Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Micronesian communities grapple with a multitude of interconnected challenges, including chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, limited access to healthy food, the ever- present threat of climate change and the strain on families facing behavioral health issues and substance use. The University of Guam, Agriculture and Life Sciences program prepares students for careers in agriculture, human nutrition, food science and the family life sciences that address these community concerns. This proposed project focuses on culturally centered student experiences aiming to positively boost student enrollment, impact learning outcomes, career readiness and overall student satisfaction by strengthening capacity of the Human Nutrition and Food Science and Child and Family Life Science programs to meet student needs. There are four objectives for this proposed project. Interactive campus tours, academic enhancement, internship preparedness and life skills workshops and personalized academic advisement opportunities are among the deliverables of this project. Targeted populations are Pacific Islander students, at-risk, and other minority students. This project addresses two RIIA project need areas: instruction delivery systems and student recruitment, retention and educational equity.
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 goal of this proposed project is to increase student enrollment, increase graduationreadiness by strengthening capacity and improving student support systems in retaining and recruiting Asian, Pacific Islander, other minority and/or at-risk students seeking undergraduate and/or graduate degrees in the Agriculture and Life Sciences (ALS) program by the end of the grant cycle period. To achieve the project goal, the following four objectives with corresponding action steps (discussed in section 2 proposed approach and cooperative linkages, plan of operation and methodology in this proposal) are below.Objective 1: Increase enrollment in the ALS program (specifically Human Nutrition & Food Sciences and Child & Family Life Sciences tracks) by 10% by developing targeted outreach efforts, highlighting the program's benefits and career opportunities in agriculture and life sciences.Given the challenges with enrollment, this proposed project prioritizes recruitment efforts that will involve interactive campus tours (called Discover ALS), fair exhibitions, promotional endeavors and coordinating connections with existing faculty and potential students. Recruitment efforts is intended to elicit interest in ALS degree program, specifically in Human Nutrition & Food Science and Child & Family Life Sciences by offering underserved high school students and other potential students interested in pursuing a career in agriculture and life sciences. Additionally, the Child and Family Life Sciences track will be transformed to Family Community Resource Development in the upcoming academic year. This proposed project will support efforts in preparing for this transition and promoting the new track and a new course offering - AL201 Families in Societies - that is anticipated to boost enrollment into the program.Objective 2: Provide academic enhancement workshops (2x per semester, per academic year) that is focused on graduation readiness and student success for new and existing students.This objective will benefit students by providing them with workshops and informational sessions on course selection, career exploration and study skills building. There have been students who often do not seek regular academic course evaluation that can be problematic for them during junior and senior years. Also, workshops on internship/field placement readiness, time management/prioritization are needed. Guam employers have noted a lack of soft skills from university graduates which has prompted an institutional push for every degree program to offer internship opportunities that address these concerns. The ALS program is among the degree programs already offering internship opportunities through courses AL490 Special Project & AL498 Internship; this proposed project is intended to enhance internship preparedness, site matching, and experiential learning that meets ALS program requirements that currently is not available.Objective 3: Expand and improve ALS program student academic advisement and mentoring for at-risk and underserved students that lead to a boost in program retention.This objective will improve existing student academic advisement procedures bypromoting proactive advising through early and frequent interventions. Dedicated personnel willbe recruited to assist faculty by reviewing academic data to identify at-risk students andrecommend appropriate intervention. Ultimately this is intended to close the gaps in retention,especially given that university students drop out during the second semester of sophomore year.To bolster future dietitians, these dedicated personnel will also assist with collecting andanalyzing data to facilitate the establishment a university consortium, a multi-state collaborationwill offer individualized, culturally informed advising and online courses specifically chosen forHuman Nutrition and Food Science track majors, equipping them with a strong foundation indietetics.Objective 4: Improve and establish a dedicated student internship and/or special projects coordination system that ensures successful graduation of the ALS degree program.By improving and closing gaps in the existing coordination structure of the ALS internship/special projects procedures, students (especially those at-risk of dropping out) will be provided with additional support. As previously noted, ALS faculty focus on instruction is not aprimary function of their plans of work; this will provide the necessary personnel to provide more regular and consistent academic advisement which can lead to greater retention, prevent drop-out and help struggling students achieve academic milestones.
