Source: TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
EMPOWERING MINORITY SERVING INSTITUTIONS FOOD SAFETY SPECIALISTS TO WRITE SUCCESSFUL FOOD SAFETY OUTREACH PROGRAM GRANTS THROUGH EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030892
Grant No.
2023-70020-40631
Cumulative Award Amt.
$297,000.00
Proposal No.
2023-03023
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2023
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2026
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A4182]- Regional FSMA Center
Recipient Organization
TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LUBBOCK,TX 79409
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) were established in response to historical racial and ethnic inequality in access to higher education. MSIs have are dedicated to educating and investing in underserved communities throughout the U.S. FSOP grant recipients in the past included only 25% of the institutions of higher education, community-based organization, non-profits, and non-government were MSIs. The overarching goal of this proposal is to advance MSIs ability to secure grant funding by developing a targeted toolkit for grant writers at minority-serving institutions to ensure that they can secure funding to provide food safety education to the populations they serve. The specific objectives of this grant proposal are to: 1)Identify a cadre of MSIs food safety specialists eligible to apply for the FSOP grant program; 2)Development of the grant writing toolkit, professional development education and training opportunities, and technical assistance mechanisms; and 3) Delivery and implementation of the FSOP grant writing toolkit, professional development education and training, and technical assistance opportunities. As a result of this grant, 16 Professional Development education and training opportunities will be executed; 60 food safety specialists attending one of three-8 session grant writer bootcamp; 100 MSIs food safety specialists attending a professional development opportunity; 100 MSIs that utilized some portion of the grant writer tool kit; 20 grant teams participating in Technical Assistance Feedback Sessions, a grant writer toolkit will be deposited in the Food Safety Clearing House and an article in the Journal of Extension.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
71200013020100%
Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
0001 - Administration;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
This grant aims to strengthen MSIs' organizational systems and increase the effectiveness of grantsmanship, which will result in Capacity Building and expansion of research and extension/outreach portfolios. The overarching goal of this proposal is to advance MSIs' ability to secure external grant funding by developing a targeted toolkit for grant writers at minority-serving institutions to ensure that they can provide food safety education to the populations they serve. This goal requires education, training, and technical assistance on the fundamentals of how to develop a strong, merit-based proposal package.The specific objectives of this grant proposal are to:Identify a cadre of MSIs food safety specialists eligible for the FSOP grant program;Development of the grant writing toolkit, professional development education and training opportunities, and technical assistance mechanisms; andDelivery and implementation of the FSOP grant writing toolkit, professional development education and training, and technical assistance opportunities.
Project Methods
Objective 1: Identify a cadre of MSIs food safety specialists eligible to apply for the FSOP grant program. Description: Identify food safety research, extension, and outreach personnel within MSIs that may be interested in writing an FSOP grant proposal and develop a communication system to disseminate information. Outcomes: One MSI contact database of food safety specialists; Communication plan to disseminate information; Quarterly communications with food safety specialists to determine networking events for collaboration (n=8).Objective 2: Development of the grant writing toolkit, professional development education and training opportunities, and technical assistance mechanisms. Description: Development of a FSOP grant writer toolkit, series of grant writer professional development education and training opportunities, and technical assistance mechanisms to provide feedback to grant writers. Outcomes: Best practices, fact sheets, fillable worksheets, tutorials and protocols, on-demand, in-person, and virtual presentations, 8-session grant writer bootcamps, and regional virtual and in-person feedback and technical assistance events.Objective 3: Delivery and implementation of FSOP grant writing toolkit, professional development education and training, and technical assistance opportunities. Description: We will utilize the regional centers, previous FSOP awardee, and MSI cadre to deliver and implement the developed materials. Outcomes: Execute 16 Professional Development education and training opportunities; 60 MSI food safety specialists attending 8-session grant writer bootcamps; 100 attending a professional development opportunity; 100 utilized some portion of the grant writer toolkit; 20 grant teams participating in Technical Assistance Feedback Sessions.Recruitment PlanOur recruitment plan to reach these populations is as follows:Each PI/Co-PI is assigned one type of MSIs to identify food safety researchers and extension specialists (Shaw-HSIs/HSACUs/NASNTI/ AANAPISIs; Jackson-Davis-HBCUs/PBIs/TCUs; Coleman - ANNH).Partnership with Regional Centers: Led by Shaw (Co-PI of NCR FSMA Center), each regional center has agreed (see Letters of Support) to assist with the identification of MSIs food scientists, review of developed grant writing materials, and promotion and dissemination of the grant toolkit items. Specifically, they have agreed to utilize their current social media and/or email/newsletter communication channels and relationships with MSIs within their region to identify faculty and staff at MSIs who are eligible to apply for the FSOP grant program. Each center has agreed to assist with providing feedback on the developed toolkit items and to answer questions that may require regional specificity. They are also committed to connect this grant proposal team with