Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience:Retention efforts for this project period included: student success workshops, peer tutoring, and professional tutoring; these services were made available to BMCC students enrolled in math, science, and computer science courses. Recruiting efforts for this period included: participation in college recruiting fairs, meetings with high school counselors and Native American student advisors, and career days. The recruiting efforts reached regional high school students and their familiesand non-traditional students. Agriculture programs for this project period targeted youth at Boys and Girls Club of the Bay Mills Indian Community, students at the Ojibwe Charter School (located within the Bay Mills Indian Community) and neighboring Brimley Area Schools, BMCC science students, and area farmers. The youth were involved with farm tours, community gardening, vegetable marketing and sales, and livestock production. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During this reporting period BMCC students were hired in the positions of peer tutors and an angriculture intern. These students were exposed to professional development on a daily basis in the areas of communication, planning, and discipline specific information. Waishkey Bay Farm Manager, Monica Young, attended the 2013 Agriculture for Tomorrow Conference, numerous grass-based beef workshops, three regional food system workshops, and a honey bee production workshop. Project Director, Dr. Steve Yanni, attended the 2013 FALCON conference, 2013 Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference, and spring 2013 APLU Policy Board of Directors meeting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Project activities were reported through articles in the Bay Mills News, the BMCC Newsletter, and the Waishkey Bay Farm Facebook page. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue with retention, recruiting, and agricultural education efforts in support of project goals. One new activity will be the development and offering of a for-credit Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture course in the fall 2015 semester invloving project staff.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For this reporting period project activities focused on three areas: retention, recruitment, and agricultural education. Retention efforts included the hiring of peer and professional tutors in the areas of math, science, and computer science in order to make available free tutoring services for all BMCC students seeking the additional support. The tutoring services supported the academic success of 150 BMCC students, totaling 947 hours of tutoring services provided. Project activities focusing on retention also included 19 student success workshops, including study skills, transfer to university procedures, financial literacy, organizational skills, effective note taking, time management, etc. Project staff provided leadership for the BMCC Retention Committee during the project period; 6 Retention Committee Meetings were held which focused on measuring and improving retention and completion rates across campus. All project retention activities were facilitated through the BMCC Learning Center. Recruiting efforts during this reporting period included project staff attending 3 college recruiting fairs where they promoted science and technology programs at BMCC. Additionally, project staff visited 6 regional high schools where they met with guidance counselors and Native American advisors in an attempt to solidify relationships and encourage more students to consider attending BMCC for science and technology programs. Agricultural education efforts during this reporting period included a component of the BMCC Summer High School Science Camp taking place at Waishkey Bay Farm under the guidance of Farm Manager Monica Young. Science Camp participants received education in the areas of vegetable gardening, blueberry production, season extension technology, pasture-based beef production, pasture-based poultry production, and sustainable agriculture in general. One BMCC student intern was hired to work at the Waishkey Bay Farm, learning all aspects of farm operations. Additionally, staff from Waishkey Bay Farm were invited into the classrooms at the Ojibwe Charter School to introduce students to sustainable farming activities; many of the students later visited the farm on field trips to obtain a first-hand understanding of farm activities. Project staff coordinated 9 workshops at Waishkey Bay Farm during this project period, including: introduction to honey bees, organic gardening, pasture poultry, community food systems, and bio-energy crops.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Retention efforts for this project period included: student success workshops, peer tutoring, and professional tutoring; these services were made available to BMCC students enrolled in math, science, and computer science courses. Recruiting efforts for this period included: participation in college recruiting fairs, meetings with high school counselors and Native American student advisors, and career days. The recruiting efforts reached regional high school students and their families, and non-traditional students. Agriculture programs for this project period targeted youth from Boys and Girls Club of the Bay Mills Indian Community, area K-12 science teachers, youth and staff from the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Youth Department, students at the Ojibwe Charter School (located within the Bay Mills Indian Community) and neighboring Brimley Area Schools, BMCC science students, and area farmers. The youth were involved with farm tours, community gardening, vegetable marketing and sales, and livestock production. