Performing Department
Research & Graduate Studies
Non Technical Summary
The M-SPEAL program is intended to increase the number of bilingual, rural livestock veterinarians and value a multicultural society in a rural setting. The M-SPEAL program will address two challenges faced by U.S. food-animal agriculture: 1) a lack of underrepresented students accepted into and graduating from Colleges of Veterinary Medicine, and 2) a shortage of rural and food-animal veterinarians. To accomplish this the M-SPEAL program will initiate the building of a support system early in the student's educational career and continues by providing valuable experiences and experiential learning while the students pursue an undergraduate Pre-Veterinary Degree. Specifically, there are five aspects of M-SPEAL, collectively all aspects aim to meet the goals of NIFA. The five M-SPEAL aspects are 1) provide financial support to underrepresented undergraduate student scholars for three years (based on a 4-yr. graduation), 2) provide an 80-hour Rural Veterinarian Special Experiential Learning (SEL) activity, 3) applying for USDA Internship, 4) participation of all scholars in a multicultural agriculture and veterinary medicine experience in Colombia, South America and 5) ongoing mentorship of participating undergraduate student scholars. The M-SPEAL program will increase qualified personnel entering the food and agricultural workforce, support undergraduates in transitioning to graduate education (D.V.M.), reduce the disparity of underrepresented students in veterinary school and the field of veterinary medicine, and provide support structure allowing students to be successful in food and agricultural fields.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
There are four major goals of this project. 1) Increase pre-veterinary students' awareness of multicultural societies and career opportunities within the veterinary field. This will be accomplished through several different activities including international educational experience, Spanish courses, individual mentoring, career preparation workshops, and work experiences that involve special experiential learning with rural veterinarians. 2) Achieve 100% retention of the underrepresented students selected into the M-SPEAL program allowing them to complete a B.S. Pre-Veterinary Animal Science degree. The activities of this project are designed to be supportive and validate student participation and success which has been identified as a key factor for Latina/o students (Salas et al., 2014). 3) To graduate 100% of the underrepresented student scholars within four years with a B.S. in Animal Science, Pre-Veterinary option. The individual mentoring plan designed for this project will be critical in accomplishing this goal. 4) Increase the number of underrepresented students accepted into veterinary medical school for first attempt (2020 National Acceptance Rate for all applicants = 10.1%; Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges) or pursuing post-graduate education in food and agricultural disciplines. All of the project's activities will allow the selected scholars to have resumes that are highly competitive as well as prepare them for the application process.Furthermore, this project addresses all five aspects that NIFA identified for education grants.1. Prepare graduates to meet the demand for highly qualified personnel entering the workforce related to the food and agricultural sciences.The 2015-2020 Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Renewable Energy, and the Environment report states that a Public Practice Veterinarian is one of the priority occupations in the category of science and engineering indicating a need for highly qualified students pursuing a DVM. The M-SPEAL program will allow pre-veterinary students to get practical experience; experiential learning with a rural veterinarian. Scholars will be guided to apply for research based internships with USDA-ARS or internships with APHIS to broaden student background and provide a potential career option.Accentuation of rural veterinarian opportunities is important due to the shortage of U.S. rural veterinarians. This need for rural veterinarians is evident since NIFA manages the National Veterinary Medical Service Act (NVMSA), which provides the Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program for high-priority veterinary shortages in specific geographical areas.2. Support undergraduates transitioning to graduate education in USDA mission sciences.Participating M-SPEAL scholars will pursue an advanced degree (D.V.M. or a M.S. in Animal Science) upon completion of their B.S. degreehe value of having international experience within the student's field of study greatly motivates them to succeed and pursue advanced degrees.3. Contribute to the reduction of the disparity among underrepresented and underserved populations entering graduate schools to better reflect the demographics of the U.S. and enable higher education to remain globally competitive.The national average of underrepresented students in veterinary schools is 17.4% (AAVMC, 2017). However, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (2014), the race-ethnicity of Texas veterinarians was 1.9% Hispanic/Latino; compared to 39.6% Hispanic or Latino for the entire population of Texas (U.S. Census, 2019). Thus, historically in Texas there has been a lack of underrepresented