Progress 09/15/07 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities: A major output of the grant efforts was the signing of the first joint admissions agreement between Laredo Community College and Texas State University allowing students from the college to concurrently enroll at the university as they began their degree in agriculture January 2008. The teleconferenced courses which were taught were the first attempted and this got the communication started. The collaboration on the grant was the first ever attempted and the results were very positive. Events: Summer academies were held from 2009-2012. Students went to Tx State Bobcat Days to receive information about the university and the transfer process. Two students participated in 3 USDA internships. Services: Teleconferenced courses were developed and the equipment purchased and housed in the Tx State Agriculture building was used for same. Products:One major product was the graduation and hiring of one student by USDA. Another transferred to Texas State with a scholarship and is doing very well. Another student transferred to Texas A & M Kingsville and will graduate in May 2013 with a degree in Agribusiness. Four different teleconferenced agriculture courses were offered during the course of the grant. Dissemination: Information on grant activities and results were shared at the Director's meetings at the Texas Hispanic Institutions Consortium meetings, at local high schools and committee meetings, and at the NACTA conferences. Results of a student's research are being reviewed by a graduate student in Agriculture for possible publication with the theme being perceptions of Hispanic students about agriculture. PARTICIPANTS: Nora R. Garza, Ph.D. from Laredo Community College served as Principal Investigator with Dr. Doug Morrish, from Texas State University who served as co-PI. Additionally, Dr. A. Angirasa, co-PI, and Dr. G. Pollard (later left Texas State) served as co-PIs. Rosario J. Martinez served as project coordinator the last three years. She visited all Laredo high schools and spoke to hundreds of students about careers in agriculture. She organized the summer activity at the Laredo CC Environmental Science Center where students learned about agriculture and the flora and fauna of the Rio Grande watershed. Additionally, she participated in the USDA Fellows program in DC as had Dr. Garza previously. Laredo Community College and Texas State University participated throughout while Southwest Texas Junior College opted to meet a few times. Dr. Jaime Chahin, Dean, from Texas State collaborated fully. Students and PI actively participated at visits to the Freeman Ranch, a working ranch, part of the Texas State system. The NRCS Erasmo Montemayor Jim Hogg County collaborated by making presentations to students and staff always providing information on agriculture careers. Most recently Flavio Garza, NRCS Laredo, Webb county and new Hispanic liaison has participated fully adding the combination of the Webb County Soil Conservation District. Mr. Carroll Summers, rancher and board member of the soil commission also participated by making a scholarship donation for an agriculture major in addition to the scholarship provided by the county soil board. Students and PI were invited numerous times to attend their gatherings at various ranches. David Gonzalez, USDA Homeland Security brought many other collaborators on board from USDA, including Food Services, to meet with students and staff. The LCC Environmental Science Center served as the main site for the summer academy providing a natural setting for the study of the flora and fauna of the Rio Grande watershed. The Texas Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium also provided scholarships to two students in the cohort pursuing degrees in agriculture. One of these students is already employed by USDA, NRCS. The major scholarship recipient David Vela transferred to Tx State and participated in an internship with the Forest Service. Mariela Aguilera, student, received a scholarship as a freshman from the National Organization for Hispanics in NRCS. She was selected to participate in Leadership training in DC and attended the HACU conference in the student track twice. The PI attended and made poster presentations at the North American College Teachers of Agriculture conventions two times. A second USDA Collaborative grant provided opportunities for students to visit USDA offices and sites throughout Texas. Grant activities also provided opportunities for meeting PIs from other colleges and universities and this provided an excellent resource and network of colleagues to take advantage of opportunities for helping our students. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences included high school students, college students, pre-college students, faculty and the community at large. The population in Laredo, Webb County, Texas is 90% Hispanic so the efforts to provide information were crucial. Misperceptions about what working with USDA were clarified making sure that the public understood that there are many types of jobs at USDA. Efforts included newspaper articles, information on the college website about activities, career fairs, summer academies, high school information distribution, television spots, LCC television videos, presentations at conferences, and presentations at local events. Students and PI also attended local rancher meetings to share information about opportunities available to students in the fields of agriculture. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The greatest impact (change of condition) of this grant effort was the change in attitude toward the positive for pursuing a degree in agriculture. A greater number of students from LCC transferred to Texas State University majoring in agriculture or related fields. The synergistic efforts coupled with Texas State University's efforts helped it achieve Hispanic-serving Institutions status. Tx State hosted the Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium fall meeting in 2012. At the beginning of this grant the percentage of Hispanic students at Tx State was at 20 percent. By grant's end they had reached 25 percent Hispanic Student enrollment. At LCC where most agriculture majors were undeclared more identified that as a major and others identified related fields such as dietetics, nutrition, and agribusiness. A change in knowledge occurred because the grant served as a catalyst for a second grant FATE which quadrupled the number of students and built on the knowledge gained about how to attract motivated high GPA Hispanic students to agriculture and related fields. The FATE grant will train 50 Hispanic scholars in the preparing communities for agroterrorism. One of IMDA grant's objectives was to train students in leadership skills and the teleconferenced course included preparation of resume, job shadowing, mentorships, preparing a degree plan, and preparing for transfer. Even though the evaluations by students of these courses is property of Tx State, verbal student responses toward teleconferencing courses included that the teacher was well prepared, the courses offered great content, course information was interesting and no improvement areas suggested. A change in actions occurred when overall Tx State saw an increase of 547 Hispanic transfer students. One objective was to increase the number of Hispanic students seeking agriculture degrees at Tx State and participating in internships from baseline by 2 percent per year. There was an increase of 42 Hispanic students seeking agriculture degrees. A percent point increase of 11.31 was noted, with the start point being 10.72 percent in 2007 and 22.03 percent in 2011.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/15/10 to 09/14/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: 2010-2011 There has been an increase of students pursuing degrees in agriculture, agri-business and nutrition/dietetics. Student, David Vela, is in his second semester at Texas State University majoring in Agriculture Education after transferring from the community college. Student, Michael Saenz, agri-business major transferred to Texas A&M Kingsville. Julian Thomas Vela graduated from Texas A & M Kingsville with a Bachelor's in Agriculture Education and began to work full time with NRCS Lampasas, Texas office. This was one of the students from the cohort in 2007. A second year student is completing an agriculture research which is to be published under the guidance of Dr. Doug Morrish. One student, Mariela Aguilera, attended the National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. in fall 2010. She is pursuing a degree in nutrition and is planning to transfer to Texas State University. One student was a recipient of a Summer Scholarship and another scholarship for fall 2011. Fifty students applied for the 2011 Summer Academy at the L.B.V. Environmental Science Center. Ten Students attended the Summer Academy at the L.B.V. Environmental Science Center. During Texas State University Bobcat Days, six students attended a tour of the Freeman Ranch at the University becoming aware of the research and opportunities in Agriculture offered by Texas State. In spring 2011 three students took a three- hour course from Texas State University. USDA presentations have been made at all (8)Laredo High Schools, the Federal Expo for Agriculture students in High Schools, Fiesta Educativa at the Civic Center, and LCC Job Expo. Fall 2011 there are eight students taking the introduction AG 4185 telecourse from Texas State University. Two students received $1,000 scholarships from the local county Soil Service and a local donor and have been invited to attend their monthly meetings and the fall ranch tour. PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Nora R. Garza and Dr. Doug G. Morrish are the primary workers in the project serving as PI and co-PI, respectively. Additionally Ms. Rosario J. Martinez has served as grant administrator dealing with the teleconference class logistics at the community college and organizing activities with students as well as outreach. Mr. Erasmo Montemayor, NRCS, Hebbronville, Texas continues to support project activities with presentations to students and with information on support such as scholarships, internships, etc. Mr. David Gonzalez, local Homeland Security/quarantine officer and Mr. Jerry Gonzalez, also with Laredo Port have joined us for lunch to visit with students and to work on internship possibilities. Dr. Jaime Chahin from Texas State University has lent support for continued collaborations between the institutions resulting in a second submission for grant support. Dr. Ryan Saucier has joined the group and agreed to serve as co-PI with Dr. Garza for the grant submitted by TX State Dr. Morrish as Lead investigator for the successful Agro terrorism grant. Faculty were trained in identifying agroterrorism at TX State and LCC students joined the group one day of the training. Hispanic Serving Institutions project directors met at the NACTA conference and planned activities for spring/summer 2011. Soil Conservation Webb County as well as NRCS have recently joined us in efforts to support cohort students. LCC continues to be in the Texas Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium, which it help found, and the most recent participation in spring 2011, San Antonio, Texas, proved fruitful. As collaborators with Texas State University, which has just become and HSI, San Marcos was selected as the site for the fall 2011 meeting of the association. One LCC participant student was selected to receive a scholarship from the consortium. