Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:Throughout the duration of the project, the target audience upon whom our efforts were focused included primarily rising 10th-12th graders from three diverse Knox County, Tennessee, high schools located in lower-income communities. Each of these high schools is designated as a Flagship high school by the University of Tennessee and graduates are eligible for the full-tuition Flagship Scholarship Program at UTK, but recruiting diverse students from these schools continues to be challenging. The major goal of this project was to increase both the number and diversity of students who pursue a four-year degree in nutrition or related areas, particularly in programs solidly grounded in a foundational understanding of food and agriculture, in order to enhance racial and ethnic diversity of the nutrition professional workforce and, consequently, optimally support healthful lifestyle change among the most vulnerable populations. Changes/Problems:Much of the basic structure of the two-year project was carried out as planned, though there were challenges and adaptations that impacted operations. The most impactful challenges entailed recruiting, community site availability, and transportation needs. Recruiting: Recruiting focused on the three Knox County Flagship high schools and proved challenging due to multiple responsibilities of counselors, who were the primary conduit to students. Fulton High School is the nearest to the UT campus and is rated in the top 5% of most diverse high schools in the state of Tennessee. They were the most responsive, contributing 2 participants in year one and 3 participants in year two (one was a returning participant). They were welcoming of on-site recruiting and the spring graduate assistant was able to visit Fulton in year two and provide a formal presentation for students about the program. Austin-East and Central High Schools contributed 1 participant each among those who completed the program. The other 3 participants came from the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley and from the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians and attended other area high schools. This total of 10 participants (including one repeat) fell short of our target - 30 total participants over two years. In year two, we consolidated into one summer session rather than two to be as efficient with resources as possible as applicants could be accomodated with one session. Community site limitations: From the time of the project proposal to implementation and from year one to year two, there were new site limitations that challenged placement capabilities. Perhaps most impactful was the new leadership at Beardsley Community Farm, our most centrally-located community site, which changed since the original proposal was submitted. The new leaders were hesitant to take on the number of students originally planned, but did agree in year one to one Flagship high school student and one additional student they selected from the Boys and Girls Club. This was a very popular site identified as the top choice by applicants to our program and limiting to one student from the applicant pool for year one did limit access and participation. In year two, we were able to place one additional student from a Flagship high school at the site. The experience with all students hosted by Beardsley Community Farm, while limited in number, was successful for those placed there. Additional space and operational challenges also made it difficult to place more than one participant concurrently at Nourish Knoxville and UT Extension. Second Harvest Food Bank had the greatest capability to accomodate participants, but was also the furthest distance from campus. Transportation: As proposed, students would have received a $25 gift card to defray the costs of transportation to campus and to community sites during the two-week session. However, we found most students didn't have transportation options at all, which meant the project team needed to provide transportation in order to get them to campus and community sites. This shifted the cost from gift cards to arranging for a university vehicle to transport students. This also consumed substantial time for the program coordinator to drive the vehicle, particularly to outlying sites. We had hoped to shift student placements to more central locations for 2024, but Second Harvest Food Bank, the most distant placement, was also the community site most able to accomodate students. The 2024 summer schedule was planned around transportation needs such that the program coordinator would be able to be in the right place at the right time to provide timely transport. Meal and snack provision: Snacks, sack lunches, and on-campus meals were implemented as planned during year one, but it was found that participants were not eating meals and snacks provided for days at the community sites. Thus, during year two, a small selection of snacks were available as needed but participants provided their own lunches for community site days. A complementary lunch was provided by the food4VOLS program in year one session two and in year two, which displaced the cost of one planned on-campus lunch. In year two, the cost of one meal was included for participants, mentors, and project personnel on the tour day as part of the site visit and presentation by the Real Good Kitchen. Program curriculum changes: While several aspects worked very well in year one, project leaders made several changes to the year two curriculum for a more enriching experience. Mentoring: Graduate students enrolled in NUTR 513: Community Nutrition I Practicum participated in additional mentoring preparation as part of the course and had extensive interaction with the high school students as part of the first on-campus/pre-site day for a smoother transition to day one at the community sites. Addition of a tour day: At the start of the summer session, rather than have community site representatives come to campus, high school participants and graduate student mentors first met on campus and then were transported as a group to tour three of the sites (Beardsley Community Farm, Nourish Knoxville, Second Harvest Food Bank) and hear a presentation about each operation while there. Additionally, the group visited BattleField Farm, another agriculture-focused