veterinarians. The M-SPEAL program provides scholarship, mentorship, and practical experiences that will aid in increasing the number of underrepresented students being admitted to and successful in, veterinary schools.4. Promote student success within food and agricultural disciplines at the undergraduate/D.V.M. level.This M-SPEAL program will increase student success in multiple ways. Financial support allows students to gain veterinary experience and partially fulfill the total veterinary experience hours required to apply to veterinary schools. Most specifically, M-SPEAL will support rural veterinary experience that will enhance the applications to veterinary schools. In addition, the M-SPEAL program will mentor students to apply for internships with USDA, which will also bolster their application to veterinary school. Finally, students will receive an annual scholarship to reduce the undergraduate financial burden prior to undertaking an advanced degree.The M-SPEAL program provides students multiple experiences: the array of possibilities in the veterinary field, animal agriculture particularly in rural areas, international agriculture, career opportunities with USDA, and multicultural experiences. This program will provide motivation to excel at TAMUK and develop habits that will make successful veterinary students.5. Focus on social support structure, and professional mentoring to ensure entry into food and agricultural science areas and completion of graduate education or high level of competitiveness for the workforce.Selected scholars will be mentored by the grant faculty for B.S. curriculum selection and completion to aid them in timely academic progression (4-yr graduation), and provide support to the students when facing challenges. The grant authors will also mentor the scholars on professional relationships, ethics, teamwork, leadership, communications, and other skills during their work experiences with rural veterinarians.Workforce competitiveness, among participants, will be highly increased through the multicultural approach, the international experience, and the emphasis on Spanish as a second language. Multicultural exposure is relevant for the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills while increasing creativity by recruiting ideas they learned from foreign cultures (Ka-yee et al, 2008).According to AAVMC, the need for Spanish speaking was identified as crucial by top universities over the past decade. Mattson (2019) reported that veterinary medicine may face increasing challenges around language barriers as the U.S. population continues to become more diverse. A study conducted by Texas A&M-College Station indicates that immigration labor accounts for 51% of dairy farm labor, and the U.S. meat industry employee up to 50% immigrants of Hispanic origin (The Economic Impacts of Immigrant Labor on U.S. Dairy Farms, 2015). Therefore, Colleges of Veterinary Medicine at universities such Purdue, Kansas State, Colorado State, and Texas A&M have included Spanish classes in their curriculum to ensure accurate medical care by producing more bilingual graduates (Honig, 2018). Increased diversity in veterinary medicine will improve the health of animals in minority and immigrant communities. Foundational to this is the development of language and multicultural skills at B.S. level. Relevant courses taken as Pre-Vet students are important to release class time at veterinary school as stated by Shannon Zeller, Spanish Instructor at Colorado State. It is very difficult to incorporate a second language course(s) in a DVM program because of the time commitment for medical courses (Honig, 2018).
Project Methods
The M-SPEAL program will address two challenges faced by U.S. food-animal agriculture:1) A lack of underrepresented students accepted into and graduating from Colleges of Veterinary Medicine (U.S. DVM Class of 2021 =15.1% racial/ethnic minorities, AAVMC, 2018).2) A shortage of rural and food-animal veterinarians.Nationally, less than 20% of veterinarians exclusively practice livestock medicine. The lack of livestock veterinarians in rural areas of the U.S. could drastically influence the sustainability of American agriculture and food-animal production.There are five aspects of M-SPEAL, collectively all aspects aim to meet our objectives and the goals of NIFA. The five M-SPEAL aspects are:1) provide financial support ($3,500/year) to ten underrepresented student scholars for three years (based on a 4-yr. graduation); 2) provide an 80-hour Rural Veterinarian, Special Experiential Learning (SEL) activity; 3) applying for USDA Internship mentored by collaborating USDA employees [Beltsville, MD, Clay Center, NE or other relevant locations]; 4) provide all ten scholars a multicultural agriculture and veterinary medicine experience in Colombia, and 5) ongoing mentorship of participating student scholars.Selection of the M-SPEAL student scholars (10 sophomores) will be a competitive application and interview process open to all Pre-Veterinary majorsat TAMUK. Grant PD/Co-PDs will recruit students by promoting the opportunity in classrooms and through the Pre-Vet Club, posting flyers, and emailing potential students. The grant PD/Co-PDs will evaluate all applications and then determine which students will continue to an interview. Application evaluation includes student GPA, expected graduation date, career interests and other associated factors that fit