Winter 2008/09

From Intro to Intense, CDAE’s courses accommodate many, but don’t skimp on experience

Refl ection from Jane Kolodinsky, Chair“It is an exciting time to be part of CDAE.”

Students are attracted to CDAE because they are inspired by what faculty and students are doing and learning and are excited by the opportunity to become a part of it. Some are shocked to discover that they’ll be taking introductory courses like

CDAE 002 World Food, Population, & Development taught by Dan Baker with over 200 other students. But even in this intro course, Dr. Baker’s dynamic personality and small discussion sections give students every opportunity to engage in learning the theories and concepts that form the foundation of community development and applied economics.

Dr. Baker also teaches small courses in which students delve into the hands-on learning of sustainable development and community transformation both here in Vermont and internationally.

Regardless of what path within community development and applied economics that a student ends up taking, they will fi nd the intensity of experience that they crave both in the classroom and in the real world.

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Assistant Professor Dan Baker in the classroom.

In just eight (short) years, CDAE has undergone a tremendous transformation, from what was considered a fl edgling department into one of the most soughtafter and productive departments at UVM. This transformation is due entirely to the

willingness of faculty members to consistently go above and beyond in teaching and research. The introduction of the public communication major has complimented our mission of public service and continues to evolve in exciting ways.

Right now, CDAE has over 300 students majoring in community and international development, public communication, and community entrepreneurship. We have worked with over fi fty community organizations. We have introduced new minors that attract students from throughout campus. CDAE has added new faculty positions and hired outstanding new faculty throughout the department.

In addition, CDAE has excelled in research activity in both grants awarded and publication output. As I write this, we have several exciting proposals in the works. In short, it is an exciting time to be part of CDAE.

Dan Baker at work withcommunities in Honduras.

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Thesis Notes/ New Lecturer..........4A Window into Service-Learning...5

New Faculty/ New Minors..2CDAE in the World.............3

Entrepreneurship Week.........6Curious about Peace Corps?..7CDAE Blogs...........................8

Kayla GrantTaking the Leap in Vermont:

CDAE Welcomes Asim Zia and Tao SunTwo new Assistant Professors in CDAE are a boost to Public Administration and Public Communication

Appointment Focus: Public AdministrationEducation: Ph.D. in public policy, Georgia Institute of TechnologyPosition Prior to CDAE: Assistant Professor at San Jose State UniversityResearch Focus: Adaptive decision making in the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies at multiple governance levels.Planned Courses: Fall: > Introduction to Public Policy (graduate) Spring: > International Climate Change Policy (graduate)

Appointment Focus: Public CommunicationEducation: Ph.D. in mass communication, University of MinnesotaPosition Prior to CDAE: Assistant Professor at Plymouth State University in New HampshireResearch Focus: The eff ects of media on the lifestyles of consumersPlanned Courses: Fall: > CDAE 128 The Consumer and Advertising (undergrad) Spring: > CDAE 127 Consumer, Markets, and Public Policy (undergrad)

Asim Zia Tao Sun

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The Green Building and Community Design minor is well underway within CDAE attracting students from throughout campus that are committed to designing structures and communities that are sustainable, equitable, and practical. Students can take courses as Yestermorrow Build/Design School for credit as well. More details online.

Beginning spring 2009, students at UVM can opt for a minor in public communication. Eff ective communication tools are essential to any student who wants their career to create positive change in their communities.

She’s defi nitely not afraid to try something new. Kayla Grant, fall 2008 exchange student from Belize and international business and economics major from Galen University not only opted to spend this semester at UVM, but also participated in a ropes course and participated in an intercollegiate debate.

The ropes course, organized by Jay and Meg Ashman was preparation for UVM students who are signed up for Spring 2009 Belize Semester Abroad Program in Sustainable Development.

Kayla will be the teaching assistant for Jay Ashman’s service-learning course Applications in Sustainable Development this coming spring in Belize. “I’m very much devoted to the development of Belize. Working on projects with students and people in the community will be a great experience to help me advance that goal,” she says.

