of such a
course several years ago in our department, it has come
to my attention that other courses, similar in motive but
generally more restricted in coverage and more how-to
oriented, have been initiated independently at a number
of other institutions. At least one such course has been
118 J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989
Achieving group project out Oregon, and campus-based specialists who provide
statewide technical leadership and support. Ones pecialist
success in Oregon: The served as project leader, heading a steering committeeo f
three agents and two additional specialists.
Woodland Workbook Achieving an efficient yet flexible organization was
challenging because the 18-person Forestry Extension
staff and several support staff who participated in the
Norman E. Elwood and Paul W. Adams*
project were scattered throughout the state. Three groups
functioned throughout: authors and professional editors;
Abstract
artists, publication specialists, secretaries, and adminis-
trators; and a review committee and other reviewers.
Clear, concise, how-to-do-itp ublicationsa re an important
To begin production, the steering committee organized
meanso f motivatingo wnersto managne onindustrial,p rivate,
the workbook into 10 chapters, outlining the forest-
forest land. But groupp roductiono f a coordinateds eries of
management cycle from regeneration to harvest. The
publicationsr equires special organizationa ndg roupc ommit-
initial idea was simply to produce a collection of publi-
mentt hat mustb e strengthenebdy projectv isibility ande ffec-
cations. During five meetings over 6 months, a more coor-
tive communicationsP. roducingh igh-quality publications
dinated reference was found to be needed to support a
requiresa rigorousr eviewp rocesst hat emphasizetes chnicala c-
curacy,r eadability, andn eeds of the audience.P roductiono f curriculum for teaching forestry to nonindustrial private
the WoodlandW orkbooka t OregonS tate University unified forest (NIPF) owners. Collectively, the staff identified
a diversea ndg eographicallsyc attereds taff andw hileh ighlight- > 75 needed publications, 40 of which were identified as
ing their strengthsa ndw eaknessesf,o steredm utuarle spect and the "critical mass" needed for a cohesive first issue of
trust. A comprehensivaen dw idely acceptedf orest management the workbook.
guidebooka ndi mproveds taff performancwe ast he result. The steering committee then enlisted commitments by
visiting or calling each prospective author and discuss-
ing the overall project and the author’s role. Verbal com-
O
RGANIZATIONhaSv ing both centralized and geo- mitments were formalized with letters from the project
graphically dispersed staff often struggle to main- leader to authors and their administrative supervisors.
tain esprit de corps and to achieve group goals. Numer- Commitmentsw ere reinforced by announcement and dis-
ous and diverse job requirements can divide an organi- cussion at all staff meetings.
zation as individuals respond to immediate demands. Our Next, using rough production priorities, the project
experience with a publishing project involving forestry leader and authors negotiated target completion dates.
staff of the Oregon State University (OSU) Extension Because of authors’ other work commitments, no
Service shows that solidarity and productivity can he schedule was dictated. Completion targets ranged from
achieved by a diverse and scattered group. Forestry staff 6 to 18 months, depending on the number and complexi-
of the Extension Service commonlyd evelop a variety of ty of publications and on the author’s overall work load.
forestry-related educational programs. The Woodland Oncea ll dates were established, the project leader circu-
Workbook, a forest-management guidebook written es- lated to all staff a calendar showing the production
pecially for woodlando wners, is one example. This article schedule for all publications from initial draft through
describes its developmenta nd offers guidelines for achiev- final printing. After supervising project developmenta nd
ing successful group projects of this kind. the production schedule, the project leader sat back to
receive the "flood" of manuscripts.