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include parents, community, and students which in Laredo (200,000+) is 98% Hispanic and registers at about 30% of the population living in poverty. Presentations have been made at all eight Laredo High Schools. This project year over fifty students applied to participate in the program. Efforts include teleconferenced courses in agriculture students with students dually enrolled at the community college and university. Eight students are registered this fall 2011. A summer academy has been conducted every summer for program participants. This has been held at the Laredo Community College Environmental Science Center. Students have also participated in internships and visits to the university including the Freeman Ranch. Students have also attended the local ranchers conferences. Efforts have also been made to target information to local USDA offices and local ranchers for support of the project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
One of the major impacts has been the graduation and employment of one of the first cohort students in USDA NRCS. One student who had transferred dropped out and we learned that more contacts and more transitional support had to be provided to make the transfer seamless. This new year students were taken to the university even earlier to get ID cards making that connection with the university stronger. The need for additional financial support for students to successfully transfer was addressed in another grant application to USDA Hispanic Serving Institutions Program. The students will be USDA Fellows while attending the community college and the university and their continued academic success will be rewarded by tuition, fees, and books scholarships. Hands on experiential learning will be included as well as increased connections through agriculture clubs. USDA offices in Laredo have become aware of our grant efforts and have sought our assistance in providing students for internships with them. One Homeland Security/Quarantine agent submitted a grant to his agency for summer internships. They have come to the college to meet with our students.
Publications
- Garza, N., and Morrish, D.G.(2011). Increasing multicultural diversity in agriculture: Educational Partnerships. Poster Proceeding of the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Conference, Alberta, Canada.
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Progress 09/15/09 to 09/14/10
Outputs
The efforts in the grant to address all the objectives continued. All objectives for the grant were reviewed to make sure that all were being addressed. Students visited the university and the Freeman Ranch. Students were dually admitted and took the teleconferenced course. PRODUCTS: The Joint Admissions Agreement is a reality for students who are participants in the grant. Students submit a simple form and are set to go to take the orientation to Agriculture course. The course has already been taught for three years. Two other courses in addition to the one proposed were also taught by Dr. Morrish. One student carried out a survey to ask students about their perception of agriculture education and degrees. The results were compiled and the product submitted for publication. A brochure for the project was prepared and distributed to students at high schools and in the community. A CD was also created and distributed. OUTCOMES: All the outcomes detailed are on track for completion with the extra year extension, especially the student graduation: joint admission agreement, teleconferenced course, trips to the university, increased participation, summer academy at the environmental science center, internships, and student entering agriculture careers. The number of Hispanic students has risen basically because of the university, but also as a result of the grant efforts. By 2010 Texas State got to about 24% Hispanic representation. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Dr. Nora Garza attended the NACTA conference and presented a poster on the successes of the grant in Pennsylvania. The grants administrator also visited all the high schools to disseminate information and applications for the program. She also participated in the gathering for USDA employees in the Laredo and the surrounding areas: over 1000 students received information on the program and over fifty USDA employees received information on our efforts to prepare future USDA employees. The administrator also participated in a P-16 Initiative to provide parents with information known as Fiesta de Educacion. FUTURE INITIATIVES: The efforts of collaborating with Texas State University have intensified and improved. Several other grants have been submitted and awarded. A culinary arts grant was awarded to LCC and a component included nutrition and dietetics, and another major collaborative grant was discussed. Negotiations with Texas A&M Kingsville were also begun for further collaborations for grants and transfers.
