Progress 09/01/06 to 02/28/11
Outputs
The Big City, Big Country Road Show: Recruiting Non-traditional and Underrepresented Students into the Food and Agricultural Sciences Workforce project was a success. Project personnel successfully recruited inner-city students into post-secondary food and agricultural sciences academic majors in colleges of agriculture in Texas, Illinois, and Georgia. The project goal of recruiting a majority (51%) of non-traditional and underrepresented students through face-to-face recruitment workshops was successful. Recruitment activities (2007-2009) attracted 145 applicants for summer workshops in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago. Those 145 applicants were represented by a majority of Hispanic students (57%) and African American students (30%); most were 17 years old (32%) and/or in the 11th grade (42%) during their participation, and the majority (65%) were female applicants. Of the 145 applicants, project directors selected 110 students, based on USDA criteria (non-traditional and underrepresented students) for participation in the summer workshops. From the 110 students selected for workshop participation, 69 students (63%) completed all activities in the summer workshops. Workshop completers were represented by a majority of Hispanic students (74%) and African American students (17%); most were 17 years old (35%) and/or in the 11th grade (42%) at the time of their participation, and the majority (65%) were female applicants. Project partners considered all activities a success, given the numerous partnerships developed in this project. Academic partnerships were formed and/or strengthened between high schools (TX: El Paso HS, Franklin HS, Connell MS, G.W. Brackenridge HS, James Madison HS, John Jay Science Engineering Academy, Luther Burbank HS, S. P. Waltrip, and St. Philip of Jesus HS; GA: Forest Park HS; and IL: Chicago High School for Agriculture Sciences), community colleges (TX: Howard CC, Houston CC, Palo Alto CC, and El Paso CC), and universities (TX: Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M-San Antonio; GA: University of Georgia and Clayton State; and IL: University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign). Corporate sponsorships supported workshop activities and expenses; corporate partners included H-E-B, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Whataburger, and the Texas A&M and Texas Tech regional student recruitment centers. Additional corporate partners such as The American Quarter Horse Journal, Adobe, Texas Farm Bureau, Bill Miller BBQ, San Antonio A&M Club/Texas Trophy Hunters, Rackspace Hosting, Texas Tech University-College of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Resources Student Services, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sponsored project costs for supplies and field trips. Community support was evidenced through workshop activities with Clear Channel Communications, Houston Center for Photography, Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting, KABB-TV (FOX), Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, the Weather Channel, Atlanta Magazine, AGCO Corporation, Rhea and Kaiser Marketing Communications, the Farmers Market at Elis, the Cheesecake Factory, WOAI-TV, KENS-TV, La Prensa de San Antonio, and H-E-B Plus sponsored activities in San Antonio. PRODUCTS: Five interactive online modules were developed and refined throughout the project. Each module provides background information, readings, activities, and quizzes on topics discussed during summer recruitment workshops. The learning modules site is accessible from both Texas Tech University Department of Agricultural Education and Communications Web page and Big City, Big Country Road Show Web site. Online questionnaires were refined to address participants career interests, knowledge and perceptions about agriculture, self-efficacy and interest levels of the workshop materials. High school participants were required to complete the modules prior to the workshops. All participants who completed the modules, attended face-to-face workshops, and completed their self-directed studies were issued certificates of completion. High school students participating in the summer recruitment workshops produced digital videos, Web sites, digital photo essays, and press releases, which were added to the Big City, Big Country Road Show online portfolio. Several video/telephone/face-to-face meetings occurred between the three project partners institutions for planning purposes over the course of this project. Promotional Web sites, posters, brochures, and press releases helped promote this project. Multiple university students benefited through partially-funded assistantships and/or stipends. Project funds were expended for travel. OUTCOMES: The Big City, Big Country Road Show provided experiential learning opportunities for the participants in communications-related activities. Participants of the workshops developed Web sites and video presentations for agriculturally-related issues. The workshops produced statistically significant positive relationships between student attitudes toward agriculture as a college major after the program; increased participants perceived knowledge in all five lesson areas; and increased levels of student self-efficacy and interest. The Big City Big Country Road Shows expanded participant's awareness of the variety of careers in agriculture, especially for careers in agricultural communications. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: University students wrote newspaper and magazine articles based on interviews with project participants. Project partners targeted regional and national research conferences for presentation venues for research papers and posters produced from this project. Numerous posters were presented at the Annual NACTA/SERD Conference; multiple refereed journal abstracts were produced from this project. Big City Big Country project co-directors attended annual USDA-HEC Project Directors Conferences and NACTA/SERD Conferences. FUTURE INITIATIVES: University partners continue to submit papers for presentation at regional and national research conferences and for publication in peer-reviewed research journals in agricultural and extension education.