A Project Beginning
Production Problems
Clear, concise, how-to-do-it publications are an impor-
tant means of informing and motivating woodland own- Whens everal individual deadlines were missed, it was
ers to manage their property. Having few such all too apparent that the schedule was not working. The
publications in 1980, OSU’s Extension Forestry staff delay was symptomatic of other more specific problems.
decided to produce a comprehensive forest-management 1. Overcommitment. Many staff were already over-
guide composedo f individual publications organized in
committed with regular responsibilities, and the
a loose-leaf notebook. A consistent format and style was
project intensified pressure. A talented, highly moti-
selected to provide unity; however, each publication was
vated, semiautonomous, and already busy staff
to cover a separate subject and to be able to stand alone.
could not be ordered to drop prior commitments
The Oregon State University’s Extension Forestry staff
in favor of the workbook.
is composedo f county-based agents, stationed through-
2. GeographicS cattering. Statewide placement of staff
complicated communicationsa nd logistics, especial-
Botha uthors, OregonS tate Univ., Corvallis, OR9 7331-5706P.a per ly when a manuscript had multiple authors.
2384o f the ForestR es.L ab.,O regoSnt ate Univ.R eceive2d6 Ma1y9 88.
3. Lack of Writing Skills. Manyp articipants lacked
*Correspondinagu thor.
experience in writing and reviewing for the
Publishedin J. Agron.E duc.1 8:119-12(11 989). woodland-owner audience.
J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989 119
Falling behind schedule discouraged the group, disrupted cessive use of jargon. Ther eview process (Fig. 1) was crit-
support-staff scheduling, and detracted from education- ical to solution of this problem. Four staff members(t wo
al programs for which support publications had been ex- agents and two specialists) served as the review commit-
pected. tee. Theyt actfully but persistently insisted on high-quality
writing and helped authors achieve it by using the review
Solutions; and Finally--A Workbook process to develop personal writing skills. Authors
received thorough written comments about their
Overcommitment manuscripts. Telephone calls and meetings between
authors and reviewers were used to clarify uncertainties.
To deal with overcommitment, the project leader ap-
plied friendly pressure through visits, phone calls, and Author ]
memos. If necessary, the degree of encouragement producesd ocument
progressed to a more serious discussion, and then to su-
pervisory involvement. Authors whos till failed to deliver
were offered the choice of passing their responsibility to
another author or finishing the job with an experienced
coauthor.
Regular distribution of upbeat progress reports and
completed manuscripts generated enthusiasm. Gradual-
ly, forward momentumde veloped as staff shifted priori-
ties to favor the project, and as tangible output, such as
workbookb inders and draft manuscripts, was circulated
to participants.
While overcommitment might have been foreseen,
2-4 weeks
preventing it would have meant delaying the project un- communications
committfeoer specialistfso r
til staff work loads would have allowed full participa- detailedr eview comment liaisofno r
cerement
tion. Such circumstances would be highly unusual, given
the number of people involved and the demands of ex-
tension work.
Geographic Scattering
Geographic scattering of the staff made scheduling
meetings difficult and the communicationl ag excessive,
forcing the project leadership to makes omed ecisions that
2 weeks
ideally would have been made by group consensus. These
problems were solved by the whole staff working to im-
<~th~
prove project- and time-management skills and by:
--incorporating the project into individual work plans
--publicizing progress with a newsletter compiled by
the project leader
--using a consultant to teach core staff memberst o
achieve more productive meetings
--increasing the use of conference calls 2-4 weeks Dept. Heada nd OtherD ept.
--promoting impromptu author or reviewer meetings foorn lyci of mmmaejonrts ExtensionF orestry Headfso r
through coordinated travel scheduling flawesx s t ProgramL eader comment
--conducting writing retreats to bring together all staff
for uninterrupted discussion and writing away from
office distractions.
Three 1- to 3-d retreats were held at a conference fa-
cility chosen for accessibility and comfort, and a mini-
mumo f distractions. Attendance was not mandatory but
was encouraged. Minimums tructure was imposed in
order to allow the type of activity individuals and groups
needed.
Writing Skills
The writing deficiencies that sometimes appeared were: *Review-committcehea irman
poor manuscript organization, uninspiring style, and ex- Fig. 1. The Woodland Workbook review process.
