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Agricultural Supervisory Leadership Certificate Program - Training Farmers and Farm Managers to Effectively Lead and Manage their Teams

Elizabeth Higgins

Summary

This presentation will cover some of the best practices in training farmers and farm managers to become effective supervisors that we have incorporated into an online certificate program, offered by the Cornell Ag Workforce Development Program. We have trained over 200 farm owners and managers since 2020 and will graduate our first cohort from the certificate program in 2024.

The Agricultural Supervisory Leadership (ASL) certificate program is a 6-course online program developed and initiated in 2020 by the Cornell Ag Workforce Development Program at Cornell Cooperative Extension. The instruction for each class is online, with weekly Zoom meetings, for 6 weeks. The purpose of the certificate is to help farm supervisors and managers learn and apply human resource management practices and leadership skills that foster rewarding workplaces and drive business results.

The courses in the certificate program are: (1) Transitioning to Supervisor, (2) Staffing and Organizing Your Team, (3) Organizing Work for High Quality Results, (4) Managing Performance, (5) Employee Development and Training, and (6) Ethics and Employment Regulations for Supervisors. Those who complete all six courses receive a Certificate in Agricultural Supervisory Leadership from the Cornell Ag Workforce Development Program. Participants also receive a certificate of completion for each course (for those who only want to take a specific course).

The first course was held in January 2021, and we have offered a course since then in January, March, June and November, rotating through the 6 courses. By April 2024 we will have offered every class at least once and several classes multiple times and will have several graduates of the full certificate program (who have taken all 6 classes).

The development and instructional team for this program is Richard Stup, Director of the Cornell Ag Workforce Development Program at Cornell; Robert Milligan, Professor Emeritus, Dyson School Cornell University; Elizabeth Higgins, Extension Associate, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Libby Eiholtzer, Cargill (formerly of Cornell Cooperative Extension), Kaitlyn Lutz, Extension Associate, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and Jay Canzonier, Cornell Ag Workforce Development Program and Rachel McCarthy, Cornell Ag Workforce Development Program.

Details

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