Impacts
The greatest impact thus far is the joint admissions agreement followed by the change in attitude and knowledge of opportunities available in agriculture. Every day more students are aware of the program at LCC with Texas State. The student who transferred to Texas A&M Kingsville participated in an NRCS internship for the second year in a row. Individual student participants were awarded scholarships from the Texas Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium. Four students applied for internships.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/15/08 to 09/14/09
Outputs
Since September 14, 2007, Laredo Community College, Dr. Nora R. Garza has actively met with Texas State University co-PI Dr. Doug Morrish from Texas State University and others at Southwest Texas Junior College to organize the continuing activities for the project. After the signing of the agreement, a second group of students has enrolled at the university taking courses online while also being enrolled at the community college. The addition of the grant administrator has kept the project on track. All of the outcomes for the year have been accomplished, but the number of students actually enrolled is less than expected. The information is going out and will take a bit longer for students to realize that the opportunities are there. Younger students are becoming interested and it is expected that with an additional year or two the program will continue to grow. Current students have shown success and interest in continuing in agricultural related fields. PRODUCTS: The agriculture orientation course at the university was modified and has now been offered two more times via teleconference. In addition, Dr. Morrish has prepared an independent study course for second year students. This is a three-hour credit course which two students are enrolled in. This keeps them in communication with a key professor as he guides them for successful transfer. OUTCOMES: The second year students have enrolled in the one-hour orientation course and two students who began last year are now enrolled in a three-hour course via teleconference. Students attended the Soil Conference in New Mexico and presented posters of mini-research projects completed for their second class with Dr. Doug Morrish Agriculture faculty member from Texas State University (listed with an asterisk* designating student under Publications). During the summer students attended a binational ranchers conference where they were able to meet and listen to topics pertinent to persons involved in agribusiness. Ten students attended a summer Academy at the Environmental Science Center with Mr. Tom Miller and Dr. Goetze. Students rated the activities on an evaluation. The favorite activity was the agricultural issues-debate and the tie-dying of their shirts using natural dyes from plants at the center and from along the Paso del Indio nature trail at the center. One of the first-year students transferred to an Agriculture Program at Texas A & M Kingsville and participated in a summer internship with NRCS as a result of the information and meeting with the NRCS representative the first year. That same student was successful in receiving a scholarship from the Texas HSI Consortium. At least one student is slated to graduate from LCC next May and transfer to Texas State University to major in Agriculture Education. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Dissemination activities have included television, newspaper, poster presentations, high school visits and conferences including the Soil Survey Conference in New Mexico. All high school counselors and agriculture teachers have been informed of the opportunities with Power Point presentations made by the grant administrator. This past summer parents who brought middle school students to a math workshop also received information and a prospective student is in the pipeline. The website will be put up with LCC's new format using 'PASPORT' That is the LCC portal for information on the inter and intranet. FUTURE INITIATIVES: The major emphasis for this summer 2010 is to get students successfully transferred and to participate in internships. The third group of students will begin to take classes. Southwest Texas Junior College will be encouraged to participate in the classes in the fall and spring as well as the summer academy. Plans include having the summer academy include an activity at a ranch near Uvalde where Southwest Texas Junior College is located.
Impacts
One student already transferred to an agriculture teaching degree program at Texas A & M Kingsville. The $30,000 scholarship recipient is scheduled to graduate with an AA this next spring and is in weekly contact with the professor at Texas State University in preparation to successfully transfer. In fact, as a result of an activity, job shadowing, this student is already involved in discussing not only the BA, but about what is required for a Masters and Doctorate degree. Several students who have not yet graduated from high school received information and are in the pipeline for the program.
Publications
- *Garcia, Alejandro, (2009) The E.coli Vaccine and its Effects. Poster Presented, National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference, New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, New Mexico.
- *Gaskey, Sharel, (2009) Axolotls and the Environment. Poster Presented, National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference, New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, New Mexico.
- *Martinez, Martha, (2009) The History and Environmental Effects on the Coatimundi. Poster Presented, National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference, New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, New Mexico.
- *Perez, Daniel, (2009) Geographical Characteristics of Webb County Soil. Poster Presented, National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference, New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, New Mexico.