After participating in a recent debate, she’s found another interest that she wants to develop as she moves forward in her career, and her country. “It’s not just about me. I am connected to this world and everyone in it. Right now I feel the best way for me to help my world is by starting in my home country, Kayla says.

Kayla Grant was featured in a CDAE Story, at www.uvm.edu/cdae.

208E Morrill Hall656-4695; asim.zia@uvm.edu

204B Morrill Hall656-4698; tao.sun@uvm.edu

CDAE in the WorldBelize

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On October 19, a chilly but sunny day, the students preparing for Spring 2009 Belize Semester Abroad Program in Sustainable Development completed a ropes course together. “We did the ropes course for two reasons,” explained Jay Ashman, Academic Director for the abroad program. “First, we wanted our students to get to know each other before going to Belize so that they could focus on getting to know their Belizean counterparts after they arrive. Second, we wanted them to be better prepared to address the issues that inevitably arise when a group of people live, work, and travel together in a foreign country.” learn.uvm.edu/travel/belize/

The service-learning course Renewable Energy Workshop is traveled to Dominica over Thanksgiving break. Students were partnered again with the Sustainable Living Initiative Center and had a UNDP contract to install renewable energy at six local schools. We took load and energy potential measurements at all of these sites. This included using wind measuring equipment from NRG Systems in Hinesburg. We installed the equipment and hope to make it web accessible so it can be monitored remotely from UVM. In addition we will conducted another biodiesel workshop at the local community college, and completed a photovoltaic installation at the Grand Fond Pre-school begun last year. http://www.uvm.edu/cdae/portfolio/

From Gary Flomenhoft: We will continue with “Futbol for Life” HIV/AIDS education program using soccer as a tool for HIV/AIDS education and awareness with young people. This project started last year, and continued over the summer. It is conducted with the assistance of “Grassroots soccer” a program in which Professor Jon Erickson is involved in The Dominican Republic. We will continue to work on Renewable energy including repairs to a wind turbine installed last year and additional solar equipment at Latille Falls where we previously installed a hydroelectric system. We also hope to design a website for the facility. A community Garden project will be conducted in partnership with two elementary schools, where some computers were installed last year. Also, the St. Lucia government in conjunction with the UN, has funded a project we began last year to install constructed wetlands to treat domestic sewage waste in some local communities. http://www.uvm.edu/cdae/portfolio/

The CDAE-Honduras course completed its eighth year last May--bringing twenty students to work on service-learning projects led by Dr. Dan Baker. Alongside partners in rural communities in the Lake Yojoa region, student groups continued conducting effi ciency research for the Ecological Sugar Project and gathering water quality data from village drinking water systems. Students moved up the watershed in the village of Jaitique from its water system—laying the groundwork for exploring innovative watershed protection initiatives such as a potential payment for ecosystem services scheme. Other students taught environmental education through a games-based curriculum to local elementary school students. Students also developed marketing materials and provided an emergency management workshop for the village of Cerro Azul’s Ecotourism Committee. We look forward to building upon the momentum from these projects in May 2009. http://www.uvm.edu/cdae/portfolio/

Thesis/Research Notes

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MASTER OF SCIENCE Theses Defended in Summer/Fall 2008:Mark Cannella The impact of market uncertainty on the fi nancial performance of dairy farming systems in the NortheastDavid Chappell Occupational Spanish instruction in the Vermont dairy industry: evaluations and implications of pilot project implementationJessica Hyman Local development pressure and land use decisions: farmland change in a diversifi ed agricultural sectorRobin Kemkes Policy tool choice for ecosystem service provision: payments and public informationsSara Coblyn Porth An evaluation of the youth horticulture projectAmanda Richardson Willingness-to-pay for improved drinking water and the feasibility of payments for ecosystem services in the Fod D’or Watershed, St. LuciaErin Roche Individual investment in health: an evaluation of policies and programs

SENIOR RESEARCH Thesis Defended in Fall 2008:Marlow Duffy (CID major, CEnt minor, Nutrition and Food Science minor) Exploring marketing strategies and potential for agricultural tourism farmers in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Most Recent CDAE Publications (see more at http://www.uvm.edu/cdae/graduate/CDAE_Publications.pdf):

