By Brandon Roberts, Staff Writer, Office of Marketing and Communications
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. - Campbellsville University has welcomed Dr. Samantha Gaddie as the Director of Agriculture, a new program in development at CU, and she will also serve as an assistant professor of agriculture.
While the agriculture program is pending approval from the Council of Postsecondary Education, Gaddie has been working diligently to prepare the program to receive its first cohort of future agricultural leaders. This work includes creating curriculum, academic requirements and developing recruitment strategies.
Once the program is ready to receive students, Gaddie will continue her role by supporting the faculty and students within the program. “I’m excited to bring a local feel to an agriculture degree,” explained Gaddie.
Having grown up in Campbellsville and now a resident of Green County, Ky., Gaddie has spent the past 12 years teaching agriculture and advising FFA students at Green County High School.
Gaddie’s passion motivated her to teach students about the importance of agriculture. “I wanted to be able to teach students about agriculture because we know that people are farther and farther removed from the farm with each generation.”
Having a passion for agriculture from a young age, Gaddie earned her B.S. in Career and Technical Education with an emphasis in Agriculture from the University of Kentucky in 2013. She went on to earn an M.A. in Integrated Education from the University of the Cumberlands in 2018 and an Ed.D. in Agricultural Education from Texas Tech University in 2023.
While her tenure at Green County High School is coming to an end, Gaddie still holds the same principles and hopes to bring them to CU. “My goal is to have students graduate, and they have a well-rounded experience. It will be a blend of ag business, ag mechanics, animal science and plant science. They’ll have enough of everything that when they leave here to go into a career in agriculture, they'll have enough background to be successful with that career.”
Dr. Monica Hardin, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, welcomed Gaddie by sharing, “Dr. Gaddie brings a vital combination of experience, knowledge, and relationships to this role. Her professional and personal reputation in the region has made her the ideal fit to lead CU's efforts to meet the needs of our region through offering agriculture programs.”
For now, the excitement will continue to grow as the new agriculture program develops. CU's agriculture program will be unique in its focus on using community partners for our experiential learning components. By launching a degree in agriculture, CU is filling an educational gap in our region, providing opportunities that do not currently exist for students to study agriculture close to home,” explained Hardin.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Jeanette Parker, also expressed her gratitude for the creation of new academic opportunities. “I am excited about the development of the agriculture program, and the community support we are seeing.
Parker continued, “Dr. Monica Hardin's experience in program development, combined with Dr. Samantha Gaddie's expertise in agriculture education, were the ingredients we needed to get this project moving. Their leadership and the support of the community are bringing this to life.”
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university that offers over 100 programs, including doctoral, master's, bachelor's, associate, and certificate programs. For complete information, please visit www.campbellsville.edu.