Impacts
The Big City, Big Country Road Show developed a model for recruiting non-traditional and underrepresented students to colleges of agriculture, which may diversify our future agricultural industry workforce. Hispanic students increased their career interests and self-efficacy related to agriculture, which should lead to more positive perceptions about agricultural science careers, and could lead to their sharing those positive perceptions with other Hispanic students. Contacts made with schools in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago could aid future recruiting efforts for colleges of agriculture in those respective states. High school visits validated this project with teachers, administrators, and most important, high school students parents, thus providing project promotion and recruitment buy-in at the local community level.
Publications
- Fraze, L. Wingenbach, G., Rutherford, T., & Wolfskill, L. (2011, in press). Effects of a recruitment workshop on selected urban high school students attitudes and self-efficacy toward agriculture as a subject, college major, and career.
- Fraze, L. Wingenbach, G., Rutherford, T., & Wolfskill, L. (2011, in press). Selected urban high school student's perceptions about agricultural careers and general agricultural knowledge.
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
The Big City, Big Country Road Show: Recruiting Non-traditional and Underrepresented Students into the Food and Agricultural Sciences Workforce project successfully recruited students into colleges of agriculture in Texas, Illinois, and Georgia. Prior to the termination of this project, ten undergraduates, one graduate student, and two faculty members from Texas A&M University conducted a high school recruitment trip in San Antonio, Texas in spring 2010. The successful inner-city student recruitment partnership between Texas A&M University and Luther Burbank High School was strengthened through this visit. The Big City, Big Country Road Show had project goals of recruiting a majority (51%) of non-traditional and underrepresented students through face-to-face recruitment workshops. Overall, recruitment activities resulted in participation from Hispanic students (75%) and African American students (20%), and 73% of the participants were female. Project partners considered all activities a success, given the numerous partnerships developed in this project. Corporate sponsorships supported workshop activities and expenses; H-E-B, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Whataburger, and the Texas A&M and Texas Tech regional student recruitment centers. Adobe, Texas Farm Bureau, Bill Miller BBQ, San Antonio A&M Club/Texas Trophy Hunters, Rackspace Hosting, Texas Tech University-College of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Resources Student Services, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sponsored project costs for supplies and field trips. Community support was evidenced through workshop activities with WOAI-TV, KENS-TV, La Prensa de San Antonio, and H-E-B Plus sponsored activities in San Antonio. PRODUCTS: Promotional Web sites, posters, brochures, and press releases helped promote this project. Multiple university students benefited through partially-funded assistantships and/or stipends. Project funds were expended for faculty travel. Five interactive online modules were developed and refined throughout the project. Each module provides background information, readings, activities, and quizzes on topics discussed during summer recruitment workshops. The learning modules site is accessible from both Texas Tech University Department of Agricultural Education and Communications Web page and Big City, Big Country Road Show Web site. Online questionnaires were refined to address participants career interests, knowledge and perceptions about agriculture, self-efficacy and interest levels of the workshop materials. High school