120 J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989
Reviewers sometimes went beyond critiquing manuscripts project as a personal challenge to catalyze action. Super-
to rewriting sections in order to illustrate suggestions. visors must give tangible support by protecting their staff
Commentsb y the review committee were required on from conflicting assignments. Obtaining early and for-
the first draft but were optional on the second. Comments mal commitments cements project ownership and pro-
from other staff membersw ere given as their time per- motes participant follow-through.
mitted. Administrators and members of the Extension 3. Projects require clear identification and careful se-
Communications Department provided valuable input. quencing of their component steps. Individual commit-
The review committee chair collected and synthesized all ments and deadlines must be clearly identified and
commentisn to a cohesive response. A final draft was then communicated, preferably to the whole group. Keeping
sent to the Extension Communications Department for participants informed and involved is critical. Mechan-
professional editing and printing. isms such as newsletters and regular distribution of drafts
After 3 yr in production, the first WoodlandW ork- effectively enhance project visibility, help stimulate en-
book was distributed. In it are 40 new Extension Forestry thusiasm, and focus attention on a project.
publications by 26 authors. Each workbook contains a 4. Producing a cohesive, technically sound, and read-
short mailback questionnaire, enabling owners to receive able publication with manyw riters of varying experience
notices of new publications. More than 1000 copies have requires a rigorous but constructive review system.
been distributed in the USAa nd beyond. The group ap- Critique of the material rather than criticism of the author
proach and a rigorous, audience-oriented review process must be the rule.
resulted in publications that are meeting the needs not 5. Group projects can produce significant dividends
only of woodlando wners, but of professional foresters that repay the time and moneyi nvested. Most staff mem-
and consultants. University and community-college bers will improve as writers and reviewers. Familiarity
faculty use the workbook as a woodland-management of all with author-editor relationships, graphics,
text. proofreading, layout, and printing can improve an over-
all publication program.
ManagingG roupP rojects: Lessons, Benefits, 6. Important group synergism and focus occurs dur-
and Guidelines ing writing retreats. Gathering all staff awayf rom their
offices solves problems of geographic separation and
Six lessons emerged from this effort that may help simultaneously concentrates people’s energies.
others who are managing group projects. The Woodland Workbook project also produced un-
1. Group projects require that participants trust one expected benefits. Staff membersa re nowm ore motivated
another professionally and personally if amiable com- to publish because they have a high-quality, highly visi-
promise and progress is to be made. To promote trust, ble outlet for which there is strong demand. The sell
group activities (retreats and training sessions) can be ar- confidence of inexperienced authors has grown. Author-
ranged to strengthen relationships. Jobs may be reas- ship has provided off-campus staff with a new way of
signed as staff strengths and weaknessesa re revealed, so demonstrating their professionalism to local clients,
that all can contribute their best. supervisors, and associates.
2. Full commitment must be expected from most of Success has bred success, promoting a "can do" atti-
a staff, and some must contribute beyond the normal tude, stimulating future group activities, boosting morale,
work load. The leader, especially, must accept a group and fostering staff unity and mutual respect.
J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989 121
Scriptural stewardship: 1. The Faithful and Evil Stewards (Matt. 24:45-51;
Luke 12:41-48)
A conceptual framework
2. The Talents (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27)
3. The Wicked Tenant Farmers (Matt. 21:33-46;
for teaching ethics
Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-18)
in agriculture1
Certain themes emerge consistently from these para-
bles. First, in each case, the property ownere ntrusted cer-
tain resourses to particular stewards, charged them with
R. B. Beverly* and S. L. Ott
managemento f the resources, and then left on a long
journey. Thus, each steward acted freely in the owner’s
Abstract absence, choosing whether or not to serve the owner’s
interest. In each case, the owner’s return was certain, but
Stewardshipr efers to the managemeonft resourcesb elong- came at an unannounced time. Upon the owner’s return,
ing to another.B asedo n three parableso f Jesus, we find that each steward was called upon to give a personal account
in general, stewardshirpe quirest hat managerasd dresst he com- of his managemenot f the resources at his disposal. Based
peting demandosf physical resources, subordinatel aborers,
on the results of their managements, tewards were either
clientele, andp ersonali nterests. Wep resenta conceptuaflr ame-
rewarded with greater responsibility and opportunity, or
workt o guide consideration and discussion of the issue of
deprived of their positions of authority and punished.
