Progress 11/15/22 to 11/14/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The focus of the Target Audience in year two was aimed at recruiting students into Micro Credentials as well as the Ag. Mechanics Certificate program. Outreach was conducted multiple times at 3 differentvocational school (BOCES) locations and career events to promote the Ag. Mechanics Certificate. The audience for these werejuniors and seniors in automotive, welding, power machinery and heavy equipment programs. An enrichment event program was held to target middle school (6-8 grade) students. It was decided that 2 weeks would be for local students and 1 week would be for regional students. A total of 36 students participated over the 3 weeks. Changes/Problems:Year 2 did have some challenges with the delayed processes of having the Micro Credentials become approved by SUNY. We were hoping to be further along, but this is a process and took more time than anticipated. The other challenge that we face is not having as many students enrolled directly in the Certificate program as anticipated. We had 2 students enrolled in the first cohort. Due to this, we did get creative and went to other ways of supporting students financially. I will likely be reaching out to the grant coordinator to ask about a no-cost time extension on the grant as well as reallocating funding to other parts of the grant. This will all happen in year 3. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Agricultural dealerships in the region have also been made aware of the new curriculum option and will assist in recruiting students into the program.? What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The plan for the next reporting period will be to focus on enrollment numbers in the Certificate program and through Micro Credentials. We will also work on supporting more students in Micro Credentials as well as other certifications in the department. We are in the process of getting 5 additional Micro Credentials approved by SUNY and have plans to add 3 additional before the grant concludes. Overall, we are still in discussion as to the possibilities of the Micro Credentials leading to the Certificate. We are keeping them separate for now, but feel that in the future, we may be able to stack and allow for Certificate credit. Additionally, we plan to attend 2 national conferences in April where we will be highlighting the effects of the USDA grant on the college and in the Certificate as well as the Micro Credentials. This will be added exposure for the grant project as well as the college, which hopefully leads to added interest and higher enrollments. The grant supported a total of 180 students in some way over the past year. We have a goal to continue this and support 200+ students in year 3 of the grant. We will also be purchasing additional training materials in year 3.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The impact of this project has remained positive. The overall theme andstructure of the project is designed to address the shortage ofskilled workforce in the agricultural equipment technician industry. This commontheme will continue through the reminder of the grant time. Many of the outcomes accomplished during the second year are an impact on goals 2-4. Our intention in year #2 was to promote opportunities for students to be educated in Agricultural Machinery Mechanics. In doing this we found alternative pathways leading to this education. The promotion of the 1-year certificate program and 4 micro credentials helped to offer alternatives for students overall. These pathways have already begun impacting non-traditional and traditional learners alike. They work to broaden the opportunity for education in the agricultural equipment technician sector. Easton Brower continues to be the Outreach Specialist for the grant. Under Easton's direction, we have met the following accomplishments/outcomes in year 2. Three, day-long outreach (recruiting) events were completed at vocational (BOCES) schools (Fall 2023). These were informational sessions where the outcome of these events was to inform high school students to the possibilities in post-secondary education. A focus was put on the new Certificate program as an option for students who need training to enter the workforce. Three, day-long outreach (recruiting) events were completed at vocational (BOCES) schools (Winter 2023). These were training sessions where Easton and Nick worked directly with students and faculty in the BOCES program to educate on the topic of hydraulic repair. The outcome of these outreach events was showing high school students the types of activities they would be working with while in post-secondary education and work experience. One, day-long outreach event ata career exploration event (Spring 2023) The event was 'Career Jam' hosted by a local community college. The outcome of our participation at this event was to reach middle and high school students to inform them of possibilities in post-secondary education. Again, a focus was put on the new Certificate program and Micro Credentials as an option for students who need training to enter the workforce. Three, day-long outreach Ag. workforce recruiting event (February 2023). The event was 'New York State Farm Show' in central NY. The outcome of this event was networking with