participants were required to complete the modules prior to the workshops. All participants who completed the modules, attended face-to-face workshops, and completed their self-directed studies were issued certificates of completion. High school students participating in the summer recruitment workshops produced digital videos, Web sites, digital photo essays, and press releases, which were added to the Big City, Big Country Road Show online portfolio. Several video/telephone/face-to-face meetings occurred between the three project partners institutions for planning purposes over the course of this project. OUTCOMES: The Big City, Big Country Road Show provided experiential learning opportunities for the participants in communications-related activities. Participants of the workshops developed Web sites and video presentations about agriculture. The workshops produced statistically significant positive relationships between student attitudes toward agriculture as a college major after the program; increased participants perceived knowledge in all five lesson areas; and increased levels of student self-efficacy and interest. The Big City Big Country Road Shows expanded participants awareness of the variety of careers in agriculture, especially for careers in agricultural communications. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: University students wrote newspaper and magazine articles based on interviews with project participants. Project partners targeted regional and national research conferences for presentation venues for research papers and posters produced from this project. Two posters were presented at the Annual NACTA/SERD Conference; two additional refereed journal abstracts were produced from this project. Big City Big Country project co-directors attended the annual USDA-HEC Project Directors Conference prior to the NACTA/SERD Conference. FUTURE INITIATIVES: University partners continue to submit papers for presentation at regional and national research conferences and for publication in peer-reviewed research journals in agricultural and extension education.
Impacts
The Big City, Big Country Road Show developed a model for recruiting non-traditional and underrepresented students to colleges of agriculture, which may diversity the future agricultural industry workforce. Hispanic students increased career interests and self-efficacy related to agriculture should lead to more positive perceptions about agricultural science careers, which could lead to their sharing those positive perceptions with other Hispanic students. Contacts made with schools in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago could aid future recruiting efforts for colleges of agriculture in those respective states. High school visits validated this project with teachers, administrators, and most important, high school students parents, thus providing project promotion and recruitment buy-in at the local community level.
Publications
- Rutherford, T. A., Akers, C., Wingenbach, G. J., & Berry, C. (2010). Collaborating with parents to communicate the importance of agricultural science careers to inner-city youth. Poster session presented at the 57th Annual NACTA/SERD Conference, Penn State University.
- Rutherford, T. A., Akers, C., Wingenbach, G. J., & Berry, C. (2010). Communicating agricultural science careers to urban high school students. Poster session presented at the 57th Annual NACTA/SERD Conference, Penn State University.
- Akers, C., Berry, C. & Wingenbach, G. J. (2009). Big city, big country road show: An innovative approach to recruiting inner-city youth into the agricultural sciences [Abstract]. NACTA Journal, 53(2), 38-39.
- Wingenbach, G. J., McCann, E., Begashaw, B., Wolfskill, L., Rouse, L., Lindner, J., Rutherford, T., & Fraze, L. (2009). Selected urban high school students perceptions about agricultural careers and general agricultural knowledge [Abstract]. NACTA Journal, 53(2), 39.
