Gabe Graber — Staff Writer 

Dordt University pulls in students from around the country to study agriculture. Students are enticed by the Christian education and the modern facilities at the Agriculture Stewardship Center located just north of Sioux Center. Dordt already offers a variety of agriculture majors, including agriculture, plant science, missions, agriculture technology and agri-business.  

In the fall of 2024, the communications department will partner with the ag department to create an Agriculture Communication emphasis within the ag program. The conversation about the possibility of such a partnership began in 2014, when students voiced an interest in the program and the faculty noticed the importance of communication within agriculture. 

Bruce Kuiper, professor of communication, and John Olthoff, professor of agriculture, worked together to design the major, and drafted a proposal to academic affairs. They didn’t hire any new faculty or design new courses, but they designed a major from classes already offered.  

“In many cases, we like to work with what we have and not hire any new professors or design new classes to create an emphasis within a major,” Olthoff said. “I sat down with the communication department, and we looked at how other colleges have designed it, and in this case, we didn’t add any new courses. Rather, we picked what works best from both agriculture and communication to create the major.”  

Kuiper helped Olthoff in the designing and administrative process. The two worked on the class schedule design, the written proposal to Academic Affairs and analyzed what other colleges have done to craft a schedule that didn’t overlap at all.  

During the planning process, both professors continued teaching classes and maintained their other institutional duties. The hardest part was finding the time to get it done. They kept working because they knew it was important for the future of Dordt. As of fall 2024, Dordt will be one of the few small colleges in America offering this specific program.  

“All of the meticulous things to figure out was the hardest part,” Kuiper said. “There was legwork involved in the administration as well as just replicating what other colleges have. There was also a serious dialogue about the name. Is it Agriculture Communication or Agricultural Communication? We had to agree on what letter change it was going to be.” 

The motivation behind this major was to strengthen Dordt’s academics and increase student opportunities. The emphasis also stemmed from the belief that good communicators are helpful in any career field, but particularly agriculture. Graduates with this degree would be able to pursue a variety of careers this field, like working for a farming news website or magazine like the Farmer’s Almanac. In addition, graduates could work for an agricultural government agency like the United States Department of Agriculture, an insurance agency, or write and produce news media on the topic of agriculture. 

“For any major, being able to communicate is important,” Olthoff said. “We live in a society where if people don’t agree with us, we won’t work with them, but as Christians, that’s our responsibility. That’s the real purpose, is getting the Christian perspective behind these careers.” 

After this work, all involved knew it was going to be worth it in the end because of that common foundation as well as giving Dordt students new opportunities.  

“The easiest part was deciding to go through with the process,” Kuiper said. “By and large, the decision was a no-brainer. Ten years ago when we proposed this, everyone agreed it had to happen. Actually doing the work has made it worth it.”