previously funded FSOP Awardees from MSIs and other scientists at MSIs who may be eligible. Additionally, each center has agreed to hold a virtual meeting and one in-person meeting for education, training, and technical assistance per year.Targeted outreach to current/past FSOP grant recipients from MSIs to identify food safety researchers and extension and outreach specialists. Such funded MSI institutions include Tennessee State, Alabama A&M University, Tuskegee University, Lincoln University, New Mexico State, Cankdeska Cikana Community College, and others.Targeted outreach through cooperative agreement holders with FDA and partner organizations, including The National Association of State Department of Agriculture (one agreement in every U.S. state), Produce Safety Alliance, Local Foods Center and Indigenous Foods Centers, and Center for Produce Safety.Partnerships with USDA NIFA program leaders to promote and disseminate developed grant writer toolkit, professional development education and training, and technical assistance opportunities.Dissemination PlanThe project will provide professional development education and training opportunities, grant writer toolkit, and technical assistance opportunities for grant writers of the USDA FSOP grant program. Although the developed materials will be promoted to all MSIs, the grant team will focus efforts on MSIs that have food safety specialists who can submit grants to the FSOP program. These events and resources will also be shared through the developed cadre listserv, the regional centers, cooperative agreement holders, and the University of Vermont Clearinghouse, along with a peer-reviewed publication in the Journal of Extension.EvaluationThe effectiveness of the developed grant writing materials will be evaluated by the number of additional grant submissions and change in knowledge and behavior. The purpose of the evaluation plan is to ensure that the team is meeting milestones and achieving the stated objectives of the project. The specific assessment data that will be collected during the project duration include: Number of new or novel education, training materials and resources developed; Number of new or novel delivery mechanisms of resources employed; Number and types of specific MSIs applicants (who utilized the developed resources) who feel prepared to submit grant proposals to FSOP; Number and types of specific MSIs applicants (who utilized the developed resources) who submit grant proposals to FSOP; Number and types of specific MSIs applicants who were successfully granted an FSOP and utilized one of the grant writing toolkit elements; Number of participants in trainings and educational programs and technical assistance offerings; Number and percent of participants reporting changes in knowledge and/or behaviors as a result of developed materials; Best practices identified and applied by MSIs; Number of conference papers and presentations. As a result of this proposal, a grant writer toolkit will be submitted for publication in the Clearinghouse at the University of Vermont and in the Journal of Extension.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this proposal is food safety researchers and extension and outreach specialists at MSIs. While the total number is fairly high (n=942), not all of these institutions are prepared to successfully apply for FSOP grants. Based on website searches, the proposal team has identified 764 MSIs that could have food safety specialists based on degree/ course offerings. Changes/Problems:The co-PI Shannon Coleman transitioned from Iowa State University on June 20th, 2024 to Louisiana State University on July 1st, 2024. The subcontract for Iowa State University will be terminated and a new subcontract will be initiated to Louisiana State University. The PD Angela Shaw got married and as a result, her last name will change to Walla. Angela Walla will be reflected in future documentation. . What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We offered two separate webinar series to assist with grant writing skills development. Each webinar was at least 30 minutes in length with another 20 minutes reserved for questions from the participants. We also offered office hours to provide technical assistance for writing the 2024 FSOP Grant RFP that was due in February 2024. We also offered a summer grant writing accountability group for 10 weeks during summer 2024 along with technical assistance sessions to improve grants. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We utilized the developed listserv for potential MSI faculty and staff and the regional centers' newsletters, listserv, and virtual and in-person meetings to disseminate information. We also utilized the 1890 Research Directors listserv and the Hispanic Serving Institutions Research University listserv to disseminate information about the grant offerings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period, we will attend at least three in-person workshops for MSIs in addition to promoting our efforts through the regional centers the offerings. We will offer technical assistance office hours and promote a repeat of the webinar series that was conducted last year. We will conduct a webinar in preparation for the 2025 FSOP grant RFP and offer another boot camp this summer. We will continue to collect impact data from participants who utilized our webinars and/or technical assistance offerings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Our grant team met 11 times during Year 1 between October 2023 and August 2024. Email was the main communication method between meetings, and a TEAMs shared folder was utilized to share PowerPoints and developed documents. For Objective 1, the following items were accomplished: 1) Two undergraduate students at Texas Tech University completed a website and literature search and developed a database of MSIs with at least one researcher or faculty that could conduct food safety research. 2) All individuals were contacted, and 461 contacts were confirmed for permission to contact them through the listserv. 