Welcome to the Fall 2026 edition of the Division of Applied Social Sciences (DASS) alumni newsletter!

I am Harvey James, Director of the Division. I have been serving in the role as Director or Interim Director since November 2022. Previous Division Directors include Joe Parcell (2017-2022), Jill Findeis (2011-2017), and the late Mike Nolan (1995-2011).

DASS is one of six Divisions within the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR). Our focus is on the social sciences. The other five divisions (animal science, plant science, food science, environmental and natural resource science, and biochemistry) emphasize the sciences. If you think of the sciences as pillars or silos (vertically), then as a social sciences division, DASS cuts across all of them (horizontally). Because we intersect and interact with the other college divisions, I like to think of DASS as the glue that holds the college together.

The Division has four undergraduate programs: agribusiness management; agricultural leadership, communications, and education; hospitality management; and personal financial planning. There are also graduate programs in agricultural and applied economics, agricultural education, and personal financial planning.

Our Division has implemented its five-year strategic plan. The plan consists of four priorities: (1) Cultivating a Cohesive, Connected, and People‑First Division; (2) Delivering Effective Undergraduate and Graduate Education; (3) Delivering Innovative and Relevant Research and Enhancing Scholarly Productivity; and (4) Delivering Meaningful Extension and Engagement Programs. All faculty and many staff members are assigned to one of the four priorities. These groups contributed to the development of the plan and are taking charge of seeing it implemented. Each priority area has goals, strategies, and tactics. We have identified specific tactics that we will accomplish each year until the strategic plan is completed in 2030. Our tagline is “DASS delivers.” As stated in our mission statement, “We deliver a small college experience within a large university, emphasizing personalized attention and strong connections among students, faculty, and staff.”

We have had several important changes and transitions among our faculty and staff, some of which include the following:

• Meikah Dado joined the Division as assistant professor of agricultural education and leadership on Jan. 1.
• Seth Meyer joined the Division as associate professor of agricultural and applied economics and director of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) on Jan. 1.
• Elliott Dennis joined the Division as associate professor of agricultural and applied economics and inaugural Mershon Family Production Agricultural Economics Scholar on Aug. 15.
• Ryan Milhollin was promoted to associate extension professor effective Sep. 1.
• Mauro Palmero, associate teaching professor in hospitality management, was selected to represent CAFNR as AI Teaching Fellow for the Office of the Provost.
• Pat Westhoff retired from his position as Curators’ Distinguished Professor and director of FAPRI on Feb. 28.
• Melinda Poole retired from her staff position on Jul 1.
• Ashley Worley resigned from her position as DASS Business Manager in June.
• Lori Thunhorst was hired as the new DASS Business Manager in October.
• TaylorAnn Washburn has accepted a position as Extension Specialist working with Ag Business and Policy Extension effective May 1.
• Hua Qin resigned his position as associate professor on Jan. 31.
• Seonghee Cho retired from her position as associate professor on Feb. 28.

In addition, the Division is actively searching to fill a new teaching position in personal financial planning.

There are 34 ranked teaching, research, and extension faculty and almost as many staff and supporting employees within the Division. We currently have 585 undergraduate students in the four programs in the Division, which represents a 37 percent increase compared to two years ago. Much of that growth came from transfers of students from the business school into the personal financial planning and hospitality management programs. Graduate student enrollment has remained relatively flat within the Division. On the research side, Division faculty published 9.1 articles per research FTE and had $6.1 million in grant expenditures in the 24-25 fiscal year.

In other news …

At the beginning of the year, and with support of the University of Missouri and other external partners, the Center for Rural Energy Security (CRES) was launched – the nation’s first university institute dedicated to energy policy and research with a specific focus on agriculture, rural communities and rural economic development and led by Mike Sykuta.

In May, the Missouri Department of Higher Education approved a change to the agricultural education bachelors degree program name to Agricultural Leadership, Communications, and Education.

On July 27-31, Andrew Zumwalt welcomed 34 high school students to campus for the Financial Planning Academy, in partnership with Texas Tech University and the Charles Schwab Foundation. Students explored careers in personal financial planning through teamwork and personal development.

On Sep. 22, three agribusiness management students – Brayden Hallford, Katie Mueth and Roselynn Orr – were selected as finalists in the Entrepreneur Quest Student Accelerator pitch competition and will advance to the next round of competition.

DASS delivers!

If you have any questions or comments, please direct them to: hjames@missouri.edu.

Harvey James
Director, Division of Applied Social Sciences