The master of agricultural communications: Graduates' perceptions of degree and program effectiveness and recommendations for future development

More than a decade ago, concerns were voiced over the lack of research on graduate programs in agricultural communications and, specifically, whether various stakeholder groups felt the degree was essential to prepare graduates for employment in the field. The current research involved in-depth interviews with 20 agricultural communication alumni from six universities that offered a master's option in agricultural communication. Individuals selected to participate in the research completed a master's degree in agricultural communications or in agricultural education with an agricultural communications option from the years 1997 to 2006. Through a telephone interview process, participants were asked to rate the perceived effectiveness of the program they completed, evaluate their overall graduate experience, and offer recommendations for future development of the programs. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for data analysis. The majority of participants earned their degrees in more recent years of the study period, and the large majority of participants had spent only a few years in their current job positions.;Results reveal that participants were extremely positive overall about their academic experience in terms of preparation for careers. Participants felt their master's degrees had served the purposes they intended, and for over half of the participants, the master's degree was pursued as a terminal degree. Most participants felt they had completed a rigorous, quality program. Despite the positive sentiments expressed about the thesis experience, half of the participants did not feel that all master's students in agricultural communications should be required to write a thesis.;Participants also spoke highly of their graduate experiences outside of the classroom in which they enjoyed a supportive department environment. Participants generally felt their coursework was valuable in achieving their career goals and thought an underlying coursework structure would create a commonality and uniformity among graduates, cautioning that such a degree structure must still allow flexibility to allow individuals to tailor the degree to their interests after meeting core requirements. When considering a distance education degree, a little more than half of the participants felt that some of the required courses for a master's degree could be taken online. However, slightly more than half of participants did not feel the master's degree in agricultural communications should be offered solely via distance education. Likewise, a large majority of participants rated earning a degree online as having less quality than the degree they earned, and slightly more than half of participants rated the online degree to be less prestigious. Half of the participants felt the ideal master's degree should have a larger focus on professional skill development than theory and research.;Thirteen different areas of advice were recommended by participants for enhancement of the degree, such as expanding the currently small instructional staffs devoted to agricultural communications and offering a degree specifically in agricultural communications rather than as a track or emphasis of the agricultural education degree. Participants defined a master of agricultural communications as a person who can properly mange agricultural issues, is always learning, not afraid of hard work, and who is in the business of educating consumers and others. Just over half of the participants considered themselves masters of agricultural.;Findings from this study will be instrumental for faculty members at institutions to evaluate and enhance master's education in the specialized field of agricultural communications, as the study participants collectively represent all of the key stakeholder groups in agricultural communications: industry, academia, students, and alumni.