3) Communication was sent out to this listserv in November 2023 (consent email), two emails in December 2023 (December/ January webinar promotion), February 2024 (post-webinar survey communication), April 2024 (May webinar promotion), two emails in May 2024 (post-webinar survey communication, summer writing group promotion), and June 2024 (writing group promotion). A secondary listserv was developed for those who signed up for the summer writing group (n=18), and emails were sent out weekly to this group (12 emails and a post summer writing group evaluation). For Objective 2, we accomplished: 1) Two undergraduate students at Texas Tech University, the four grant team members, completed a website search for grant resources and placed them in a shared folder. 2) We developed a grant website (https://www.depts.ttu.edu/research/usda-grant-writing/) to hold all announcements and resources. 3) The identified grant resources were placed on the website for the grant every month from December 2023 through July 2024. 4) The grant team met with the USDA NIFA grant technical assistance team in April 2024, and we added additional resources based on that conversation. 5) A YouTube channel titled "FSOP Grant Writing" was created to house all webinars after the live broadcast. 6) The first, 7-part webinar series focused on the 2024 FSOP RFP Grant occurred in December 2023 and January 2024. There were a total of 79 views, 33 live participants, and 134 participants signed up for the webinar series. The titles of the webinars were: a) Extracting Crucial Information from the RFP. Flow and structure of a compelling proposal; d) The importance of a well-crafted First Page; c) Developing a work/research plan - defining metrics for success; e) How to highlight novelty/ innovation/ uniqueness and White Paper (Sales Pitch); f) Meaningful stakeholder involvement and broadening participation/transferability - education/outreach/extension; g) Creating an impactful logic model and learning from rejection; and h) Budget and Budget Justification. The second, 13-part webinar series occurred in May 2024 attracted 163 participants who signed up. Both webinar series were modified to include more topics and focus on all USDA grants. 7) We conducted technical assistance office hours from January 20th to February 16th, 2024, for the 2024 FSOP grant. Three teams participated, and two provided written feedback. 8) We conducted a Summer Grant Writing Group Series from June 1st to August 6th, 2024 and 20 MSI faculty signed up for the weekly 3-hour sessions. 9) We conducted six individual technical assistance sessions with MSI faculty during the summer grant writing group series. 10) The FSOP grant writing program was presented virtually to all four regional centers before the 2024 FSOP grant due date. And11) The grant team presented again to all the regional centers before the Summer Writing Program launch (3 virtually and one in person at the Southern Center regional meeting). For Objective 3, two webinar series (20 sessions), 2024 FSOP technical assistance office hours (24 days offered), a 10-week summer grant writing accountability group, and technical assistance opportunities were provided before the 2024 FSOP RFP due date and during the summer grant writing accountability group (see Objective 2). We reviewed two grant proposals for the 2024 FSOP RFP during the first webinar series in January and February 2024. The Summer Accountability grant writer boot camp had 20 MSI faculty/staff sign-ups, and six participants utilized the one-on-one technical assistance sessions. We reviewed three grants during this 10-week period. We promoted the grant offerings and technical assistance options to all participants of the regional centers at least twice during the fiscal year. One of the MSI participants at the Dec./Jan. 2024 FSOP RFP webinar series, who also participated in a one-on-one technical assistance session, was awarded one of the 2024 FSOP Grants as a PI. To evaluate the effectiveness of the webinar series and the summer grant writing accountability boot camp, we developed separate survey tools. The human subject approval for both survey grant tools was granted on December 5th, 2023 (IRB2023-540) by the Texas Tech University Human Subject Institutional Review Board under the category "Exempt". The webinar follow-up survey after the 2024 FSOP Grant RFP revealed (n=5 MSI faculty and staff): On average the faculty and staff participated in 2.1 webinars during the session, and the webinars were ranked at 4.2 (5 = excellent, 4 = good). The webinar on how to read the RFP and extract information and the question-and-answer period were top-rated. Participants appreciated that the webinars were recorded and posted on the website. All participants strongly/somewhat agreed that they were satisfied with the level of information presented in the webinar, were more confident in obtaining the necessary information from the RFP and felt confident in submitting an FSOP USDA grant. Three participants indicated that they will be submitting an FSOP grant this year. Four participants indicated that they will be submitting a USDA grant this year. The follow-up survey after the May USDA grant writing series revealed (n=7 MSI faculty and staff): On average, the faculty and staff participated in 5.2 webinars during the session. The webinars were ranked at 4.4 (5 = excellent, 4 = good). The question-and-answer time was the favorite part of the webinars. Suggestions included adding the question-and-answer portion to the recording of the webinar was suggested and walking through all the submission steps for submitting a USDA grant. All participants strongly or somewhat agreed that they were satisfied with the level of information presented in the webinar, were more confident in obtaining the necessary information from the RFP and felt confident in submitting a USDA grant. The follow-up survey after the summer grant program (n=4 MSI faculty and staff) indicated that all participants met their writing goals. The most beneficial part of the program was: a) the support provided and time commitment with accountability; b) the insight, encouragement, and expertise of the grant team; c) learning more about the grant writing process and improving writing skills; and d) resources provided and encouragement to stay on task. All participants felt included and valued in the group, that the time and format were convenient, that the resources were helpful, and all participants reported improved writing skills. One person suggested a writing session in the evening after work hours, and three of the 4 participants desired a fall writing group.

Publications