Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications becomes eighth department in College of ACES

URBANA, Ill. — Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications will become the eighth academic department in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, following final approval by the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

Department status recognizes ALEC’s growth and academic strength while establishing a stronger structure for student and faculty recruitment and support, continued development of undergraduate and graduate academic programs and new opportunities for students.

The college will begin a search for a department head to lead the new Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications in the coming months.

“ALEC becoming our eighth department recognizes the strength of the academic community its faculty and staff have built and the importance of these disciplines to the future of ACES,” said College of ACES Dean Germán Bollero.

“Our discoveries have their greatest impact when we can communicate them effectively, educate and engage people and develop leaders who can turn knowledge into action. Establishing ALEC as a department strengthens our ability to do that work and positions these disciplines for continued growth and impact.”

ALEC brings together teaching and scholarship focused on how people learn, lead, communicate and engage within food, agricultural, environmental and community systems.

Its faculty prepare students for careers in agricultural education, agricultural and science communications, organizational leadership, community development, Extension and related fields.

ALEC currently offers a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communications with concentrations in agricultural communications, agricultural education and organizational and community leadership. A master’s degree is available both on campus and online.

ALEC also prepares students pursuing agricultural education to earn Illinois teacher licensure.

ALEC has 13 faculty and staff members, including six tenure-track and four specialized teaching faculty. In fall 2025, the program enrolled 122 undergraduate and 35 graduate students.

“ALEC already has the hallmarks of a strong academic department, with undergraduate and graduate education, faculty scholarship and engagement that reaches across Illinois and beyond,” said Anna Ball, associate dean for academic programs in the College of ACES.

“Department status provides an academic structure that better reflects that work while creating a stronger foundation for student and faculty recruitment and support, continued development of our academic programs and new opportunities for students.”

Among those opportunities, ALEC plans to explore the development of a doctoral program, which would expand its graduate education and research mission.

ALEC was established in 2019, bringing agricultural communications, agricultural education and organizational and community leadership together into a single academic program.

Since then, it has continued to develop its academic programs, faculty scholarship and engagement, performing many of the core functions of an academic department.

In 2025, ALEC established the James F. Evans Global Center for Food and Agricultural Communications, expanding opportunities for research, education and professional development in communications across global food and agricultural systems.

The transition to department status is the result of a multi-step approval process, including support from the College of ACES faculty, the University Senate and the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, before advancing for final state approval.

The change will be reflected across university administrative systems in the coming weeks.