local organization with a goal of fighting food insecurity, to hear from founder Chris Battle about his efforts to address access to healthy food and engage youth in low-income, inner city communities. The tour closed with lunch and a presentation at Real Good Kitchen, a food business incubator in inner city Knoxville. In all, this highly tactile approach provided an engaging immersive introduction to local food systems and helped build relationships between graduate student mentors and high school participants. Due to the addition of a tour day, participants also spent the second day on campus to complete preparations for experiential learning at the community sites and participate in college preparatory activities. Addition of complementary lunch, presentation, and tour with food4VOLS. This was added in 2023 session two and 2024. Food4VOLS is a novel food recovery program housed in the UT Culinary Institute. While it started on the UTK campus, it is now expanding to other public higher education institutions. This provided additional insight for students into food security and sustainability efforts as part of our local food systems. Project personnel: The proposal included 25% assignment of a MCH Nutrition Leadership Program trainee during each spring term for recruiting, coordinating with community sites, and curricular preparations and a full-time temporary contracted project coordinator during the summer session. The spring trainee assignment worked well in year one, but in year two there was not an available trainee. Thus, the cost was shifted to an hourly-paid assistantship for a graduate student enrolled in the master's program concentration in Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics. For the summer project coordinator position, there was not a recent program graduate available to take on this role full-time in year one, thus two MCH trainees shared the role. In year two, the hourly graduate assistant from the spring had graduated in May with a master's degree and was able to transition into the temporary contracted position, which provided a great deal of continuity. Due to offering one session instead of two in 2024, the contract duration was shortened accordingly. This individual also served as instructor of record for the UNST 210 course under the mentorship of the project director. Evaluating program outcomes: Only two program participants have graduated from high school so far (May 2024). Remaining participants are expected to graduate from high school in 2025 and 2026, at which time outcomes information is expected to be available. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As part of their course, graduate students (n=31) enrolled in NUTR 513 Community Nutrition Practicum completed advance assignments in mentoring to enhance their proficiency in mentoring before 18 of them undertook on-site mentoring of high school students at various community sites (10 in year one and 8 in year two). The 8 graduate students who served in a direct mentoring role in year two spent one day getting acquainted and touring community sites with the high school students and were able to connect with them to a much greater extent prior to the first day at the community sites, which helped establish a supportive and productive mentoring relationship more quickly. The graduate assistants and project coordinators were trained and mentored by the project director and one of the co-project directors as they developed skills in recruiting, curriculum development, implementation, and revision, coordinating with community sites, and overseeing participant projects. In 2024, the project coordinator (as a recent master's graduate) was able to be approved by the provost as instructor of record for UNST 210 and was mentored by the project director in developing the ability to lead and manage an interactive lower-division undergraduate course. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from the overall project have only recently undergone final review and have not yet been disseminated in full. Information about the program in general has been disseminated through the program's Instagram account and through a news story released by the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences in spring 2023: https://cehhs.utk.edu/2023/02/24/department-of-nutritions-first-pre-college-program-to-support-knoxville-high-schoolers-interested-in-food-nutrition-and-agriculture-careers/. Upcoming dissemination plans include the following: Submission of an abstract for presentation at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Nutrition Conference and Exhibition 2024. Submission of a proposal for presentation at the Nutrition and Dietetics Educators and Preceptors conference in 2025. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our goal itself was a broad one: to increase both the number and diversity of students who pursue a four-year degree in nutrition, particularly in programs solidly grounded in a foundational understanding of food and agriculture, in order to enhance racial and ethnic diversity of the nutrition professional workforce and, consequently, optimally support healthful lifestyle change among vulnerable populations. Our program was developed as a pre-college program to provide a stepping stone towards that goal by providing high school students from diverse high schools in lower income communities the opportunity to learn about college life and also explore community nutrition and agriculture through experiential learning. Progress toward objective 1: Through the program, we were able to strengthen linkages to all three Knox County Flagship high schools serving diverse populations in lower income areas, primarily through the high school counseling staff at each school. The counselors were excellent advocates for the program and received positive feedback from summer 2023 program participants. In year one (2023) seven students started the program and, after two discontinued due to personal reasons, five completed the program. In 2024 five students started and completed the program, with one of the participants being a repeat participant from 2023. These students represented all three Flagship high schools (1 from Austin-East, 1 from Central, 4 from Fulton), one additional Knox County high school, and one Sevier County high school. They included 5 rising seniors (including the repeat participant), 4 rising juniors, and 1 rising sophomore. Eight identified as female and 1 as male, 2 identified as Black, non-Hispanic; 2 identified as Hispanic; and 5 identified as White, non-Hispanic. Students participated in on-campus days at both the start and end of the two-week program plus 6-8 experiential learning days at their assigned community sites. During year one, there was one on-campus day at the start of the program. This included a program overview including state of the local food and agriculture environment, teambuilding activities, lunch in the Student Union, a campus tour, a meet and greet with community site preceptors and mentors, and preparation for field work/discussion of projects/final presentations. In year two, this was expanded to two days of preparation in order to strengthen connections with community sites, build relationships with mentors, and have a more interactive learning experience about the local food and agriculture environment. This modification is detailed in the section on changes and problems. The community site days entailed experiential learning activities at Beardsley Community Farm, Nourish Knoxville, Second Harvest Food Bank, or University of Tennessee Extension. During this time, students worked under the mentorship of site preceptors and graduate student mentors, while maintaining field notes, participating in the activities of the day, and developing a small-scale leadership project for presentation. The final on campus day offered the opportunity for students to present on their experiences and projects plus explore college life. Projects and presentations focused broadly on cultural foodways and/or food security. Other activities included sessions on admissions with the assistant director of diversity recruitment and outreach for the Flagship high schools, selecting a major with the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration, successful transition to college with the Student Success Center, a student panel, and lunch. The interactive student panel through the Division of Student Life's Multicultural Mentoring Program was particularly impactful. This mentoring program aligns experienced students of color with first-year students of color to provide support, guidance, and survival skills as they adjust to college. The final day lunch varied based on scheduling availability of partners and was either included with the Student Success Center session (June 2023 session), as an additional lunch and learn with the food4VOLS on-campus food recovery program (July 2023 session), or the Student Union (2024 session). Pre- and post- surveys collected data on post-secondary education plans and readiness, plan details, and leadership characteristics. 100% of participants reported intention to attend college, with 67% expressing interest in at least one of the related majors of Nutrition, Food Science, and Agriculture. In the post-survey, participants were more likely to report knowing the process of applying to college or vocational school and knowing what it is like to be in college (p<0.05). They also reported being more confident leaders and having greater confidence in talking with people they don't know well as well as in giving presentations (p<0.05). Both on campus and community site experiences were highly rated overall and 100% of participants identified that they would recommend the program to others. Feedback from counselors in 2023 indicated at least some of the students would be giving presentations at school about their experience. To summarize, we reached a smaller sample than was targeted, but with an overall positive experience that laid the groundwork for successful ongoing efforts beyond the funding period. The two-year degree granting institution we work with most closely is Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC). Only two pre-college program participants graduated from high school in 2024 and are not known to have matriculated at PSCC. Therefore, there has not been additional engagement with PSCC during the past year beyond what is usual. Our undergraduate program in Nutrition continues to routinely have students transfer from PSCC with an Associate of Science degree in Nutrition and Food Science and does maintain routine communications in that regard. Progress toward objective 2: Two pre-college program participants graduated from high school in 2024 and outcomes data for them are not available. Four additional participants will graduate from high school in 2025 and three in 2026. Outcomes for those students, likewise, is pending. All nine participants earned 2 hours of proficiency credit for UNST 210 Special Topics in University Studies, which will apply towards their degree should they matriculate at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Additionally, one class of 2025 student from Fulton High School, one of the Flagships, enrolled in NUTR 100 Introductory Nutrition as a dual enrollment course in Fall 2024 and is known to have applied to UT Knoxville with a proposed major of Nutrition with a concentration in Dietetics. Admissions decisions are pending. Regardless, it is an easily transferable course to institutions of higher education where it can contribute toward degree programs in nutrition and related areas. IMPACT DESCRIPTION: This project resulted in building new and productive relationships between the University of Tennessee Nutrition Department and the Knox County Flagship high schools. It provided the opportunity to recruit high school students to explore college life and career opportunities related to nutrition, food, and agriculture while building leadership skills. While recruitment was a primary challenge and the number of participants reached less than target, the program has demonstrated positive outcomes as indicated by participant survey responses with 6 of the 9 (67%) reporting an interest in at least one of the related career areas of nutrition, food science, or agriculture. This project has laid the initial groundwork for future efforts of our undergraduate programs in engaging and recruiting a more diverse student body, particularly from the Flagship high schools. Resources developed as part of the project, including the recruiting presentation, flyer, volunteer opportunities list, and program curriculum, will be able to be utilized for this purpose.