Project Methods
Proposed Approach and Cooperative LinkagesPlan of Operation and MethodologyA full-time Student Success Coordinator will be recruited who will assist the project directors in delivering the program goals and objectives. The core duties of this position will involve preparing students for internship experience with academic advisor, coordination of academic enhancement workshops, providing additional personalized academic advising, overseeing recruitment efforts such as the Discover ALS campus tours, assist with gathering data needed to establish cooperative initiatives with other insular institutions, like Guam Community College and the Northern Marianas College, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa that has a well-established didactic program in dietetics, and project evaluation data collection.Objective 1: Increase enrollment in the ALS program (specifically Human Nutrition & Food Sciences and Child & Family Life Sciences tracks) by 10% by developing targeted outreach efforts, highlighting the program's benefits and career opportunities in agriculture and life sciences.•Participate in career development/college fairs at select public and/or private high schools, specifically targeting graduating seniors to recruit potential students; coordinate with ALS faculty and/or current students to participate in these fairs to promote the benefits, answer questions about degree tracks, "talk story", etc...Host one campus tour (called Discover ALS) per academic year with high school juniors & graduating seniors that will involve presentations from ALS faculty and extension staff, a hands-on laboratory or interactive activity and tour of laboratory/campus agriculture and food learning spaces. Total number of students: 25-30 per academic year.Host one virtual tour (per academic year) of the ALS degree program for regional, international and/or working students who cannot attend in person activities.Coordinate with college media team in developing social marketing materials that address common interests and concerns shared in tours and personalized advisement (specifically ALS degree tracks with lower enrollment rates i.e. child and family life science). Materials to be promoted on social media platforms commonly used among youth and graduating high school seniors to promote the ALS degree program by highlighting the success of former students, the career benefits of an ALS degree, scholarship/internship opportunities, etc...Promote the transition of Child and Family Life Science track to Family Community Resource Development; promote new course offering AL201 Families in Society.Objective 2: Provide academic enhancement workshops (2x per semester, per academic year) that is focused on graduation readiness and student success for new and existing students:Host workshops and informational sessions on course selection, career exploration, study skills building and navigating campus/student resources.Host workshops on internship/field placement readiness, soft skills development, time management/prioritization, etc...Objective 3: Expand and improve ALS program student academic advisement and mentoring for at-risk and underserved students that lead to a boost in program retention.•Promote proactive advising through early and frequent interventions that focus on incoming freshmen, transfer students, and/or at-risk students, that are culturally relevant and inclusive, reflecting the needs of diverse students.oReview academic data to identify at-risk students, provide listing to faculty advisors and determine appropriate intervention (academic counseling, student support services, etc...)oEstablish a drop-in and online resource and advisement center that will include information on tutoring services, study skills building workshops, internship opportunities, behavioral health resources and scholarship/financial assistance.Enhance accessibility through online scheduling and appointment management.Coordinate efforts with current students, specifically those in Human Nutrition and FoodScience track, in accessing online course offerings through multi-state partnership.Offer faculty/student mentorship opportunities (internship, special projects, labexperiences, etc...) and culturally centered meet and greet events.Objective 4: Establish a dedicated student internship and/or special projects coordination system that ensures successful graduation of the ALS degree program:Link students with faculty of specific ALS degree track; provide administrative/coordination support to ALS degree faculty in delivering capstone experience course.Provide consistent advisement on site matching and field placement to ensure all ALS requirements are met prior to taking capstone experience and seminar courses.Support advisement for graduate courses in the SAFNR graduate program and future educator program with partnering institutions.Provide dedicated student administrative support in navigating course registration process.Support the transition of new track change to Family Community Resource Development (updating course listing, revising catalogs, academic evaluation process, etc...)