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
The Big City, Big Country Road Show: Recruiting Non-traditional and Underrepresented Students into the Food and Agricultural Sciences Workforce project continued successfully recruiting students into college of agriculture academic tracks in its third year. Twenty-five high school students and their parents from San Antonio, Texas participated in a parent-student meeting to learn more this project during the spring semester. Successful partnerships for hosting the summer 2009 Road Show in San Antonio were established with the Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus. Of the original 25 students who participated in the spring project meeting, 20 submitted applications to participate in the summer workshop; all were selected for participation. Of those selected, 18 completed the workshop. Recruitment lessons from years one and two continued in year three: student summer plans change often and suddenly, preventing them from participating in a project such as the Big City, Big Country Road Show. Project goals included recruiting a majority (51%) of non-traditional and underrepresented students to the recruitment workshops. All (100%) summer 2009 participants were Hispanic. Two-thirds were female; about 95% were in grades 10 or 11. Project staff considered the third year of activities a success, given the numerous partnerships, (new and repeat) developed in this project. Corporate sponsorships supported workshop activities and expenses; H-E-B, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, Whataburger, and the Texas A&M and Texas Tech regional student recruitment centers. Adobe, Texas Farm Bureau, Bill Miller BBQ, San Antonio A&M Club/Texas Trophy Hunters, Rackspace Hosting, Texas Tech University-College of Agriculture Sciences and Natural Resources Student Services, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sponsored project costs for supplies and field trips. Community support was evidenced through workshop activities with WOAI-TV, KENS-TV, La Prensa de San Antonio, and H-E-B Plus sponsored activities in San Antonio. PRODUCTS: Project staff continued their very successful level of activities during the third year of this project, given the numerous products and opportunities afforded to students in Texas. Promotional Web sites, posters, brochures, and press releases helped promote this project. Two university students benefited through partially-funded assistantships and/or stipends. Project funds were expended for faculty travel, including four from Texas A&M, three from Texas Tech, and one from Howard College. The five interactive online modules were refined in year three, including adjusting the learning modules to meet the needs of the 2009 workshop. Each module provides background information, readings, activities, and quizzes on topics discussed during the summer workshop. The learning modules site is accessible from both Texas Tech University Department of Agricultural Education and Communications Web page and Big City, Big Country Road Show Web site. Online questionnaire were refined to address participants career interests, knowledge and perceptions about agriculture, self-efficacy and interest levels of the workshop materials. High school participants were required to complete the modules prior to the workshops. San Antonio participants who completed the modules, attended face-to-face workshops, and completed their self-directed studies were issued certificates of completion. High school students participating in the summer 2009 recruitment workshop produced digital videos, Web sites, digital photo essays, and press releases, which were added to the Big City, Big Country Road Show online portfolio. Several video/telephone/face-to-face meetings occurred between the three project partners institutions for planning purposes over the past year. OUTCOMES: The Big City, Big Country Road Show provided experiential learning opportunities for the participants in communications-related activities. Participants of the workshops developed Web sites and video presentations about agriculture. The workshops produced statistically significant positive relationships between student attitudes toward agriculture as a college major after the program; increased participants perceived knowledge in all five lesson areas; and increased levels of student self-efficacy and interest. The Big City Big Country San Antonio Road Show expanded participant awareness of the variety of careers in agriculture, with focus being put on careers in agricultural communications. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Participating university students wrote newspaper and magazine articles based on interviews with project participants. Regional and national research conferences were targeted as presentation venues for research papers and posters produced from this project. Two posters were presented at the Annual NACTA/SERD Conference in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Big City Big Country project directors attended the annual USDA-HEC Project Directors Conference prior to the NACTA/SERD Conference. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Texas Tech University partners have submitted two more papers for presentation at the AAAE Southern Region Conference and two will be submitted to Journal of Agricultural Education. Texas A&M University partners will submit multiple papers for research conference presentation and journal publication. Project partners developed a recruitment model that will help college of agriculture administrators in their efforts to recruit urban, non-traditional, and underrepresented students into agricultural science majors and careers. The premise of the model includes: 1) promoting the project by establishing early contact (face-to-face) with science/business/math teachers and school administrators at inner-city schools; 2) gaining parental support of the project and summer workshop schedule; 3) recruiting enthusiastic teachers who are interested in helping non-traditional and underrepresented students gain admission into college; 4) meeting with prospective students, several times, prior to the actual recruitment activities; 5) engaging community and industry supporters who give new perspectives to careers in the agricultural sciences; and 6) providing constant feedback and follow-up to workshop participants as they progress through high school graduation and enter into college admission. As such, the Big City Big Country project directors strongly believe this model is portable, but must be repeated and tested in another setting/state. Texas A&M and Texas Tech Universities have established significant recruitment linkages with Hispanic students in selected Texas high schools. The project directors seek to determine if similar linkages can be achieved with African American students in another state.
