An article written by a team of five educators in U of A's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences has been named winner of the 2025 E.B. Knight Award by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture.

The group of Christopher Estepp, Will Doss and Don Johnson, all faculty members in the Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology; Lucas Simmons, Bumpers College's director of advising and retention; and Sarah James, a former graduate student in AECT now teaching high school agriculture in Texas, collaborated on the article, which appeared in the NACTA Journal volume 67.

The article, "Examining Sense of Belonging Among Freshman College of Agriculture Students," examined how a sense of belonging impacted undergraduate retention rates.

The Knight Award recognizes the highest-rated manuscript of the year as determined by the NACTA Journal Awards Committee.

The co-authors will recognized during an awards banquet at the NACTA Conference in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on June 5.

Results of their study showed respondents generally had a strong sense of belonging to the university and college of agriculture. Most students perceived faculty to be empathic and understanding, but also reported slightly lower levels of comfort when seeking help. Most students were neutral in perceptions of classroom comfort, meaning they may be less confident speaking in class, volunteering ideas, asking questions and contributing to discussions.

Just over half agreed they had peer support, while about a third perceived feeling isolated. Peer support, faculty support and empathetic faculty were all predictors of sense of belonging in the college. Recommendations include using cooperative learning activities and continuing to provide opportunities for student organization participation to help students establish a sense of belonging.

NACTA is a professional society that focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning agriculture and related disciplines at the post-secondary level.

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About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $3 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.