Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Amidst rising global nutritional needs exacerbated by the pandemic, land-grant universities are crucial in preparing students in animal science for future challenges. This field, pivotal for its contribution to nutritional value, economic stability, and sustainability, demands a workforce adept at navigating complex issues within diverse teams. However, interest in food animal careers, like those in the poultry industry, do not meet industry demand. Addressing this requires enhancing educational experiences that build global intercultural skills. There's a gap in effectively integrating these competencies in agricultural education, highlighting the need for clear strategies that develop non-technical skills, essential for industry readiness, through domestic learning opportunities tailored to animal science. The specific objectives for this proposal are to: 1) Describe workforce demands for global intercultural learning skills in the poultry sector; 2) Describe efforts of U.S. post-secondary institutions to support and address global intercultural learning opportunities through domestic experiences; 3) Submit a 2026 Higher Education Challenge Grant Collaborative proposal. The long-term goal of this proposal is to submit a HEC Collaborative proposal that will create a national platform for discussing the value of domestic experiences to enhance student global intercultural skills and provide recommendations for embedding intercultural development in domestic experiences.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Theoverarching goalof this planning proposal is to submit a Higher Education Challenge Collaborative Grant in 2026 that will create a national platform for discussing the value of domestic experiences to enhance student global intercultural skills and provide recommendations for embedding intercultural development in domestic experiences.Our specific objectives for this planning proposal are to:Objective #1:Describe workforce demands for global intercultural learning skills in the poultry sector.Objective #2:Describe efforts of U.S. post-secondary institutions to support and address global intercultural learning opportunities through domestic experiences.Objective #3:Submit a 2026 Higher Education Challenge Grant Collaborative proposal.The anticipated overall program impact is a set of established intercultural skills that are needed by students entering the agricultural industries and a framework for continued discussion on the value of global learning in domestic contexts.
Project Methods
Objective #1:Describe workforce demands for global intercultural learning skills in the poultry sector.In order to determine the global intercultural skills most needed by the poultry industry, we will conduct three focus groups aimed at the following audiences: complex managers, production and quality vice-presidents, and owners/CEOs. These three groups were selected because they each represent a different view of the industry and have different interactions with employers. Each focus group will consist of 6 to 10 participants and will last approximately 60 minutes. Focus groups will take place at the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) held January 28-30, 2025 in Atlanta, GA. IPPE is the world's largest annual display of technology, equipment, supplies, and services used throughout the poultry industry and attracts poultry leaders from across the U.S. and abroad. This event offers a unique opportunity to engage with a large number of key poultry companies in one location. The focus group questions will be developed in Fall of 2024. We will work with Indiana State Poultry Association and United Egg Producers to assist in identifying companies to send invitations to the focus groups prior to the IPPE meeting.Information collected from the focus group will be used to inform the development of the case studies that will be conducted in Objective #2.Objective #2:Describe efforts of U.S. post-secondary institutions to support and address global intercultural learning opportunities through domestic experiences.To describe U.S. post-secondary institutions' existing efforts and support for global intercultural learning opportunities, we will conduct three separate case studies at each respective institution: Purdue University, Penn State University, and New Mexico State University. We will focus on these three universities' colleges of agriculture. They are the initial subject for the case studies due to being land-grant universities, and the research team has easy access due to employment. The three universities will provide baseline information to begin our inquiries into what activities take place at U.S. post-secondary institutions to build global intercultural learning skills through experiences other than international study abroad programs. Case study procedures will be developed by the entire research team to ensure data collection is consistent across institutions. Research activities for data collection will include quantitative reviews of existing policies and procedures, as well as administrative and financial support by each College of Agriculture's administration. Following quantitative reviews, qualitative interviews will take place with college administrators, department heads, and faculty to develop a deeper understanding of the activities conducted to develop intercultural learning skills. These interviews will also illuminate what needs must still be met for successful skill development. Case studies will be conducted in the Fall 2025 semester. Data will be collected independently, but researchers will gather for a team meeting to discuss data and analyze for information synthesis in January 2026.Objective #3:Submit a 2026 Higher Education Challenge Grant Collaborative proposal.The primary objective of the two-day planning grant meeting #2 (January 2026) is to further review the analysis of the case studies and to outline and begin drafting our 2026 HEC Collaborative grant submission. The planning committee will prepare an abstract during this meeting to submit to the 2026 NACTA Annual Meeting. The abstract will focus on results of both the industry focus groups and the case studies.