Impacts
The Big City, Big Country Road Show developed a new model for recruiting non-traditional and underrepresented students to agriculture, which will lead to increased diversity of the agricultural industry workforce. Hispanic students increased career interests and self-efficacy related to agriculture should lead to more positive perceptions about agricultural science careers, which could lead to their sharing those positive perceptions with other Hispanic students. Contacts made with schools in Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago could aid future recruiting efforts for colleges of agriculture in those respective states. School visits provided project validity to teachers and administrators, thus providing an example for project promotion and buy-in with similar endeavors in the future.
Publications
- Fraze, L., Wingenbach, G. J., Rutherford, T., & Litzenberg, K. (2009). An assessment of selected urban high school students perceptions of agriculture as a subject, a college major, and a career, pre- and post-participation in an innovative recruitment workshop. In D. Doerfert & C. Akers (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Western Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Tahoe, NV.
- Fraze, L., Wingenbach, G. J., Rutherford, T., & Litzenberg, K. (2009). Effects of an innovative recruitment workshop on selected urban high school students knowledge and perceptions of agriculture. In T. Brashears (Ed.), Proceedings of the 36th Annual National Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Louisville, KY, 470-483.
- Fraze, L., Wingenbach, G. J., Rutherford, T., & Litzenberg, K. (2009). An assessment of selected urban high school students perceptions of agriculture as a subject, a college major, and a career, pre- and post-participation in an innovative recruitment workshop. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Western Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Tahoe, NV.
- Fraze, L., Wingenbach, G. J., Rutherford, T., & Litzenberg, K. (2009). Effects of an innovative recruitment workshop on selected urban high school students knowledge and perceptions of agriculture. Paper presented at the 36th Annual National Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Louisville, KY.
- Wingenbach, G. J., Akers, C., & Berry, C. (2009). Big city, big country road show: An innovative approach to recruiting inner-city youth into the agricultural sciences. Poster session presented at the 56th Annual NACTA/SERD Conference, Stillwater, OK.
- Wolfskill, L., Rouse, L., McCann, E., Begashaw, B., Wingenbach, G. J., Lindner, J., Rutherford, T., & Fraze, L. (2009). Effects of a recruitment workshop on selected urban high school students attitudes and self-efficacy toward agriculture as a subject, college major, and career. In D. Doerfert & C. Akers (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Western Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Tahoe, NV.
- Wolfskill, L., Rouse, L., McCann, E., Begashaw, B., Wingenbach, G. J., Lindner, J., Rutherford, T., & Fraze, L. (2009). Selected urban high school students perceptions about agricultural careers and general agricultural knowledge. Poster session presented at the 56th Annual NACTA/SERD Conference, Stillwater, OK.
- Wolfskill, L., Rouse, L., McCann, E., Begashaw, B., Wingenbach, G. J., Lindner, J., Rutherford, T., & Fraze, L. (2009). Effects of a recruitment workshop on selected urban high school students attitudes and self-efficacy toward agriculture as a subject, college major, and career. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Western Region Conference of the American Association for Agricultural Education, Tahoe, NV.
