Recruiting Strategically : Increasing Enrollment

Under National Agro-Food Policy, agriculture sector has been identified as a National Key Result Area. Under this initiative, the agriculture sector is targeted to increase the Gross National Income by RM28.9 Billion (USD9.1 billion) to reach RM49.1 billion (USD15.4 billion) by 2020. The agricultural sector is also targeted to create more than 109,000 job opportunities by 2020, primarily in the rural areas.

Education is a powerful tool and, when used correctly, it has the power to teach someone a new skill, transform his or her perspective, and encourage personal growth and development. Throughout this country, numerous agricultural education programs help students to learn more about and deepen their understanding of one of this nation’s most valuable industries: the agricultural industry. Most importantly, these programs play a major role in helping to combat the lack of

"I believe in the future of agriculture, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds." These famous words from "The FFA Creed" by E.M. Tiffany outline the basic beliefs of FFA members and agriculturists around the world. But these values, although crucial to the sustaining of our world's ever-increasing population, are growing more and more detached from the people not involved in agriculture. Although food and fiber production has increased in recent years, providing more bushels per acre and more meat per head of cattle, the agriculture industry has come under fire due to an overwhelming majority of people being totally disconnected from the agriculture industry. Today, we'll examine the primary causes of this disconnect, the negative effects on agriculture and our society as a whole that results from it, and how you can help solve this ever-growing problem.

Over the years agriculture has nearly diminished from the workforce. Why is this happening? In fact, ever since the Industrial Revolution’s promises of “big city success” agriculture has taken a hit. Agriculture has been a foundation for the infrastructure of the United States since it’s creation. Agricultural careers are a necessity for the nation. It is important through the history, from whom it affects, the effects on the environment and people, and to find a solution to the loss of this core element.

Shane thinks that the Agricultural Business program at Iowa State is a high quality program that is sought out by numerous companies. He says that I may have to add minors and classes to zone in on what I want in the future, so I’m prepared for the future that I desire. Because of his classes and internships that involve Agricultural Business, Shane feels like he has grown his skills along with the knowledge that will prepare him to be a value for a company to hire him. Talking with Shane made me realize that the Agricultural Business major is right for

Minorities are a growing segment of the population. However, this group continues to be underrepresented in the area of post secondary education. Obtaining an advanced degree remains a likely predictor of future career success. The problem facing the minority student is that barriers persist which continue to hinder enrollment, retention, and graduation rates in institutions of higher education. These barriers must be identified and examined and solutions offered if college completion rates are to be increased for this population.

The agriculture industry is not only the largest industry within our state, but also within our nation. However, in recent years it has also been one of the most heavily criticized. This has led to a ‘brain drain’ in rural America as more people decide to leave our industry and their family farms.

When making a career choice it is wise for one to consider the laws of supply and demand. The current shortage of agriscience educators in Alabama and across the nation has made this a

9. A college such as The University of Illinois could provide farmers with the knowledge of new technology that could give them better crops for possibly less cost and a way to limit production. Additionally, it could teach farmers how to respond to new market

While being a junior in high school I often thought to myself what I would want to do after graduation. I had no general idea of what I wanted to do but knew I would want to attend a college near my hometown. I was active in my FFA serving as the chapter historian and was an active member for four years prior to becoming an officer. While being on the officer team and taking an abundance of agriculture classes I learned how much of a passion I would have for agriculture. That spring I had attended Career Development Events for FFA competing in food science and technology and the following year I participated in floriculture.

Although I am not from a farm, I think I am still closely related to agriculture since my major is nutrition. As a nutrition major, it is important to know the chemistry of food and plants, the growing places of crops in the United States, the way farmer grow the crops, the benefits and risks behind organic crops, the benefits and risks of GMO and the potential food safety problems associated to pathogens, pesticides, toxicity. Besides, knowing how much crop grown and crop prices can give me a more complete picture on nutrition. Since food costs and availability influences people’s food choices and their nutrient intake. For example, the high costs for vegetables is one of the reason that causes obesity problem in the United States. Besides, one of my aunt is currently living in China, she owned a farmland and grow crops such as sweet potatoes, choy sum for her family.

The price per acre of farm land doubled to $2,140 over the last 10 years. A lack of health care also hurts farmers as farming ranks as the fourth most dangerous occupation in the country, and young farmers often must choose between health care and paying for their farm. All of these obstacles and more make farming a difficult occupation to enter. We need organizations such as Young Farmers’ to provide support, education and training to help our nation’s most important

The agriculture field is one of the biggest employers, employing over 155 million people in the United States. What do you think about when you hear the word “agriculture?” Many people would say farming, but this is not the most common occupation in this field. Farmers make up a fraction of the agricultural jobs at 900,000, but over 2.1 million people own, rent, and claim farming as a primary source of income. The average farm size has dropped from 460 acres in 1990 to 418 acres in 2007, while the average age of this occupation rose to 57, making this one of the older workforces in the United States.

Many colleges and universities throughout the United States and several other countries face a common problem. Student retention is a growing problem across the nation for all ethnic groups and all ages. Each individual who chooses to drop out of school has their own personal reasons as to why they do. However, many drops out can be completely avoided. When students drop out they are not clearly thinking about how it’s going to affect their future, the future of their children and even grandchildren. Although there are several reasons as to why students drop out of school, we will be exploring a few as it relates to why student retention is a growing problem.

The topic I chose to research and discuss is the topic of recruiting and retaining the best employees. I chose this subject because I felt it was important for an employer trying to compete in this very competitive business environment, no matter what the business is, to be able not only hire the best and most qualified employees but retain them and keep them motivated. The ability to distinguish the difference between high performing employees and lower performing employees can be detrimental to a company’s success or failure. In retrospect, this goes back to recruiting and retaining the best employees while avoiding and being able to let go of those of a weaker caliber. Before an organization can thrive in recruitment and retention,