Meeting People Where They Live

Dean Kim Kidwell has led the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for more than two years. One of her first priorities in beginning her role was to better understand the breadth of the University of Illinois Extension program for which she has oversight. To accomplish that, she visited every Extension unit in the state, all 27 of them, serving the 102 counties of Illinois.

“What’s been special about the visits is getting to see what is different in all parts of the state,” Kidwell says. “What we do on campus is meaningless if it doesn’t reach our state’s communities.”

During a visit to Jacksonville on April 5, Kidwell met with older teens involved in leadership and livestock projects and challenged the group to consider U of I, either as freshmen or later as transfer students. University of Illinois is working cooperatively with the agricultural programs of Southern Illinois, Western Illinois, and Illinois State universities to stop the flow of high school graduates to other states for college. “There’s a place for every student at Illinois, including community college students who wish to transfer here,” Kidwell says.

Pleading her case for U of I, Kidwell noted some statistics: 94% of students who come to U of I as ACES freshmen stay in the program; 74% graduate in four years. And ACES graduates earn 21% more money over 20 years than their counterparts who graduate from other Big 10 schools.

“So why Illinois? You graduate on time, enter the workforce earlier, and make more money,” Kidwell says. “Our goal is to make students context-rich and content-ready.” She looks to industry to help, and she encouraged professionals to talk with students about their careers and why they love their careers.

The first step to increasing enrollment is to get students on campus and open their eyes to the possibilities in ACES, Kidwell says, including youth who weren’t raised with a farm background. Kidwell, who became a noted plant breeder, did not come from a farm background, but as an undergraduate at Illinois, she found a passion for agriculture in the Department of Crop Sciences.

“If you like the things you do in 4-H, get curious, and start to imagine yourself doing that kind of stuff in the College of ACES,” Kidwell says. “We need bright people like you.”

Many internship possibilities exist for ACES students. “Our goal is to translate what students are learning in the classroom to real life,” Kidwell says. “When you graduate, we want you to be job-ready.”

Extension Director Shelly Nickols- Richardson reminded listeners that ACES isn’t nearly as big as students may fear. Around 2,600 undergraduate students are in the college, with room for more.

As the state’s appointed land-grant university, U of I is tasked with conducting life-changing research, which is taught in the classroom and extended to the public at large by Extension staff housed in each county of the state.

by Judy Mae Bingman

DEAN KIM KIDWELL: Dr. Kim Kidwell (seated, right), dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, in 2018 completed her visit to all 27 Illinois Extension unit offices. Dean Kidwell is pictured with 4-H Federation members from Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Morgan, and Scott counties. Seated next to her is Extension director Dr. Shelly Nickols-Richardson.

Photo by Judy Mae Bingman