Farley, Josh and B. Miles. 2008. Science and problem solving in a political world: lessons from Katrina. Ecological Economics and Statistics 11:3-20.Hogarth, J., Jane Kolodinsky, and T. Gabor. 2008. Consumers’ electronic payment choices. Int J of Electronic Banking 1(1):16-35.Kolodinsky, Jane. 2008. Aff ect or information? Labeling policy and consumer valuation of rBST free and organic characteristics of milk. Food Policy 33(6):616-623.Kolodinsky, Jane, J. Labrecque, M. Doyon, T. Reynolds, F. Oble, F. Bellavance, and M. Marquis. 2008. Sex and cultural diff erences in the acceptance of functional foods: a comparison of American, Canadian, and French College Students. J of American College Health 57(2):143-149.Liang, Kathleen and Paul Dunn. 2009. Entrepreneurial couples in new venture creation: refl ections on expectations, reality and family relationships. Int J Management and Enterprise Development 6(2):165-183.Timmons, David, Qingbin Wang, and Dan Lass. 2008. Local foods: estimating capacity. J of Extension 46(5): article 5FEA7

Prominent Community and Economic Development Scholar and Practitioner, Rhonda Phillips, to teach CDAE course

CDAE will welcome Dr. Rhonda Phillips this spring as an adjunct lecturer for the graduate-level course CDAE/PA 326 Community Economic Development.

Dr. Phillips is editor of Community Development, the journal for the Society of Community Development and brings over 20 years of diverse experience with her. She is former director of two academic research institutions, the School of Community Resources and Development at Arizona State University as well as the Center for Building Better Communities at the University of Florida.

Phillips took time out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions about what she does and what she hopes to achieve this next semester, her full answers available on the grad student blog: http://cdaegrad.wordpress.com/.Ph

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Then CDAE graduate student David Chappell (left) participates in a program in Franklin County designed to

help farmers communicate with migrant workers on their farms.

A Window into Service-Learning

Fall 2008 Service-Learning Courses

Kelly Hamshaw Liases CDAE with CUPS

CDAE graduate student Kelly Hamshaw has a new role this semester as CDAE-CUPS Graduate Liaison. The UVM Offi ce for Community-University Partnerships & Service-Learning (or CUPS) developed this position with support from CDAE to conduct a departmental assessment of community engagement and identify concrete ways of improving the experience for faculty, students, and partners alike.

Kelly has a history with international service-learning courses, taking her fi rst trip to Honduras in the international service-learning course taught be Dan Baker when she was an undergraduate. Now as a graduate student in CDAE, she has transitioned to conducting applied research on issues surrounding aff ordable housing in Vermont while she stays active in the Honduras program as well.

In Meg Ashman’s CDAE 120 SL:Strategic Writing for PCOM course, students were challenged to put their writing skills to use for local non-profi t agencies. The service-learning partnerships were a semester-long application of the material studied in the classroom, and students learn how to write documents regularly used in the professional world. The feature stories and brochures the students completed were tailored to suit the needs of the agencies to promote special programs and events. Fall 2008 partnerships included Essex CHIPS & Teen Center, Winooski Underground, Rebuilding Together, and the CDAE-initiated, student-operated Growing Vermont store.

CDAE 106 SL: Renewable Energy Workshop (Dominica)CDAE 120 SL: Strategic Writing for PComCDAE 195/295 SL: Sustainable Development in Island EconomyCDAE 250 SL: Applied Research MethodsCDAE 273 SL: Project Development & PlanningCDAE 295 SL: Community Design Studio

In addition to assisting with training of service-learning teaching assistants, she also helped to coordinate the UVM Global Citizenship Conference held this November. Kelly is currently administering a survey to all CDAE faculty as the basis of this assessment and will be presenting the results and suggested actions back to the department later this academic year.