Publications

Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, the target audience upon whom our efforts were focused included rising 10th-12th graders from three diverse Knox County, Tennessee, high schools located in lower-income communities. Each of these high schools is designated as a Flagshiphigh schoolby the University of Tennessee and graduates are eligible forfull-tuition Flagship scholarships at UTK, but recruiting diverse students from these schools continues to be challenging. The major goal of this project is to increase both the number and diversity of students who pursue a four-year degree in nutrition or related areas, particularly in programs solidly grounded in a foundational understanding of food and agriculture, in order to enhance racial and ethnic diversity of the nutrition professional workforce and, consequently, optimally support healthful lifestyle change among the most vulnerable populations. Changes/Problems:Much of the project for year one was carried out as planned and worked very well with a few adaptations that impacted operations. First, new leadership at Beardsley Community Farm, our most centrally-located community site, changed since the original proposal was submitted. The new leaders were hesitant to take on the number of students originally planned, but did agree toone Flagship high school student and one additional student they selected from the Boys and Girls Club for participation. This was a very popular site identified as the top choiceby applicants to our program and limiting to one student from the applicant pool did limitaccess and participation. The experience with both students hosted by Beardsley Community Farm was successful, however, and we are working closely with them in anticipation ofexpanding the opportunity for summer 2024. A second challenge was transportation. As proposed, students would have received a $25 gift card to defray the costs of transportation to campus and to community sites during the two-week session. What we found in reality is that students didn't have transportation options at all, which meant that we needed to provide transportation for most in order to get them to campus and community sites. This shifted the cost from gift cards to cover the cost of fuel to arranging for a university vehicleto transport students. This also consumed a substantial amount of time for the program coordinator position to drive the vehicle, particularly to outlying sites. As we plan ahead for 2024, efforts will concentrate on assigning studentsas much as possible to centrally-located community sites to minimizetransportation distanceand also on collecting clearer information from applicants up front about their need for transportation. These approaches are expected to improve overall program planning and operations. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?As part of their course, graduate students (n=13)enrolled in NUTR 513 Community Nutrition Practicum completed advance assignments in mentoring to enhance their proficiency in mentoring before undertaking on-site mentoring of high school students at various community sites. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results from the summer 2023 session have only recently undergone final review and have not yet been disseminated. Information about the program in general has been disseminated through theprogram's Instagram account and through a news story released by the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences in spring 2023: https://cehhs.utk.edu/2023/02/24/department-of-nutritions-first-pre-college-program-to-support-knoxville-high-schoolers-interested-in-food-nutrition-and-agriculture-careers/. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period we will work closely with high school counselors at the Flagship high schools on early recruiting efforts, which we expect to be more fruitful now that they are aware of the program opportunity and have observed successful student completion. Plannedstrategies beyond early recruitment will include more Flagship high school site visits to connect with applicants, establishment of a waitlist in the event selected students find they are unable to participate, and establishment of a "buddy sign up" process. The latter plan has come about upon realizing some selected students dropped the program when a friend they hoped to work with was assigned to a different session or community site. We expect these changes will contribute to stronger recruitment and retention. Most components of the program worked very well during the first reporting period and will be repeated as is for the pre-college program in summer 2024. Some on-campus activities will be re-worked to make them more interactive and there will be other minor changes to improve the program. Aspects that have not yet been addressed will be during the next reporting cycle. We will coordinate with Pellissippi State Community College regarding applications and enrollment in their nutrition degree program and related areas and also monitorongoing enrollment data at the University of Tennesseein nutrition, food, agriculture and related areas.