balancingc ompetingd emandsT. his frameworcka n provide an
Thus, these parables present the themes of free agency
operationalm odelt o qualitatively or quantitativelya ssess a
and personal accountability of stewards.
manager’sst ewardshippr ofile. Finally, ethical decision-making
basedo n the concepto f stewardshipr equiresa ttention to the In these stories, each steward served the owner’s in-
questiono f ownershiopf the resources,a ndw ep resento ur anal- terests to greater or lesser degree by the way he managed
ysis andc onclusionso n that issue. four interdependent and competingi nterests: (i) the phys-
ical estate (household, land, or wealth); (ii) relationships,
i.e., to subordinate laborers; (iii) economica ctivities; and
STEWARDSHIP
refers to themanagement of resources (iv) the steward’s ownp ersonal interests. Interestingly,
that belong to another. In agriculture, stewardship no steward was judged primarily on the physical condi-
has been used to describe the judicious use or conserva- tion of the estate upon the owner’s return. Rather, the
tion of environmental resources, particularly soil and owner judged the steward on the way he used resources
water. We believe that several parables of Jesus teach to provide the needs of subordinate laborers or to enter
valuable lessons about stewardship, and these parables into commerce. Humanr elationships were shown to be
are particularly interesting and applicable to classroom of greater value than the physical wealth. In the parable
discussions of ethics in agriculture. In this article we will of The Talents (Matt. 25:24-30; Luke 19:20-26),
briefly summarizeth ree parables as they relate to agricul- resources were to be used, not hidden awayf or safekeep-
tural stewardship, and propose a conceptual framework ing. Also, the severest punishment befell those stewards
for managingc onflicting interests. Wew ill discuss some who placed their own interests above those of the estate
implications of this framework with reference to farm or subordinate laborers, and consequently selfishly con-
sumed (Matt. 24:48-51; Luke 12:45-46) or misappropri-
managers, although the concepts apply generally to
managersi n any context. Finally, we will briefly discuss ated (Matt. 21:40-42; Mark 12:9; Luke 20:15-16) the
the central issue in the concept of stewardship, the ques- owner’s wealth.
tion of ownership.
Applications to Agricultural Management
Parables on Stewardship
Wet ake the principles of stewardship to be generally
Parables are short, simple stories that use familiar cir- applicable. Every person is entrusted with some set of
cumstances and activities to teach moral or religious resources, relationships, and clientele, and each person
lessons. The parables of Jesus we will discuss clearly have must balance these interests against his/her personal in-
spiritual meanings. However, we believe that we do not terests in order to ultimately serve the interests of the
detract from their meaning and significance by applying "owner" who provided the resources and opportunities.
the lessons to a discussion of ethical decision-making.T he
reader is encouragedt o study these parables in detail; we 1Editorialn ote: Thism anuscripits a note sharinga personalp er-
will only briefly summarizet he stories. spectiveo n the applicabilityo f certaino f Christ’st eachingsto issues
The parables that provide a basis for our discussion of stewardshipo f natural resourcesa ndr esourcem anagemeton tm eet
humann eeds. It wentt hrought he usual reviewp rocedurea nd was
are the following: forwardedw ith a favorabler ecommendatiboyn a n associate editor.
Ethicali ssues are very pressingi n our societyw ith scandalsin many
R.B.B everly,D ep.o f Hortic., andS .L. Ott, Dep.o f Agric.E conom- arenas:W allS treet, defensein dustries,t he electronicc hurche, tc. It
ics, GeorgiaE xp. Sm., Univ.o f Georgia,G riffin, GA3 0223-1797. is the editor’sj udgemetnhta t ethical issuesi n agriculturem ustb e ad-
Received2 8 Mar.1 988. *Correspondinagu thor. dressedb y agronomisatsn dr elatedp rofessionalsh; ence,t he article is
publishedh ere event houghs omer eaders mayf eel it is not germane
Publishedi n J. Agron.E duc.1 8:122-12(41 989). to agronomoyr issues in agronomiecd ucation.