In Ken Bauer and Michele Cranwell Schmidt’s CDAE 250 SL: Applied Research Methods course, students completed a project with the Vermont Micro Business

Development Program (MBDP). Student pairs interviewed entrepreneurs in Burlington and MBDP alumni to evaluate outcomes of the training programs

that MBDP runs across the state. This is the second semester this course provided evaluation partnerships between students and a community NGO to conduct

evaluations based on literature reviews, phone surveys, and interviews.

Although not a designated service-learning course, CDAE 168 Marketing for Community Entrepreneurs students were paired with vendors of the Growing VT Store. The outputs generated for each vendor were Wikis with images, customer interviews (as podcasts), and a complete marketing plan.

Spring 2009 SL CoursesCDAE 124 SL: Public Communication MediaCDAE 171 SL: Community & International Economic Transformation (Honduras)CDAE 195 SL: Application of Sustainable Development (Belize)CDAE 195/295 SL: Preparation for Field Work in HondurasCDAE 291 SL: Community & International DevelopmentCDAE 295 SL: Intro to Nonprofi t FieldSL Briefs

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Kelly Hamshaw in her offi ce at 409 Billings

Community Entrepreneurship WeekCDAE participated in its fi rst celebration of Global <Community> Entrepreneurship Week, sponsored by the Kauff man Foundation, in November adding in the word “Community” ourselves. For four consecutive days, students, faculty, staff and many esteemed guests discussed the role entrepreneurs play in today’s local and international economy and community. Panelists discussed product innovation and development, creative production, and the social value entrepreneurs have in Vermont and around the world.

Entrepreneurship faculty members Dr. Kathleen Liang, Dr. Qingbin Wang, and Dr. Ken Bauer spearheaded the entrepreneurship week eff orts along with Growing Vermont director and ‘05 CDAE MS alumnus Michael Moser. Guests were welcomed in Billings North Lounge surrounded by displays from local entrepreneurs- snow bikes, geometric bikes, fashion magazines, soy products to name only a few, small business programs, as well as food sales to benefi t area charities, and the opportunity to vote in a student business model contest.

Although CDAE has never sponsored the event in previous years, the entrepreneurial spirit has long been present on campus and in the classroom. Dr. Kathleen Liang’s Dollar Enterprise students made more money than ever this fall, and almost $16,000 of project revenue has been donated to local charities since 2005. Students selling coff ee or fl ower seeds for this project have become a fi xture on the library steps, which marks the beginning of the hands-on approach entrepreneurship

students take to developing working business plans.

In Dr. Liang’s Strategic Planning for Community Entrepreneurs course, seniors embark on a semester-long journey to create a feasible business model. Instead of the candy apple and hot chocolate-peddling ventures of the introductory course, these students committed to such projects as producing bio-diesel fuel to use in farm operations and opening a farm-to-table restaurant in Woodstock, Vermont. Some students have even brought established innovations into the classroom, seeking to maximize their parents’ or their own ventures. Along with Entrepreneurship and Business Administration majors, the class hosts students from Vermont Technical College selected to receive a Vermont Farms Program scholarship for completing a bachelor’s degree at the University.

While refi ning each part of the business model, students have several valuable resources for consultation. Each step of the process is reviewed throughout the semester by outside professionals who are experienced in business planning strategies, off ering an important real-world perspective. Guest lecturers include research specialist Scott Schaff er and Dr. Paul Dunn, Professor of Entrepreneurship

at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and a pioneer in bringing entrepreneurial concepts into the classroom. The culmination of the course is an opportunity for each group to defend its proposal before a mock loan committee, showing in-depth market research, fi nancial analyses and growth projection. Students complete the course with not only experience in fi nancial management, but also the skills needed to develop a community-focused business.

This enthusiastic approach to creative enterprise development was certainly highlighted during Global Community Entrepreneurship Week, and students, faculty, and community members alike were inspired by the ideas and innovations shared.

by Hayley Duval, ‘09 public communication

Steve Norman with Linearc, LLC, Greg Huber (‘07 community entrepreneurship) now with New England Financial (NEF), John Bourland of NEF, prominent author Michael Shuman, Kathleen Liang of CDAE, Tom Ference of Invent Vermont, and Ken Bauer of CDAE after the launch of Community Entrepreneurship Week on Nov 17.