Ag. industry professionals about the benefits of the newly formed certificate and recruitment of students. Three, 4-day summer enrichmentprograms for middle school students (July 2023). The grant offered middle school students with opportunities to explore Agriculture equipment at SUNY Cobleskill. The outcome was that we interacted with a total of 36 students (ages 10 - 13) to expose them to the 'life of an Ag. Technician.' Two 4-day sessions were offered for the local middle school and one 4-day session was held for regional schools through the BOCES Summer program. This was a positive experience to spark interest in their future educational opportunities. Continued promotion of 2 online micro credentials (Basic Electrical and Basic Hydraulics). These non-credit bearing basic micro credentials have been made public. These are self-paced learning opportunities for students to explore electrical and hydraulics. The average time to complete is approximately 3 hours. Students receive a badge upon completion. Continued promotion of 2 in-person micro credentials (Applied Electrical and Applied Hydraulics).These non-credit bearing applied micro credentials have been made public. These are instructor lead learning opportunities for students to apply the principles of electrical and hydraulic repair. Each of these courses is 16 hours in length. Students receive a badge upon completion. Since the inception, 454 students enrolled in each of the Online Micro Credentials. 356 students have enrolled in the Applied Micro Credentials. The majority of these are non-SUNY students who are using the training for career advancement. Additionally, the USDA grant funded (through a scholarship application process) 118 students to take the online Micro Credentials. Through the funding of the grant SUNY Cobleskill students were also supported in the following ways: 12 Students completed the Associated Equipment Distributors certification exam. 5 students completed the Equipment and Engine Training Council certification exam. 45 students completed OSHA 10hr training.

Publications

Progress 11/15/21 to 11/14/22

Outputs
Target Audience:This focus of the Target Audience for the first year has been much in the way of data collection with a small amount of outreach. The data collection was all focused on making informed decisions of content and coursework for the 1-year Ag. Mechanics Certificate option. In this data collection, dealerships and farms were surveyed as to what coursework was most important. A dealer advisory meeting of 22 individuals representing 12 companies was held where various options were presented and discussed. Concurrently 5 large NY farms completed surveys to provide additional input. Also, 471 high school students and 63 current college students were surveyed as to their interest level in completing a certificate as continuing education. Lastly, all the instructors identified to be part of the Ag Mechanics certificate programwere surveyed. All this data was collected, analyzed, discussed and a rational decision was made as to the curriculum and flow of courses in the Certificate course sequencing. Additionally, outreach was conducted multiple times at 2 differentvocational school (BOCES) locations and career events to promote the Ag. Mechanics Certificate. The audience for these werejuniors and seniors in automotive, welding, power machinery and heavy equipment programs. Lastly, two4-day enrichment event programs werepiloted to target middle school (6-8 grade) students for an exploratory training event on the SUNY Cobleskill campus. With this program, 12 Cobleskill-Richmondville Central middle schoolers registeredto participate. Changes/Problems:There have not yet been significant problems encountered with this project thus far. The one change that we decided to make early on was in the structure of the connection of the micro credentials and certificate. We decided that these two methods of training should remain separate from one another. The micro credentials are non-credit bearing and allow for traditional and non-traditional students to become educated in a variety of topics. These start with basic training and are stackable leading to advanced training. Once students complete all training modules, the goal would be they get a recognizable credential of being a "SUNY CobleskillCertified Technician." The approved Certificate will be different in nature where it utilizes current, credit-bearing SUNY Cobleskill coursework. This certificate will take a student 2 semesters to complete. At the end they will graduate with 24 credits and a Certificate from the State University of New York through Cobleskill. These credits are all transferrable into the existing Agricultural Engineering Technology advanced degrees. (Associate of Applied Science and Bachelors of Technology) What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Easton Attended a 2-day InstructorDevelopment conference for BOCES teachers located in Binghamton NY. Topics included John Deere Service Advisor, Electricaland Hyraulics Trainings. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Through the outreach events, high school students andpublic has been made aware of the certificate option for post-secondary continuation. Also, the micro credentials have been publicized regionally and are being marketed through the college website. Agricultural dealerships in the region have also been made aware of the new curriculum option and will assist in recruiting students into the program. . What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The plan for the next reporting period will be to focus on items that we fell behind on in the Year #1timeline. The fact that the certificate took some time to get approved means that we were not able to market that quickly. The goal will be to bring in the firstcohort of students this Fall semester and begin to place those students into work experience opportunities. These goals will be accomplished through additional marketing efforts to schools and dealerships. Marketing efforts will be in the form of email as well as additional outreach events. Lastly, we are working on launching a scholarship campaign to gain interest for high school students to participate in the online micro credential training. The goal will be to have the grant support 50 students to take the online electrical and hydraulics micro credentialby the end of year 2.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The impact of this project is off to a positivestart. The overall theme andstructure of the project is designed to address the shortage ofskilled workforce in the agricultural equipment technician industry. This commontheme will continue throughout the 3 years. Many of the outcomes accomplished during the first year are an impact toproject goal #1. The intention in year #1 was to launch the project and develop non-traditional learning paths for students who seek alternate opportunities for post-secondary education. This was accomplished by way of the development of a 1-year certificate program and 4 micro credentials. Offering these new products have already begun impacting non-traditional and traditional learners alike. They work to broaden the opportunity for education in the agricultural equipment technician sector. Easton Murray was hired as Outreach Specialist Technician (February 2022). Easton's direction led to the following accomplishments/outcomes in year 1. Numerous informational surveys were constructed and implemented (throughout the year). The outcomeof these surveys wasto collect information from industry and students to make informed decisions as to the direction and content of the certificate learning option. Dealer advisory meeting conducted (April 2022). The outcomeof this meeting was to collaborate with industry directly to understand the proper content to include in the Certificate program. This led to the implementation of a 1-year certificate. Skills USA contest participation (April 2022). The outcome of participating in the regional Skills USA contest allowed for SUNY Cobleskill to interact with multiple high school students who were involved. Students were judged based on their performance in the contest. Conversations with students led to discussion about post-secondary enducation opprotunities. Three, day-long outreach events were completed at vocational (BOCES) schools (Fall 2022). The outcome of these outreach events was to inform high school students to the possibilities in post-secondary education. A focus was put on the new Certificate program as an option for students who need training to enter the workforce. One, day-long outreach event ata career exploration event (Winter 2022) The event was 'Career Jam' hosted by a local community college. The outcome of our participation at this event was to reach middle and high school students to inform them of possibilities in post-secondary education. Again, a focus was put on the new Certificate program as an option for students who need training to enter the workforce. Three, day-long outreach Ag. workforce recruiting event (August 2022). The event was 'Empire Farm Days' in central NY. The outcome of this event was networking with Ag. industry professionals about the benefits of the newly formed certificate and recruitment of students. Two, 4-day summer enrichmentprograms for middle school students (July 2022). The grant offered middle school students with opportunities to explore Agriculture equipment at SUNY Cobleskill. The outcome was that we interacted with a total of 12 students (ages 10 - 13) to expose them to the 'life of an Ag. Technician.' This was a positive experience to spark interest in their future educational opportunities. This program will likely expand during the next 2 years. Development of 2 online micro credentials (Basic Electrical and Basic Hydraulics). These non-credit bearing basic micro credentials have been made public. These are self-paced learning opportunities for students to explore electrical and hydraulics. The average time to complete is approximately 3 hours. Students receive a badge upon completion. Teachers who complete this receive 0.3 Continuing Education Credits for each training. Development of 2 in-person micro credentials (Applied Electrical and Applied Hydraulics).These non-credit bearing applied micro credentials have been made public. These are instructor lead learning opportunities for students to apply the principles of electrical and hydraulic repair. Each of these courses is 16 hours in length. Students receive a badge upon completion.Teachers who complete this receive 1.6Continuing Education Credits for each training.

Publications