Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communications, MS

for the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communications (on campus & online)

The M.S. in Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications is a professional degree for training community and organizational developers, professional trainers, Extension agents, communications officers, educational assessment professionals, customer service specialists, and agriculture classroom teachers to address issues as they pertain to teaching and learning in and about food, agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. Students are typically interested in either furthering their career in Extension, agricultural organizations and community agencies, and agricultural classrooms in secondary education. We also provide a degree option for students interested in gaining licensure for teaching agriculture in Illinois public schools for grades 5-12.

Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications can be pursued as an online degree. Please refer to our website for more information.

Admission

We are looking for highly motivated students with strong academic records. Students with backgrounds in agriculture, education, behavioral or social sciences are especially encouraged to apply. The minimum undergraduate grade-point average for admission is 3.0 (A = 4.0). Applicants for the online/off-campus program are not required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). International applicants from non-English-speaking countries must have official TOEFL scores of at least 575 (written version) or 233 (computer-based version) to be eligible for admission. To receive full consideration for admission (and financial aid opportunities if you are applying for the full-time, on-campus program), please apply by February 15 for possible admission the following fall semester. We utilize a rolling admission process for people applying to the part-time online MS Degree.

Previous transcripts of candidates admitted for teacher licensure will be audited for completion of required technical courses. Coursework to address any deficiencies must be completed before entitlement for licensure.

Financial Aid

We are committed to funding as many of full-time on-campus students who are making timely progress as possible. The duration and amount of our commitment varies. Funding may include fellowships, research assistantships, and/or teaching assistantships. These opportunities typically include stipends and tuition waivers. In some cases, fees are also waived. All applicants are automatically considered for all department funding opportunities; there is no separate application process. Federal and state financial aid is completely separate from the support provided by our department. For information regarding federal and state financial aid, please refer to the Office of Student Financial Aid.

for the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communications (on campus & online)

This degree program lists three options: A Research option (that includes completing a Master's Thesis), a Practice Option, and Teaching Licensure Option (State of Illinois licensure course requirements may differ from what is listed below).

Research Option

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Required		24
ALEC 500	Foundations of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications	3
ALEC 510	Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation	3
ALEC 505	Science and Art of Teaching and Learning	3
AGCM 495	Communicating Science	3
HDFS 590	Advanced Research Methods	4
HDFS 591	Qualitative Methods	4
or HDFS 594	Intermed Statistical Analysis
ALEC 599	Thesis Research	4
Electives: 8 credit hours. Any graduate-level coursework that can be applied to and relevant for professional goals.		8
Total Hours		32

Practice Option

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Required		15
ALEC 500	Foundations of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications	3
ALEC 510	Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation	3
ALEC 505	Science and Art of Teaching and Learning	3
ALEC 545	Research Methods and Design	3
AGCM 495	Communicating Science	3
Electives: 17 total credit hours. 5 or more credit hours of ALEC, LEAD, AGED, or AGCM coursework not listed above. Up to 12 credit hours from outside the ALEC Program that can be applied to and relevant for professional goals.		17
Total Hours		32

Teacher Licensure Option

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
ALEC 500	Foundations of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications	3
ALEC 510	Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation	3
ALEC 505	Science and Art of Teaching and Learning	3
ALEC 545	Research Methods and Design	3
AGED 410	Grad Early Field Experience	2
AGED 510	Education Program Management	4
AGED 511	Grad Professional Dev in Ag Ed	1
CI 473	Disciplinary Literacy	3
SPED 517	Disability Issues in Special Education	4
EDPR 442	Educational Practice in Secondary Education	5
ELECTIVES: 1 credit hour. Any graduate-level coursework that can be applied to and relevant for professional goals.		1
Total Hours		32

Other Requirements

Grad Other Degree Requirements
Requirement	Description
Other requirements and conditions may overlap
Minimum Hours Required within the Unit	5
Minimum 500-level Hours Required overall:	12
Minimum GPA	3.0

for the degree of Master of Science in Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communications (on campus & online)

The learning outcomes for the M.S. Degree are:

Recognize, characterize, and apply theories of teaching and learning across a variety of formal and non-formal educational contexts.
Apply leadership and strategic communications strategies in professional and community settings.
Employ a cycle of planning, implementation, assessment, evaluation, and analysis in training and programming initiatives.
Evaluate scholarship within the contexts of food, agriculture, natural resources, and environmental sciences.
Support the creation of high-quality scholarship in the fields of food, agriculture, natural resources, or environmental sciences.