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Kathleen Liang and Paul Dunn walk to the Introduction to Entrepreneurship course across the UVM campus.

Other 2008 CDAE EventsCDAE in the World

2008 Commencement

CRS 30th Anniversary

CUPS Service-Learning Awards

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April 23, 2008. Connected by shared learning experiences abroad, over 100 students, faculty, staff , alumni, and parents celebrated

CDAE’s international service-learning courses to Honduras, St. Lucia, Dominica, and Belize.

May 18, 2008. University-wide honors went to DaVaughn M. Vincent-Bryan, Andrew Kehl, and Ashley Michelle Fowler during the 2008 Commencement at UVM.

CDAE’s Jonathan Leonard and the Haywire String Band play in the background while students,

alumni, and faculty reunite and browse student photo essays and country project displays.

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DaVaughn Vincent-Bryan receives his diploma from CDAE Chair Jane Kolodinsky.

April 30, 2008. CUPS Associate Director Carrie Williams Howe (at podium) salutes the dedication and hard work of Corey Beach, of the Champlain Valley Offi ce of Economic

Opportunity and ‘07 CDAE alum, who received the Outstanding Service-Learning Community Partner Award.

October 4, 2008. The Center for Rural Studies celebrated its 30 anniversary with an all-day symposium centered on Vermont’s Civic Culture, Food Systems, and Rural Communication. The day also included a reception honoring CRS founder and co-director, Fred Schmidt.

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by Jeff Frank, Peace Corps Recruiter and CDAE Graduate Student

The CDAE department and Center for Rural Studies has been a long-time partner and host of the Peace Corps Recruiting Offi ce at UVM. In its tradition of both volunteerism and applied service, the CDAE department is a fi tting home for the Peace Corps. In 2008 Vermont was ranked as the #1 Peace Corps Volunteer-producing state per capita and UVM sits as 15th highest volunteer-producing university nationwide. Recently the Peace Corps was ranked by Business Week as the 8th Most Ideal Employer. If you’re curious about serving in the Peace Corps or just want to know more about what the Peace Corps can off er, stop by the recruiting offi ce or contact me any time.

Offi ce Hours for the Spring (207 Morrill Hall)Tuesday: 10:00 – 2:00Wednesday: 2:00 – 4:00Thursday: 10:00 – 2:00

Curious about Peace Corps?

Contact Jeff Frank:802-656-8269 or peace.corps@uvm.eduFacebook Group: Peace Corps UVM Info & Recruitment

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Peace Corps Recruiter Jeff Frank (center standing) poses with a group of men from the village in Belize where he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

CDAE Student Blogs

About CDAEThe Community Development and Applied Economics Department (CDAE) is part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Vermont.

CDAE supports sustainable local, regional, and international communities through interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach that serve the public interest.

The department off ers undergraduate students the following majors and minors: Community and International Development, Community Entrepreneurship, and Public Communication. Additional minors are also off ered in Applied Design, Consumer Aff airs, Consumer and Advertising, and Green Building and Community Design.

Two graduate opportunities are available within the department: Master of Science in Community Development and applied Economics and Master of Public Administration (more at:www.uvm.edu/cdae) and participates in the Peace Corps Fellows Program (more at:www.uvm.edu/~cdaepcf ).

205 Morrill Hall, Burlington, VT 05405 802.656.2001

UndergraduateU ad

Graduate

Undergraduates Ben Bezark, ‘09 community and international development major, and Francy Lang, ‘09 public communication major, both blog for UVM and you can fi nd them at:https://bbezark.blog.uvm.edu/http://fl ang.blog.uvm.edu/

And ‘08 public communication grad Pat Floyd’s blog is still available:http://pfl oyd.blog.uvm.edu/

This fall, graduate students within CDAE initiated a blog to post interesting fi nds, inquiries, surveys, and potential and current research topics. The graduate student blog touts more than one post per week, and almost as many comments. All are welcome to participate:http://cdaegrad.wordpress.com/