Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
his project will leverage MCS scholarship funds with existing DEIA initiatives and programs in the College of Natural Resources at North Carolina State University (NCSU) to improve access of historically underserved and under-representative undergraduates (HU3) to forestry and renewable energy careers and graduate education. There is a large gap between Women, Indigenous, Latino/Hispanic, and Black worker employment in the general workforce versus forestry, natural resources, and renewable energy (RE) workforces. Women, Black, Latino/Hispanic, and Indigenous worker employment is 48%, 13%, 17%, and <1% nationwide but only 19%, 4%, 19%, and 1% in forestry and 27%, 8%, 15%, and 2.3% in RE in NC. Forestry job growth is stable at 5% growth by 2030, but expected renewable energy job growth is 50% by 2029. NC estimates 28,000 new RE jobs by 2030. The project goal is to expand leverage current HU3 recruitment pilot programs to forestry careers and graduate training to include RE careers or graduate training in collaboration with three historically black universities. The project objectives are to provide 24 scholarships to support NCSU and HBU HU3 students to complete a forestry management major/minor (NCSU and Tuskegee University) and/or an online RE Assessment (REA) minor (NCSU) or certificate (St. Augustine's, Shaw Universities). Institutional and SEL funds will support community, peer-mentoring, leadership training, and professional development through an IDEAS Scholars Cohort and HBU Scholar and faculty participation in study abroad courses, industry internships, externships, and summer research experiences. External assessment will evaluate changes in Scholar and Faculty knowledge and perceptions of Scholar access and success to enter forestry, natural resources, and RE workforces.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The major goal of this project is to recruit, train, mentor, and build networks with historically underserved and under-represented undergraduates (HU3) from North Carolina State University (NCSU) and three Historically Black Universities (HBUs): St. Augustine's University, Tuskegee University and Shaw University - to enable successful HU3 entry into forestry and renewable energy workforces or graduate education.The project objectives are:Prepare HU3 for transitions to graduate education and careers in forestry, natural resources, and RE by building skills and knowledge from relevant majors, minors and certificates with student experiential learning (SEL) opportunities including internships, study abroad experiences, summer research experiences, and leadership to high school HUU summer externships.Build interdisciplinary and engaged community through an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEAS) Cohort of HBU/NCSU Scholars and faculty for monthly activities supporting peer-mentoring, leadership skills, critical and creative thinking, and career networking skills with forestry and RE industry stakeholders.Provide relevant SEL opportunities through internships, study abroad, conference attendance, summer research experiences, and "pay-it-forward" leadership opportunities with HU3 high school students through the College of Natural Resource (CNR) ENVIROKIDS program.Demonstrate the impact of community engagement and experiential learning on perceptions and goals of Scholars and project HBU/NCSU faculty with an external assessment team experienced in HU3 educational and workforce assessment.Disseminate project outcomes, successes, mitigated challenges, and barriers to success through Scholars and project faculty efforts as well as existing portals through HBUs and NCSU.?These objectives address Multicultural Scholars Program's (MSP) aims to prepare HU3 for graduate education and to meet employment demands for the forestry, natural resource, and RE workforces, to help reduce the disparity of HU3 representation for professional and scientific careers in forestry and RE, and to nurture HU3 success through intentional engagement, community building, career networking, and mentoring.
Project Methods
Institutional funds from the project will provide participating HBU faculty with annual honorariums to co-recruit and co-mentor the IDEAS Scholar Cohort. HBU/NCSU IDEAS faculty will meet to finalize promotional materials of the project and availability of Scholarships and SEL support, to discuss programmatic best practices for recruitment and interviewing to finalize an online application form and standardized rubric for candidate interviews, and an agreed process for finalist selection from each institution with the intent to provide Scholarships and SEL support within the first year of the project.Existing College of Natural Resource (CNR) programs, such as the 3+2 Tuskegee Program, summer research experiences with St. Augustine's University, and collaborative US Forest Service research with Shaw University provide eligible HBU HU3 candidates.. At NCSU, HU3 will be recruited from a first-year environmental program (ENVRFY), other declared majors interested in a forestry or REA minor, and HUU high school seniors participating in CNR's ENVIROKIDS pilot program.Candidates for the IDEAS Scholarships will submit an application online that includes transcript to date with GPA, a personal statement of particular interests to the program and interests to pursue forestry/natural resource management or renewable energy or both, an attestation of commitment to IDEAS Cohort requirements for meetings and academic performance if awarded an IDEAS Scholarship, a ranked prioritization of degree selection if undeclared majors or forest management or REA minors, or REA certificate, and ranked prioritization of interests in SEL opportunities (study abroad, internships, summer research, summer camp, and leadership (ENVIROKIDS)). Finalists will be interviewed by an HBU/NCSU IDEAS faculty partner; virtual interviews