within the grant expectations. The selection will occur at the end of the fall semester YR1. All of the scholars will receive their first annual scholarship ($1,400/student) in the spring semester YR1. Scholarship support will occur during years 1 to 3 of the grant period. Once selected, financial support of actively participating M-SPEAL scholars continues the entire duration of their remaining undergraduate education (sophomore, junior, and senior).Student Mentoring Plan. A formalized M-SPEAL mentoring program will be established after scholar selection (YR1) and continue until graduation (YR 1-3). The mentoring plans are based on activities described in The Blackwell Handbook for Mentoring (Allen & Eby, 2007) and for STEM students (Hund et al. 2017). Scholars will begin the structured mentor program with an introductory meeting defining mentorship and the goals and expectations of the M-SPEAL program and objectives. The sequential steps to the mentoring plan will be as follows:Step 1) M-SPEAL scholars and mentors will complete a personality assessment (NERIS Type Explorer) to provide clarity, to all involved, of individual's communication/working styles, and style of information processing. This step allows the scholars and mentors to understand where challenges may occur during mentoring and facilitate communication abilities.Step 2) M-SPEAL scholars will create written short- and long-term goals in academics, future career, and personal development. After identification, each goal is addressed utilizing the SMART goal approach (Goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound). Scholars will repeat the process of written goals each academic semester. The M-SPEAL mentors will continually provide advisement for improvement and validating scholar progress, and success to encourage the pursuit of a career in veterinary medicine. Over the course of the grant the mentoring meetings will gradually incorporate more aspects of professional skills to further the scholars' professional growth.Step 3) Scheduled bi-monthly mentorship meetings during YR 1-3. The mentor meetings will meet the scholars' needs and M-SPEAL objectives. Providing academic guidance, improvement of study habits, developing professionalism, assisting with career advice, and maintain encouragement. Furthermore, the mentoring meetings will improve communication and foster creative working environments. Initially, scholars will rotate meetings among mentors until they have met with each mentor twice (YR 1). Scholars will then select a mentor that will serve as the primary mentor for continued bi-monthly mentorship until graduation (YR 1 to 3). At the end of each semester, mentor/mentee assessment forms will be completed to assess the productivity of the relationship. Should conflict arise, a Conflict Resolution Plan will be initiated. If the conflict is not resolved then the PD/CoPDs will confer and select an alternative mentor.Based on previous experience at TAMUK, a large percentage of Hispanic students have low Spanish competency. Bilingual grant personnel will determine scholar's Spanish competency. Results of this evaluation will assist the scholars registering in either "Elementary Spanish" or "Spanish for Heritage Speakers". Both courses can fulfill the general education requirement of Language in their degree. "Elementary Spanish" is for students who have little or no previous contact with the Spanish language. For students whose greatest exposure to Spanish has been in the home or community, rather than the classroom, the "Spanish for Heritage Speakers" course builds their competency. These courses will enhance the students' multicultural experience.All M-SPEAL scholars will participate in the multicultural experience in Colombia, in a Rural Veterinarian Special Experiential learning (SEL) activity. The Multicultural Experience in Colombia is veterinarian/food-animal based and several Veterinary Faculty from Universidad de Caldas and the director of the Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario will host the student scholars during a 10-day tour.The Rural Veterinarian SEL will be a minimum of 80 hours. Additionally, the students will apply for USDA internship.The students will be divided into two Summer Cohorts (n = 5/cohort).In YR1, Cohort 1 will travel to Colombia (1st summer sessionThrough M-SPEAL program 10 scholars will be paid a stipend ($2,000.00) to participate in the Rural Veterinarian Special Experiential Learning (SEL) activity (minimum of 80 hours). Additionally, select scholars will have the opportunity to travel to USDA meetings or other professional meetings to expose them to the endless opportunities they have in food and agriculture careers.In Yr. 1, 2, and 3 of the grant there will be scholar workshops that aim to create successful undergraduate students and excellent candidates for veterinary schools. The workshops will include activities engaging the students in: careers in veterinary medicine, the veterinary school application and interview process, presentations by veterinary school recruiters, leadership, and other skills. Student surveys after each workshop will improve future workshops and enhance effectiveness. Additionally, prior to the multicultural experience (Colombia, YR1 & 2) scholars will attend a short workshop at which they will be provided information with engaging learning activities covering agriculture in and culture of Colombia.