Recipient Organization
MIAMI DADE COLLEGE, INTER-AMERICAN CAMPUS
627 SW 27TH AVE
MIAMI,FL 33135
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Many residents in Miami-Dade County are unaware of the rural farming communities in two of its small cities: Homestead and Florida City. Over the next six years, agriculture in Miami-Dade County is projected to produce 1,611 new jobs. A strong program in agriculture will respond to these needs. Students pursuing careers in agriculture and other science-related fields. Activities will take place at Homestead High School and Miami Senior School, as well as two Miami-Dade Community College Campuses, one in rural Homestead, and the other in an inner-city neighborhood. To achieve these goals, the College will design and implement a Horticulture curriculum: identify, recruit, and enroll students interested in a career in Agriculture; sponsor an Agriculture club at two feeder high schools and at the College; provide in-service training for faculty in Agriculture and related science courses; bolster student support services including tutoring and computer aided instruction;
place students in paid internships with agricultural scientists; and, provide local and cyber-space mentors. To facilitate seamless transfer to 4 year institutions, the College will require scholarship students to prepare electronic portfolios with transfer templates. The project will strengthen Miami-Dade Community College's 2-year, science-based Associate in Arts A.A. degree leading to enrollment in a 4-year College of Agriculture, and to create a 2-year Associate of Science A.S. degree in Ornamental Horticulture for students with vocational and short-term goals.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Goals: To strengthen M-DCC, a 2-year, science-based Associate in Arts program leading to enrollment in a 4-year College of Agriculture, and to create a 2-year Associate of Science degree in ornamental horticulture for students with vocational and short-term goals. Objectives: 1. A.S. Degree: Develop, implement, & evaluate an A.S. degree in Ornamental Horticulture. 2. Faculty Development: Provide educational opportunities for professional growth of Agriculture faculty and staff. 3. Student Recruitment: Identify, recruit, and enroll 30 high school students and 30 M-DCC students in the A.A. or A.S in Agriculture each year. 4. Transfer Assistance: Provide assistance to Agriculture majors desiring to transfer to a 4-year college or university, especially UF's College of Agriculture in Homestead, Davie, or Gainesville. 5. Career Awareness: Provide a comprehensive program spanning high school and college students leading to awareness, knowledge, and choice of a career in
Agriculture or Agribusiness. 6. Enrichment: Provide high school and college participants with academic enrichment. Benefits/Deliverables: 1. A.S. curriculum in Horticulture with construct and content validity. 2. 22 faculty inservice training sessions leading to improved faculty knowledge and familiarity with best practices. 3. The community is informed about the project via 5,000 brochures, 12 Public Service Announcements, and 800 brochures leading to 60 enrollments. 4. All recipients of scholarships for agriculture study develop electronic portfolios with active e-Transfer templates. 5. 2 agriculture clubs are established in local high schools and 2 are formed on college campuses, each serving 30 students. 6. Each participating student has a Education Improvement Plan, receives 4 counseling sessions, 60 hours of tutoring, 8 mentor contacts, and conducts one interdisciplinary, collaborative project. Unique Products: This project demonstrates the usefulness of electronic mentoring,
electronic portfolios, and e-Portfolios with electronic transfer templates. It also shows the importance of internships in providing real world career direction.
Project Methods
A strategic planning model will be used to develop an A.S. degree in Ornamental Horticulture with input from national agricultural, university, and community college experts. This degree program will be implemented at Miami-Dade Community College rural Homestead Campus. Training workshops will be held bi-weekly on Friday afternoons. They will provide faculty with up-to-date knowledge so as to better motivate and instruct students. Guest speakers from within and outside the College provide information on both agriculture and science related topics as well as on the values and learning styles of target group. Both high school and college students will be identified and recruited for the College's degree programs A.A., and A.S. in agriculture. Success relies heavily on close cooperation between the Project Director and college and high school counselors. The program provides assistance to Agriculture majors desiring to transfer to a 4 year college or university,
especially to the University of Florida College of Agriculture's main campus in Gainesville, or to its satellites in Homestead or Davie, Florida. Toward this end, students create electronic portfolios, with transfer templates where they document learning, confirm degree eligibility, assemble work done across academic areas, demonstrate work readiness and employment skill, and provide 4-year colleges with a means to better judge their potential. An e-Transfer template links students to transfer resources. The project is a comprehensive program spanning high school and college creating awareness, knowledge, and choice of a career in Agriculture or Agribusiness. This is implemented via a Club System where students at Homestead H.S., Miami Senior H.S., M-DCC Homestead Campus, and M-DCC InterAmerican Campus join the Agribusiness and Agriculture Leadership Club AALC. Clubs host guest speakers, provide information about the job market, and sponsor field trips. When students graduate from
M-DCC they remain in the AALC Alumni Club which facilitates tracking their careers and provides a mechanism for them to give back by serving as mentors, engaging in fund raising for scholarships, and continuing their participation in Club activities in other ways. The project offers high school and college students academic enrichment. All develop with assistance an Academic Improvement Plan, receive VIP passes to the College's Learning & Computer Labs which they frequent at least one day each week, complete collaborative projects on the Internet, and participate in a Learning Community. An important part of the program is placing selected students in internships with agricultural scientists. Other innovative activities include: assigning cyber-mentors to students giving participants an opportunity to interact with distant mentors such as USDA personnel at diverse locations and the 200,000+ volunteer mentors in the Governor's (Florida) mentoring project.