will use a rubric for consistency of questions and to note candidate responses.At NCSU, IDEA scholarships will support completion of a Bachelor's of Science (B.Sc.) in forest management or natural resources, or, if the Scholar is majoring in another program, a minor in forest management or RE.Regardless, the project supports SEL experiences for Scholars (internships and study abroad) to count toward course credits for the forestry and natural resource majors, or forestry or REA minors.For off-campus HBU Scholars, project funds will support their enrollment as non-degree students to complete the online undergraduate REA certificate (12 CE). Enrollment in the REA certificate program provides access to participate in face-to-face SEL experiences such as summer research, study abroad, the DOE Solar District Challenge, internships/externships, and professional conferences with project institutional funds to help defray costs.There are two study abroad courses which can be counted towards the REA certificateincluding the NR 350 course described above with a focus on sustainable biomass and mining for a circular EV economy and a new study abroad course for 2024, "Philippines: Climate, Energy and the Environment" to be led by Lyra Perez Dumdum (Senior Personnel).Scholars need a peer-mentor and faculty-mentor community that practices authentic professional IDEA to affirm Scholars and build their skills in managing the formal rules, practices, and culture of work sectors and informal, non-academic and less tangible experiences that can hinder Scholar success.Faculty cultural awareness and competency training and intentional Cohort engagement to address career challenges and develop Scholar competency in workplace skills will foster growth mindsets and positive attitudes of Scholars for academic and career success. Cohort activities will connect Scholars to HUU professionals in forestry and RE.The project will integrate curricula and SEL experiences (study abroad, internships, research, and leadership) with a monthly Cohort meeting between Scholars and HBU/NCSU faculty mentors to engage on structured topics (Figure 3) and use active and reflective activities such as situational scripts, games, virtual professional visits, professional profile digital posts, and relevant topics for discussions such as St. Augustine's Global Justice forum.Dissemination starts with Scholars establishing a professional profile using legacy career networking such as BOSS, AABE, WICE, and SAF and digital-first platforms such as Facebook, Linkedin.com, The Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE), Network and Black Young Professional Network (BYP Network). Cohort meetings will be used to develop profiles and practice of professional communication with faculty co-mentoring. The intent is to make Scholars accessible for recruitment and for Scholars to use Cohort activities, workplace soft and hard skills, speakers, service activities, as material for posting, which benefits Scholars and project dissemination. This synergy holds Scholars accountable to network practice with structured content, disseminates project activities in real time, and provides Scholars' content for discussion with employers or project promotion to HU3 recruits. Informational IDEAS booths, posters, and flash talks will be presented by Scholars as described below. HBU/NCSU faculty will likewise promote the project and seek opportunities to present IDEAS at relevant institutional, forestry, and renewable energy venues with Scholars as co-presenters when possible.Institutional funds from the project will support Scholars attendance and intersection through the Cohort with local and national conferences such as Minority Landowner Professionals, MLP, in the Raleigh-Durham area, Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANRRS37), Society of American Foresters (SAF), Association of Southeastern Biologists, Ecological Society of America conference and SEEDS program, State Energy Conference of North Carolina, App State Energy Summit, and virtual opportunities such as WIRE or Enverus EVOLVE conferences with virtual conferences on topics such as "Exploring the Future of Energy and Sustainability Through Civil Dialog and Critical Thinking."Using external evaluation from the NCSU Friday Institute and collaborative engagement of HBU/NCSU faculty, project management will provide outcomes and outputs derived from project objectives.Tools developed by Co-PI Leggett and collaborators (Nichols, Stacy) as pre- and post-surveys of NNF graduate fellows will be adapted to assess IDEAS Scholars' values and interests as they progress through minor degrees, certificates, or baccalaureate degrees. A Likert-scale and short answer survey tool will be used for feedback from Scholars after SEL experiences for SEL Outcome Reports to USDA. Each year, the PIs will report back anonymous Scholar feedback to the HBU/NCSU faculty to assess impact, discuss issues, and implement any necessary changes to Cohort activities, SEL experiences, and courses. A mixed methods, embedded design will be employed to evaluate the project and can be adapted to other programs at CNR or elsewhere; some components are in use with Co-PI Womble Edwards current workforce grants. The intent of this design is to use qualitative data to elaborate and enhance quantitative findings to provide a more complete understanding of findings.Multiple methods will be initiated for longitudinal tracking of Scholars following the completion of the program through digital-first platforms, i.e., LinkedIn IDEAS to Forestry and RE group, existing NCSU/HBU program social media accounts, and CNR initiatives of program assessment in the Dean's Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI). For accreditation purposes and the CNR Dean's initiatives, longitudinal tracking exists through college and departmental programs and will be supplemented by the project's digit platforms for Scholars.