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Progress 09/01/07 to 08/31/08
Outputs
The Big City, Big Country Road Show: Recruiting Non-traditional and Underrepresented Students into the Food and Agricultural Sciences Workforce project continued its success in the second year. More than 50 contacts were made with inner-city schools in El Paso, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and Chicago, Illinois. Six school administrators and six teachers expressed interest in the summer 2008 recruitment workshops in El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago. Successful partnerships for hosting the workshops were established with community colleges in El Paso and Atlanta. Forty-four students submitted applications to participate; all were selected for participation. Of those selected, 7 in El Paso, 6 in Atlanta, and 12 in Chicago participated. The recruitment lesson from year one continued in year two: students summer plans change which prevents them from participating in a project such as the Big City, Big Country Road Show. Project goals included recruiting a majority (51%) of non-traditional and underrepresented students to the recruitment workshops. Summer 2008 schools were represented by 48% African American, 39% Hispanic, and 13% Caucasian students. Seventy-eight percent were female; about 96% were in grades 10 or 11. Project staff considered the second year of activities a success, given the numerous partnerships developed in this project. Corporate sponsorships supported workshop activities and expenses; notably Chick-fil-A and Chipotle joined forces with the Texas A&M and Texas Tech regional student recruitment centers to sponsor some breaks for students. Adobe, Wells Fargo Bank, El Paso Community College, the University of Georgia, Clayton State University, the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign sponsored some project costs and field trips. Community support was evidenced through workshop activities with the Weather Channel, Atlanta Magazine, AGCO Corporation, Rhea and Kaiser Marketing Communications, the Farmers Market at Elis, and the Cheesecake Factory. PRODUCTS: Project staff continued their very successful level of activities during the second year of this project, given the numerous products and opportunities afforded to students in Texas, Georgia, and Illinois. Promotional Web sites, posters, brochures, and press releases helped promote this project. Seven university students (four graduate and three undergraduate) benefited through partially-funded assistantships and/or stipends. Project funds were expended for faculty travel, including four from Texas A&M, three from Texas Tech, and one from Howard College. The five interactive online modules were refined in year two. Each module provides background information, readings, activities, and quizzes on the topics discussed during the summer workshops. Online questionnaire were developed to address participants career interests, knowledge and perceptions about agriculture, self-efficacy and interest levels of the workshop materials. High school participants were required to complete the modules prior to the workshops. El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago participants who completed the modules, attended face-to-face workshops, and completed their self-directed studies, were issued certificates of completion. Seven video/telephone/face-to-face meetings occurred between the three project partners institutions for planning purposes over the past year. OUTCOMES: BC2BC provided experiential learning opportunities for the participants in communications-related activities. Participants of the workshops developed Web sites and video presentations about agriculture. The workshops produced statistically significant positive relationships between students attitudes toward agriculture as a college major before and after the program; increased participants perceived knowledge in all five lesson areas; increased levels of students self-efficacy and interest were found in the El Paso and Atlanta workshops, but were not as consistent at the Chicago workshop. For participants of the El Paso and Atlanta workshops, the Big City Big Country Road Show was able to expand participants awareness of the variety of careers in agriculture, with focus being put on careers in agricultural communications. For participants of the Chicago workshop who had been attending an agricultural high school, the workshop expanded their interests and awareness of careers in communications. Adjustments were made to the college decision web for colleges of agriculture (Settle, 2008). DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Local media were sent press releases about the summer workshops in their respective cities. Participating university students have written newspaper and magazine articles based on interviews with project participants. Regional and national research conferences have been targeted as presentation venues for research papers and posters produced from this project. Two posters received the outstanding innovative idea award at a regional conference. FUTURE INITIATIVES: Project partners seek to develop a recruitment model that will help colleges of agriculture nationwide with recruiting urban, non-traditional, and underrepresented students into agricultural science majors and careers. The project staff are tracking participants college choices through traditional and social networking mediums; two students from the summer 2007 workshops have enrolled in a post-secondary agricultural sciences major at Texas A&M University. All project results will be published and shared through appropriate venues. The college decision web from Settle, Doerfert, and Akers (2008) was developed as a means for colleges of agriculture to more effectively recruit students by addressing the various factors involved with the process and at the points in time they occur. Based on results from a masters thesis over Big City Big Country Road Show participants, changes have been recommended to the model to reflect a more diverse nature of self-efficacy. Future research was recommended to address the issue more in-depth.
