Russell Plaschka, Ph.D., is the newest graduate of the Leadership Communication doctoral program at Kansas State University, completing in summer 2022. Leadership Communication is an interdisciplinary program with faculty from the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education, the Department of Communication Studies, the College of Education, the Staley School of Leadership and the A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication.
Plaschka holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture education, a master’s degree in agriculture education, and educational leadership. 
Plaschka’s dissertation in the leadership communication doctoral program focused on how rural Kansas communities talk about and act on agriculture as a tool for community development and their perspectives around government directed programs. The work focused on using a more directed facilitation approach in community meetings in order to nudge community members outside of their traditional views of agricultural opportunities. The findings demonstrated that rural communities feel overlooked, at times, when it comes to government-led initiatives that are meant to focus on rural community development. Plaschka was advised by Trisha Gott, Ed.D., and Colene Lind, Ph.D.
Plaschka was recently promoted to Director of Agriculture Marketing at the Kansas Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the division is to deliver solutions designed to create an environment that facilitates growth and expansion in our state’s largest industry: agriculture. A priority will be continued work in maintaining/growing rural Kansas communities.
“The expertise of the faculty in community-engaged research coupled with the purpose-driven projects of my fellow classmates really forced me to think bigger than just my research. I have always prided myself to be a great listener, but the skills I developed throughout this journey allow me to take what I see and hear and apply the research and analysis skills in order to make a difference within the communities I work in.”
As part of K-State’s land-grant mission, the Leadership Communication program is dedicated to research that strengthens Kansas and global communities. The program seeks to create bold, community-engaged scholarship to transform the academic, nonprofit, government, private, and civic sectors in which they live and work.
Applications for the 2023-24 academic year are currently being accepted. Learn more.
