Performing Department
Academic Affairs and Student Success
Non Technical Summary
The Tuskegee University Food and Agricultural Scholars Program will be administered by College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences. The goals of the program are to recruit, train and prepare underrepresented minorities to meet workforce or pursue further studies in the food and agricultural sciences. The program will promote these goals by using a multidisciplinary approach which will include innovative of recruiting, mentoring, experiential learning and internship. The program will support major areas Food Agricultural, Natural Resource and Related Sciences with emphasis, in Agribusiness, Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Environmental Natural Resources and Plant Sciences and Food and Nutrition Science. The overall goals of the program are to: 1. Increase workforce in underrepresented minority in FANRRS, 2. Increase number of students going to graduate school and school of Veterinary Medicine by training competent students from minority and underrepresented groups. The program seeks to fund 8 students for 4 years to obtain B.S in Animal, Poultry and Veterinary Sciences and Environmental, Natural Resource and Plant Sciences by using a program which incorporates curriculum enhancement, mentoring internships and experiential learning. The program objectives will help meet NIFA strategic goals and objectives well as those of the Academic Competitiveness Council. The anticipated national impact of the program will help to increase the minorities who chose the Food, Agriculture, and Related Sciences as major in TU programs and successfully prepare them to enter the FANRRS careers though offering a comprehensive program that prepares them adequately to enter careers in Food and Agriculture.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The primary goal of this project is to develop a pipeline for students, who are adequately prepared to enter careers in the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related areas (FANRRS). The proposed project will attract, train, and retain students in the food and agricultural sciences through a multi-tiered approach that includes mastery of the STEAM areas; exposure to career opportunities, hands-on experiences and projects, mentoring (faculty and advanced students), internships, oral and written presentations and competitions, and training in soft and social skills, including teamwork. Emanating from this primary goal of the TUFASP are efforts to train and prepare graduates to meet workforce needs in the food and agricultural domain, includingindustry/business, government and academia. The program will promote these goals by using a multidisciplinary approach that will include enhancement of curriculum, mentoring, experiential learning and internships. The program will support three major areas of emphasis, i.e. Agricultural Sciences and Engineering for Bioenergy, Natural Resource Sciences Training and Agrosecurity Science Training. Within these areas of emphasis, the proposed program will focus on major academic program disciplines in Animal Science (A), Conservation and Renewable Natural Resources (C), Soil Sciences (D), Plant Sciences,Environmental Sciences (G) and Food and Nutritional Sciences. The overall objectives of the program are to: 1) Increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities in the workforce, and 2) increase number of underrepresented minority students going to graduate schools in the food and agricultural sciences and into Veterinary Medicine by training competent students from minority and underrepresented groups.The primary goal of this project is to develop a pipeline for students, who are adequately prepared to enter careers in the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related areas (FANRRS). The proposed project willattract, train, and retain students in the food and agricultural sciences through a multi-tiered approach that includes mastery of the STEAM areas; exposure to career opportunities, hands-on experiences and projects, mentoring (faculty and advanced students), internships, oral and written presentations and competitions, and training in soft and social skills, including teamwork.Emanating from this primary goal of the TUFASP are efforts to train and prepare graduates to meet workforce needs in the food and agricultural domain, including industry/business, government and academia. The program will promote these goals by using a multidisciplinary approach that will include enhancement of curriculum, mentoring, experiential learning and internships. The program will support three major areas of emphasis, i.e. Agricultural Sciences and Engineering for Bioenergy, Natural Resource Sciences Training and Agro-security Science Training. Within these areas of emphasis, the proposed program will focus on major academic program disciplines in Animal Science (A), Conservation and Renewable Natural Resources (C), Soil Sciences (D), Plant Sciences, Environmental Sciences (G) and Food and Nutritional Sciences. The overall objectives of the program are to: 1) Increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities in the workforce, and 2) increase number of underrepresented minority students going to graduate schools in the food and agricultural sciences and into Veterinary Medicine by training competent students from minority and underrepresented groups.
Project Methods
Program objectives be realized through program emphasis on recruiting, mentoring of students and experiential learning. This project will include a recruitment and selection strategy, based on experience which will attract highly motivated students to the TUFASP. The recruiting strategy which will be used will including updating of our current recruiting brochures to contain information on TUFASP. Teams will make visits to high schools in Alabama and make presentations at their open houses about the programs offered in TU and the availability of TUFASP scholarships. Faculty and recruiting staff will continue to cultivate ongoing relationship with high school counselors and also provide faculty volunteers to make presentations in high schools about the program. Application materials with information on the program will be shared along with other recruiting information provided by the university, the college (CAENS) and university websites will also be updated to inform prospective students of the scholarships aims, availability and the application process.Each scholar will be assigned two co-advisors. At least one of the advisors will be experienced in the field of interest of the student. Both advisors will be accessible for mentoring and encouraging the student. Additionally, two peer mentors (advanced undergraduate, or graduate students) will be assigned to each student to provide perspectives from successful students. All Scholars will be assigned an industry or government mentor in an area of interest of the student. These associations are designed to provide a "mini-village" surrounding each student to support them on their pathway to competence in the food and agricultural sciences.One of the major approaches that have been developed to ensure adequate preparation for students entering our programs is curricula which integrates all areas of the food, agricultural and related sciences in the first two years and also emphasizes mastery of the STEM areas. In this respect, our food and agricultural programs, have been structured to allow all FANRRS areas to work together. We also work closely with the biology, chemistry and mathematics department to make sure that FANRRS students achieve core competencies in these areas. The College of Agriculture, Environment and Nutrition Sciences offers majors in 1. Agri business, 2. Animal and veterinary Sciences, 3. Environmental Natural Resource and Plant Sciences, and 4. Food and Nutritional Sciences. Each of these majors have different options that allows the students the opportunity to focus on areas of career interest.?