Impacts
The Big City, Big Country Road Show continues to develop a new model for recruiting non-traditional and underrepresented students to agriculture and increase the diversity of the employment pool for agricultural industry. Participants increased career interests and self-efficacy related to agriculture should lead to more positive perceptions held by participants, which could lead to their spreading that positive perception to others. Contacts that were made with schools in El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago could aid future recruiting efforts. Contacts were also made with media and agriculture professionals in El Paso, Atlanta, and Chicago. Schools were more willing to consider involvement with the Big City, Big Country Road Show after project staff visited their schools. The school visits likely gave the project a more tangible nature when teachers had face-to-face contact with the project, thus providing a method of approach for similar endeavors in the future.
Publications
- Fraze, L., Rutherford, T. & Wingenbach, G. (February, 2008). Get on board: Big city, big country road show. Presented at the 2008 Agricultural Communications Section of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists Meeting, Dallas, TX. Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Award.
- Fraze, L., Wingenbach, G. & Rutherford, T. (February, 2008). The big city, big country road show recruitment model. Presented at the 2008 Southern Agricultural Education Research Conference, Dallas, TX. Outstanding Innovative Poster Award.
- Irlbeck, E. (2008) The Big City to Big Country Road Show teaches urban youth about opportunities in agriculture. Television report created for AgDay Television (Nationally Syndicated) and aired July 23, 2008.
- Pate, D. K. (2008). An Assessment of Attitude and Knowledge of Secondary Students Participating in a Summer Recruitment Program. Masters thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. Web site: http://etd.lib.ttu.edu/theses/available/etd-04082008-090736/
- Settle, Q. D. (2008). An Analysis of the Effect Self-efficacy has on Interest for Urban Minority Students Toward an Agricultural Major/Career. Unpublished masters thesis, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.
- Settle, Q., Doerfert, D. L., Akers, C. & Burris, S. (submitted). The Effect of an Agricultural Communications Workshop on Urban High School Student Career-related Self-efficacy Levels. Research paper submitted for presentation at 2009 Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists, AGCOMM SIG, Atlanta.
- Settle, Q., Doerfert, D. L., Burris, S., & Akers, C. (submitted). Career Interest Levels for Urban Participants of an Agricultural Communications Workshop. Research paper submitted for presentation at 2009 Southern Region AAAE Conference, Atlanta.
- Settle, Q., Doerfert, D.L., & Akers, C. (2008). College-decision web for prospective college of agriculture students. Proceedings of 2008 American Association of Agricultural Education National Research Conference, volume 35, pp. 1125-1128.
- Fraze, L. B. (August, 2008). Effects of an Innovative Recruitment Workshop on Selected Texas Urban High School Students Knowledge and Perceptions of Agriculture. Unpublished masters thesis, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.
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Progress 09/01/06 to 08/31/07
Outputs
Big City, Big Country Road Show: Recruiting Non-traditional and Underrepresented Students into the Food and Agricultural Sciences Workforce achieved considerable success in its first year. More than 150 contacts were made with inner-city schools in Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso. Six school administrators and nine teachers expressed interest in the summer 2007 recruitment workshops in Houston and San Antonio. El Paso schools did not establish sufficient interest, thereby postponing the workshop until summer 2008. Successful partnerships for hosting the workshop were established with community colleges in Houston and San Antonio; however each college could only accommodate 30 high school recruits. Eighty-three students submitted applications to participate; 30 were selected for each city (Houston and San Antonio). Of those selected, 14 in Houston and 18 in San Antonio participated. Project staff learned a valuable lesson: students' summer plans change, it is
necessary to over-recruit by 50% for all future workshops. Project goals included recruiting a majority (51%) of non-traditional and underrepresented students to the recruitment workshops. Houston and San Antonio schools were represented by 84% Hispanic, 9% African American, 3% Asian American, and 1% Caucasian students. Fifty-six percent were female; about 70% were in grades 10 or 11, with the rest entering their senior year. There were no significant differences between students who applied and those who participated in the workshops, when compared by age, race, gender, or grade. Data analyses show that students in Houston and San Antonio significantly increased their understanding of water conservation, nutritious foods, affordable clothing, and reliable shelter after participating in their respective summer workshops. Similar results were evident for students' overall knowledge and understanding of the workshops activities (crisis communications, photography, Web design,
videography, and media writing). Prior to the workshop, students rated their knowledge for all activities as low; post-workshop ratings were significantly higher. Project staff considered the first year of activities a success, given the numerous partnerships developed in this project. Corporate sponsorships supported workshop activities and expenses; notably H-E-B, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, and Whataburger joined forces with the Texas A&M and Texas Tech regional student recruitment centers to sponsor refreshment breaks for all students. Adobe, Texas Farm Bureau, The American Quarter Horse Journal, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality sponsored project costs for supplies and field trips. Community support was evidenced through workshop activities with Clear Channel Communications, Houston Center for Photography, and Melcher Center for Public Broadcasting in Houston; KABB-TV (FOX), Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, La Prensa de San Antonio, and H-E-B Plus sponsored activities
in San Antonio.
