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Introduction

From the Executive Editor

“The Only Constant in Life Is Change.”- Heraclitus

The concept of change being continuous is rampant throughout the pages of the JIAEE since its inception. Much of the work explored throughout its pages are focused on how to encourage, manage or influence change and based in change theory. Therefore, it is with great excitement I share the JIAEE is about to go through a major change as we move the journal to a new online platform: New Prairie Press. We can guarantee this change will bring many opportunities for current and future authors including the elimination of page fees, the ability to see and use metrics capturing the impact of your work, and increased streamlining of the editorial process alleviating pressure on the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education (AIAEE), the professional organization that sponsors and provides oversight for the JIAEE.

Given all of these benefits, the JIAEE editorial board and the AIAEE executive board have been extremely supportive as the editorial team has worked through the details associated with this change. That being said, there will be some growing pains as we, as a group of scholars - reviewers and authors, transition to the new system. I encourage you to pay attention to the messages you will receive from Dr. Todd Brashears, Managing Editor of the JIAEE, over the next few months. He will detail how to create new accounts in the New Prairie Press system, new submission protocols, and will provide detailed instructions for reviewers.

It is because of this transition some of the reviews in the FastTrack system have been delayed. We have decided to delay assigning reviewers to new submissions until after the transition that will be occurring the first week of September. We appreciate your patience during this time and assure you the review process will be expedited once we are in the system. In addition, it is the reason the August issue is slightly shorter than most issues of the JIAEE.

Despite its length, the current issue is full of interesting studies and make it worthy of reading from cover to cover. The Research Note explores USAID’s recent release of the comprehensive policy named “The Journey to Self-Reliance” and its impact on how land-grant institutions frame international development. While exploratory in nature, the critical discourse analysis used is intriguing and provides a foundation for questioning the role of policy in the food security conversation.

Silvert et al. also explore self-reliance; specifically, its role in the commercialization behaviors of coffee farmers. Their findings imply the self-reliance concepts being employed in diverse contexts may have implications for extension and offer some solid recommendations as we think about ourselves as development facilitators. Lu et al. compared the critical thinking styles of students from different parts of the world. Their findings imply cultural differences, mainly those from individualistic versus collectivist societies, impacts critical thinking style and should be taken into consideration when educating agricultural students from different parts of the world.

Strategies for assessment were also explored in several studies in this issue. Lamm et al. developed a scale for measuring information and communication technology use capacity. The findings imply strategic measurement and planning can lead to improved capacity and operations in many parts of the world. Finally, Pigg et al. took a long-term perspective on measuring the impacts of a study abroad course on student outcomes. Measuring long-term impact is always intended but rarely carried through in this capacity. Their findings imply academic maturity plays a role in outcomes, the experience resulted in a deeper recognition of power and privilege, and students engaging in study abroad experiences were more likely to engage in advocacy for global experiences after returning from their trip. They encourage further exploration of these results and make a call for long-term measurements of change resulting from educational experiences.

Once again, we thank you all for reading the JIAEE and appreciate your patience as we move forward with our transition this fall. Please feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions. We continue to wish you all peace, safety and health.

Alexa J. Lamm, PhD

Executive Editor, Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education