Growing the Future
Written by Paul Welker | November 2023
One of the deepest educational roots at Alfred State is the agriculture program. Those roots are growing stronger with committed faculty including Jessica Hutchison.
Jessica started college as a pre-vet major at North Carolina State University but a job in the soil science department led her to pivot and earn a degree in environmental soil science and pursue her master’s degree in agronomy.
“I learned that the soil combines knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics. If you are farming, you must know economics and legal policy. So, it was kind of like the ultimate multi-disciplinary science and that appealed to me.”
Jessica has taught in the agriculture and veterinary department at Alfred State since 2010 after starting her teaching career at Cameron University (Lawton, OK). After teaching mostly general biology classes, the move to Alfred allowed her to get back to her roots.
“Oklahoma was a long way from family. When we saw the job come up at Alfred State my husband (Phil Schroeder) and I both got excited because I have family about an hour from here. To work in agriculture again and to be able to teach classes like soils, botany, vegetable and fruit production, and organic agriculture was right up my alley and a match made in heaven.”
Jessica uses an active learning model in her classes and was excited to see others at Alfred State using similar approaches. “I embrace active learning games, having my students outside doing scavenger hunts, and participating in civic engagement initiatives. We are in the outside from week one and our students are doing real things. They get excited knowing that they are helping others.
“I want to stimulate thought in my students and create individual independent learners. That drives everything that I do. Producing lifelong learners is the ultimate goal.”Jessica Hutchison • Lecturer
Learning from real-world situations keeps her students engaged. “I find that doing a civic engagement project makes the students feel like what they are doing has value. It is making the world better. It motivates them to learn something and give back.”
Her students have helped a local ancient apple orchard, partnered with local gardeners to help solve their problems, and every school year they raise and hold adoption events for praying mantis.
Teaching a class that includes a mix of students who grew up in farming and those who are new is important to Jessica and the others in her department. "Less than 1% of people in the United States are full-time farmers. Those people grow all our food, plus some for export. The average age of those farmers is 58 years old. Therefore, we need new people in farming."
The agriculture program has access to hands-on space on the college farm, but the classroom, laboratory, and greenhouse located in the Agriculture Building will soon get a complete makeover. “I am excited that this building and the greenhouse are being renovated. "We teach innovative techniques in our programs to make sure that students are prepared for the modern world. Having our building technology on par with the technical work we already do with our students will be great."
“While the new greenhouse will be smaller than the existing one, I plan to include many innovative technologies that students may see in the industry. My plans include automation and smart sensors that students can help program and optimize. I am excited to show students something new and something they are not necessarily going to see at a summer job working in a greenhouse.”
Jessica wants to expand her roots and develop connections to other educational programs internationally. She was recently accepted into the Fulbright Specialist Program.
“I was first inspired to apply for it because we work with the Cornell Humphrey Fellows every fall. We are a partner institution with them, and they interact with our students in our classes. The program was designed to increase international exchange in the academic world.”
Jessica has looked at opportunities to travel to Kuwait, Jordan, and the Slovak Republic thus far. “It is super exciting. I cannot wait to find the right opportunity and go. My hope is to form a lasting relationship between Alfred State and the host institution. It would be cool if I could set up a faculty or student exchange program.”
Seeing her former students successfully inspires Jessica. “My early graduates are mid-career right now and really starting to do cool things. I have students come back and visit our courses and talk about their expertise. One of my former students does research on fruit pests. She sent us a big box of apples with all kinds of diseases, and she Zoomed in and worked with students to dissect them.”
“Alfred State students are just genuinely nice people. Lately, many architecture, forensic science and digital media and animation students have been taking my botany course as their natural science elective, along with our agriculture majors. It is a cool mix when I teach my introductory classes. It is always good to encourage the students to make new connections.”
The department hosts numerous events on campus each year including their recent VAST day. “Some of the ag teachers that were here were our graduates. It is neat to see and honestly really cool to see but it makes me feel old. Someday I will have one of my student’s kids and then I will really know I have been here for a while.”
Jessica has seen lots of changes at the school since her arrival but thinks the future is bright. “This time period right now has gotten me excited. I feel like the dream team is assembled, we have all the necessary players, and we have a new building and greenhouse coming. It fills me with excitement for what I am going to be able to do in the next couple of years.”