PRODUCTS: Project staff considered the first year of activities very successful, given the numerous products and opportunities afforded to students over the past 12 months. A promotional Web site (http://www.ag-communicators.org/BC2BC/index.htm), posters, brochures, and press releases helped promote this project throughout Texas and the nation. Eight university students (two graduate and six undergraduate) benefit from project through partially-funded assistantships and/or stipends. Project funds were expended for faculty travel, including four from Texas A&M, four from Texas Tech, and one faculty member from Howard College. Staff and students developed five interactive online modules to support the project goals. Each module provides background information, readings, activities, and quizzes on the topics discussed during the summer workshops. High school participants are required to complete the modules prior to the workshops. Houston and San Antonio workshop participants who
completed the modules, attended the face-to-face workshop, and completed a self-directed study, were issued a certificate of completion which may be translated into three college credits upon acceptance into an accredited university program. Graduate students assistants developed pre- and post-test instruments to measure high school students' changes in knowledge of agriculturally-related topics, understanding of the agricultural industry, and attitudinal changes toward pursuing an agricultural sciences career. Twelve synchronous video conferences have occurred between the three project partners' institutions for planning purposes over the past year. Also, two successful synchronous video conferences were established between Texas A&M University Extension Centers in Houston and San Antonio with Texas Tech, to illustrate the importance of distance education techniques during the summer workshops.
OUTCOMES: Increased enrollments of non-traditional and underrepresented students into agricultural science majors at the post-secondary level will be achieved through this innovative urban recruitment project. Already, Houston and San Antonio students have made personal contacts with the admissions office at Texas A&M; summer 2007 workshop participants have maintained constant e-mail contact with many university students and project staff. Formative evaluation data for each workshop session were collected and evaluated. Student participants developed interactive media products to promote awareness of the importance of water, food, clothing, and shelter in urban settings during natural or manmade crises. Students established a project presence on MySpace.
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Local media were sent press releases about the summer workshops in their respective cities. Texas A&M news and information services generated several news releases that were posted on the Internet. Texas Tech partners participated in a radio show to promote the project in the north Texas panhandle. Participating undergraduate and graduate students have written newspaper and magazine articles based on interviews with project participants. Talks continue with television companies to develop a documentary film to further promote this project.
FUTURE INITIATIVES: Project partners seek to develop a recruitment model that will help colleges of agriculture nationwide with recruiting urban, non-traditional, and underrepresented students into agricultural science majors and careers. The project staff will attempt to track participants' college choices through traditional and social networking mediums. Where possible, all project results will be published and shared through appropriate venues.
Impacts
The Big City, Big Country Road Show will develop a new model for recruiting non-traditional and underrepresented students to agriculture and increase the diversity of the employment pool for agricultural industry. Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has established five-year recruitment goals, based in part on the early results of this project, which are more focused on school visits to inner-city schools with high enrollments of non-traditional and underrepresented students. Five-year goals are to increase enrollments of non-traditional and underrepresented students by 16% over current figures.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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