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Progress 09/15/07 to 09/14/08
Outputs
Since September 14, 2007, Laredo Community College, Dr. Nora R. Garza has actively met with Texas State University co-PI, Dr. Doug Morrish from Texas State and others at Southwest Texas Junior College to organize the activities for this project. To date the Joint Admissions Agreement with the university has been signed and five (four Hispanic) students have been accepted and are registered in the Agriculture Orientation course via teleconference. The university has purchased and installed the teleconference equipment for use in this course. Students, the Principal Investigator and clerk will travel to the university on October 8 for an agricultural event which is part of the orientation course at the Tx State Freeman Ranch. Students will have an opportunity to meet the instructor and fellow classmates. At present the course is beginning the fifth week. Dr. Morrish will visit in Laredo to teach the class from here in October. Evaluations and calculations will be carried out at the end of the course to be included in next year's report. The external evaluator, Lisa Theriot, has met with the PI and received updates on progress. She will visit at the college in spring 2009. To date hundreds of students have been made aware of the opportunity to participate and to apply for the scholarship including the tuition for the university course. Over 90% of the college's students are Hispanic so there has been a substantial increase in the outreach efforts to these students. The media coverage has included television, newspaper, and website. PRODUCTS: The agriculture orientation course at the university was modified to be offered via teleconference by Dr. Doug Morrish. The website is under construction for use by students interested in participating in the program and by others interested in information. The LCC web page and portal is currently under renovation and will include the grant work by spring 2009. OUTCOMES: The Joint Admission Agreement has been created and students have already been admitted. Students from LCC have enrolled in the Tx State course. The new agriculture course to be taught via teleconference has been developed and students from the community college are enrolled and participating in the course. Teleconference equipment has been purchased, installed and being used at Tx State University Agriculture Department. The university has listened carefully to issues affecting transfer of community college students and has moved to eliminate barriers. Five students who ordinarily would have waited at least two years to transfer to the university have already enrolled in their first course at the university via teleconference while being enrolled full-time as freshmen at the community college. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: Dissemination activities have included television, newspaper, poster presentations, and conferences, including a poster presentation at USDA Building for the Directors' meeting. All high school counselors and agriculture teachers have been informed of the opportunities. Additionally an insert was included in a letter sent by the community college to all graduating seniors about the opportunity for Joint Admissions. The website is under construction and when complete will include a link to the Texas Hispanic Serving Institutions Consortium website. FUTURE INITIATIVES: During the rest of the semester students will continue to participate in the class and participate in other activities including the LCC Environmental Center. Students will travel during the summer or late spring to visit the university. They will also be included in internship opportunities with USDA. Outreach events will be carried out to provide information to the next two cohorts.
Impacts
The $30,000 scholarship has been awarded to a graduating senior with plans to go into the agriculture field. This student is Hispanic and graduated with honors. He is currently attending the college and is Jointly Admitted to Texas State University. He is enrolled in the course and plans to major in agriculture education at the university. Four other students are enrolled and also hope to transfer to Texas State to major in agriculture related fields. The local ranchers have been informed and have met the students enrolled in the course. There have been requests and interest by these ranchers to have a wild life management degree offered at the college.
Publications
- Morrish, D. G., Garza, N., and Angirasa, A. (2007). Increasing multicultural diversity in agriculture through educational partnerships. Proceedings of the American Association of Agricultural Education Southern Region, Dallas, TX. To be published in Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research.
- Morrish, D. G., Garza, N., and Angirasa, A. (2008). Increasing multicultural diversity in agriculture through educational partnerships. Proceedings of the American Association of Agricultural Education National Research Conference, Reno, NV, 35, 1073-1075.
- Morrish, D. G., Garza, N., and Angirasa, A. (2007). Increasing multicultural diversity in agriculture through educational partnerships. Proceedings of the American Association of Agricultural Education Southern Region, Dallas, TX. http://aaaeonline.org/conference_files/647108.posterabstracts.doc
- Morrish, D. G., Garza, N., and Angirasa, A. (2008). Increasing multicultural diversity in agriculture through educational partnerships. American Association of Agricultural Education National Research Conference, Reno, NV. (Poster Presentation)
- Morrish, D. G., Garza, N., and Angirasa, A. (2007). Increasing multicultural diversity in agriculture through educational partnerships. American Association of Agricultural Education Southern Region, Dallas, TX. (Poster Presentation)
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