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our goal itself is a broad one: to increase both the number and diversity of students who pursue a four-year degree in nutrition, particularly in programs solidly grounded in a foundational understanding of food and agriculture, in order to enhance racial and ethnic diversity of the nutrition professional workforce and, consequently, optimally support healthful lifestyle change among vulnerable populations. Our program is a pre-college program that provides a stepping stone towards that goal by providing high school students from diverse high schools in lower income communities the opportunity to learn about college life and also explore community nutrition and agriculture through experientiallearning. Progress toward objective 1: Through the program, we were able to strengthen linkages to all three Knox County Flagship high schools serving diverse populations in lower income areas, primarily through the high school counseling staff at each school. As it was the first year of the program in summer 2023, it took some time and effort to get acquainted, make connections, and get the word out to students. The counselors have been excellent advocates for the program, have received positive feedback from summer 2023 program participants, and are eager to engage with us in a concerted recruitment effort for an expanded reach in summer 2024. In 2023 seven students started the program and, after two discontinued due to personal reasons unrelated to the program itself, fivecompleted the program in its entirety. These five students represented all three Flagship high schools and one additional Knox County high school. These five students participated in two on-campus days at the start and end of the two-week program plus 6-8 experiential learning days at their assigned community sites. The first on-campus day included a program overview including state of the local food and agriculture environment, teambuilding activities, lunch in the Student Union, a campus tour, a meet and greet with community site preceptors and mentors, and preparation for field work/discussion of projects/final presentations. The community site days entailed experiential learning activities at Beardsley Community Farm, Nourish Knoxville, Second Harvest Food Bank, or University of Tennessee Extension. During this time, students worked under the mentorship of site preceptors and graduate student mentors, while maintaining field notes, participating in the activities of the day, and developing a small-scale leadership project for presentation. The final on campus day offered the opportunity for students to present on their experiences and projects plus explore college life. Projects and presentations focused broadly on cultural foodways and/or food security. Other activities included sessions on admissions with the assistant director of diversity recruitment and outreach for the Flagship high schools, selecting a major with the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration, successful transition to college with the Student Success Center, a student panel, and lunch. The final day lunch was either included with the Student Success Center session (June session) or as an additional lunch and learn with the food4VOLSon-campus food recovery program (July session). Characteristics of participants who completed the program: 4/5 are enrolled at Flagship high schools and included2 rising seniors, 2 rising juniors, and 1 rising sophomore. As far as gender and race/ethnicity characteristics: 4 identified as female and 1 as male, 2 identified as Black, non-Hispanic and 3 identified as White, non-Hispanic. Pre- and post-surveys collected data on post-secondary education plans and readiness, plan details, and leadership characteristics. 100% of participants reported intention to attend college, with 80% expressing interest in at least one of the related majors of Nutrition, Food Science, and Agriculture. In the post-survey, participants were more likely to report knowing the process of applying to college or vocational school and also reported greater confidence in talking with people they don't know well and in giving presentations (p<0.05). Both on campus and community site experiences were highly rated overall and 100% of participants identified that they would recommend the program to others. Feedback from counselors indicates at least some of these students will be giving presentations at school that will support future recruiting efforts. To summarize, we reached a small sample in year one but with an overall positive experience that has laid the groundwork for growth and success in year two. The two-year degree granting institution we work with most closely is Pellississippi State Community College (PSCC). There has not been additional engagement with PSCC during the past year beyond what is usual, but moreis planned for the coming year as high school seniors who completed the summer session prepare for post-secondary education. Progress toward objective 2: The oldest students participating in the pre-college program are currently high school seniors, so there will not be data for objective 2 until August2024. IMPACT DESCRIPTION: This project has resulted in building new and productive relationships between the University of Tennessee Nutrition Department andthe Knox County Flagship high schools. This first year has provided the opportunity to recruit the initial group of high school students to participate in the pre-college program and begin to explore college life and career opportunities related to nutrition, food, and agriculture. While this first group was small in size, their responses to the experience were overwhelmingly positive. In the post-survey, amajority of the students (4/5 or 80%) reported interest in at least one of the related career areas of nutrition, food science, or agriculture. This success opens the door for further growth and greater impact in year two.

Publications