Kansas Corn Collegiate Academy
The Kansas Corn Collegiate Academy gives college students the opportunity to dive deeper into the corn industry, providing insights into the opportunities and hurdles that lie ahead of the corn industry and how their future career paths may be impacted.
Participating students will create a capstone project that will relate the information they have learned back to their area of study. Students will participate in a day at the Statehouse in Topeka and Corn Congress in Washington D.C. as well as two other learning sessions across the state of Kansas during the spring semester. Applicants must be currently enrolled in post-secondary school and still in school through the fall semester of 2020.
Collegiate Academy Application Requirements
Each application must include the following pieces to be considered:
- Completed application form answering all of the questions
- Must have a student membership, memberships are available for $25 for 12 months
- Student must attend a post-secondary education Kansas institution
- Must be enrolling in classes for the spring and fall 2020 semesters
- Two reference forms from non-family members, one must be an academic contact
- One-page resume highlighting academic, work and extracurricular activities and experience
- Tentative Dates for sessions; Session 1 January 17-19, Session 2, policy day February 18, Session 3 April 24-26, Session 4, July 13-17 Corn Congress in Washington D.C.
Applications are due November 15, 2019. Confirmation email will be sent to student when all necessary materials and forms are received.
What participants say about their experience
- Gracie Danner, West Liberty, IA, agricultural economics with minor in international agTrade is something the agriculture industry may take for granted or fail to recognize the importance of. The importance of trade was not only discussed in our many visits but we got to see first-hand the importance this summer with trade negotiations and tariff wars. The agriculture industry is global, this evident in a small-town co-op all the way to a billion-dollar agribusiness. No matter where in the industry I end up, this will be evident and important to understand and work with.
- Trent Frye, Belleville, KS, agronomyI most definitely stepped out of my comfort zone by observing the trade and legislative discussions during our Lawrence, Topeka, and Washington D.C sessions. All in all I must say I learned that foreign entities and political associates can radically influence how commodity costs are established. Likewise, I learned that political negotiation is always key in the fight for corn producers everything.
- Keren Duerksen, Newton, KS, agronomyThis program gave me a better global perspective of how grain is marketed, traded and utilized. I also gain a better appreciation of the interconnectedness of governmental policy, nothing is black and white. Lastly, I was able to see diversity of corn production across the state and across the nation.