122 J. Agron.E duc., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989
Thus, the concepts of stewardship can apply equally to environmenti s improveda s soil erosion is reduced, wild-
elected officials, government policymakers, university life habitat is increased, and the future need for synthet-
teaching and research faculty members, and college ic N fertilizer is reduced. The cost of fallowing the land
students. For the present purpose, we will illustrate our is the grain that could have been produced. The forgone
concepts using the example of the farm manager--the in- grain production means lower returns to the farm
dividual farmer or manager charged with daily manage- manager, less economic activity and wages for the firms
ment of a farm enterprise. and employees whoh andle and process the grain, reduced
Referring back to the elements of stewardship in the sales by input suppliers in both current and following
parables discussed earlier, these mayb e applied to farm years, and less grain available to consumers.
managemenat s follows. The physical estate can be con- Balancing the competing demandso f each interest can
sidered symbolic of the physical resources that go into also be expressed graphically (Fig. 1). Each interest
a farm enterprise, including land, water, and biological represented by an axis. The axes diverge from a common
resources. To us, biological resources include not only origin and are always positive in sign. Resourcesa re fixed,
seeds and plants, but animals produced for consumption forcing the farm manager to allocate amongc ompeting
or used for draft as well. Subordinate laborers would in- interests. The amount of the limited resource base that
clude both family and hired laborers used in agricultural is allocated to each interest is measureda long the rele-
production, harvesting, and processing. By extension, the vant axis. The axes then define a surface describing the
subordinate laborers could also include all those whop ro- stewardship profile of the farm manager.
vide inputs to the farm enterprise, including fertilizer There is no single allocation that is perceived to be
dealers, machinery manufacturers, and so on. The inclu- superior to other allocations. Thus, a farm manager, in
sion of economica ctivities in the parables implies deal- an attempt to satisfy consumer demand, may elect to use
ings with consumers, or the clientele group that receives production methods that less serve the interests of the
(and depends upon) the steward’s production. In the farm environment. Similarly, in order to better serve his per-
managementc ase, this would include not only primary sonal interests, a managerm ight be less attentive to the
receivers (grain elevators, brokers, etc.), but ultimately interests of subordinate laborers.
the general population, which consumes food and fiber The problem of balancing these competing interests is
produced by farms. Finally, a legitimate fourth interest the crux of stewardship. With regard to any of the four
to be balanced by the farm manager is his/her own per- competing interests, a managerc an assign insufficient,
sonal interest: personal and family health, welfare, and adequate, or excessive importance (Table 1). A manager
quality of life. is not truly against any of the elements, but mayn eglect
one element in his effort to satisfy another. The terms
insufficient and excessive are highly subjective, and their
definitions depend upon a particular observer’s perspec-
A Conceptual Framework tive. The consequences of a steward’s actions presuppose
that steward’s ability to act on his/her objectives. Realisti-
The four competing interests to be balanced by the cally, a manager mayw ell desire to achieve a different
farm manager may be expressed mathematically as set of objectives, but be constrained by legal, social, or
follows: economic factors. For example, in a developing nation
max (S, L, E, C) [1]
subject to
S+L+E+C=R [2]
S, L, E, C > 0 [3]
where Consumers’
interests
S = the steward’s personal interests I I I I I I I ! I
I I I I I I I Environmental
L = subordinate laborers’ interests
interests
E = environmental interests
C = consumers’ interests
R = available resources
Because of the equality constraint (Eq. I2]), maximizing
any one interest can only occur at the expense of the other
three. Each interest has an opportunity cost of forgone
improvement in the other three. For example, a farm
Fig. I. Fourp ositiveb utc ompetitivien terestst o be balancebdy a
manager may decide to improve the environment by stewardm ayb e vieweda s divergenat xes, whichd efinea steward-
fallowing some land to grow a legume cover crop. The shipp rofile.
J. Agron. Educ., Vol. 18, no. 2, 1989 123