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? During this reporting period BMCC students were hired in the positions of peer tutors and an angriculture intern. These students were exposed to professional development on a daily basis in the areas of communication, planning, and discipline specific information. Project staff working in the areas of student retention and recruitment attended the 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 Higher Learning Commission Conferences. Project staff attended the annual FALCON conference in each year of the project period. Project staff working in agricultural education attended numerous conferences (Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference, Agriculture for Tommorrow, Food Sovereignty Summit, Indigenous Farming Conference); Waishkey Bay Farm manager, Monica Young attended numerous honey bee and grass-fed beef workshops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Project activities were reported through articles in the Bay Mills News, the BMCC Newsletter, and the Waishkey Bay Farm Facebook page. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For this reporting period project activities focused on three areas: retention, recruitment, and agricultural education. Retention efforts included the hiring of peer and professional tutors in the areas of math, science, and technology in order to make available free tutoring services for all BMCC students seeking the additional support. The tutoring services supported the academic success of 450 BMCC students, totaling 200 hours of tutoring services provided. Project activities focusing on retention also included 43 student success workshops, including study skills, transfer to university procedures, financial literacy, organizational skills, effective note taking, time management, etc. Project staff provided leadership for the BMCC Retention Committee during the project period; 40 Retention Committee or Student Services meetings were held which focused on measuring and improving retention and completion rates across campus. All project retention activities were facilitated through the BMCC Learning Center. Recruiting efforts during this reporting period included project staff attending 25 college recruiting fairs where they promoted science and technology programs at BMCC. Additionally, project staff visited regional high schools where they met with guidance counselors and Native American advisors in an attempt to solidify relationships and encourage more students to consider attending BMCC for science and technology programs. Agricultural education efforts during this reporting period included a component of the BMCC Summer High School Science Camp taking place at Waishkey Bay Farm under the guidance of Farm Manager Monica Young. Science Camp participants received education in the areas of vegetable gardening, blueberry production, season extension technology, pasture-based beef production, pasture-based poultry production, and sustainable agriculture in general. One BMCC student intern was hired to work at the Waishkey Bay Farm, learning all aspects of farm operations. Additionally, staff from Waishkey Bay Farm were invited into the classrooms at the Ojibwe Charter School to introduce students to sustainable farming activities; many of the students later visited the farm on field trips to obtain a first-hand understanding of farm activities. Project staff coordinated 18 workshops at Waishkey Bay Farm during this project period, including: introduction to honey bees, organic gardening, pasture poultry, community food systems, season extension technology, grass-fed beef, USDA resources, bio-energy crops, and MAEAP verification.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: Retention efforts for this project period included: student success workshops, peer tutoring, and professional tutoring; these services were made available to BMCC students enrolled in math, science, and computer science courses. Recruiting efforts for this period included: participation in college recruiting fairs, meetings with high schoool counselors and Native American student advisors, and career days. The recruiting efforts reached regional high school students and their families and non-traditional students. Agriculture programs for this project period targeted youth at Boys' and Girls' Club of Bay MIlls Indian Community and students at the Ojibwe Charter School (located within the Bay Mills Indian Community), and Brimley School. The youth were involved with farm tours, community gardening, and livestock production. Changes/Problems: During this reporting period there were no major changes in problem or approach, however there were some staff changes; Monica Young was hired as the Waishkey Farm Manager replacing Casey Munz and Leah Parish was hired as a Land Grant Coordinator. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? During this reporting period BMCC students were hired in the positions of peer tutors and an angriculture intern. These students were exposed to professional development on a daily basis in the areas of communication, planning, and discipline specific information. Waishkey Bay Farm Manager, Monica Young, attended the 2013 Tribal Food Sovereignty Summit hosted by the Oneida Nation. Two project staff attended a student retention conference in May, 2013 in Pontiac, MI. Project Director, Dr. Steve Yanni, attended the 2012 eXtension conference in Oklahoma City to become more familiar with making extension services available through eXtension. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Project activities were reported through articles in the Bay Mills News and the BMCC Newsletter. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
For this reporting period project activities focused on three areas: retention, recruiment, and agricultural education. Retention efforts included the hiring of peer and professional tutors in the areas of math, science, and computer science in order to make available free tutuoring services for all BMCC students seeking the additional support. The tutoring services reached over 100 BMCC students, totalling close to 700 hours of tutuoring services provided. Project activities focusing on retention also included 12 student success workshops, including study skills, effective note taking, time management, etc.. Project staff provided leadership for the BMCC Retention Committee during the project period; twelve Retention Committee Meetings were held which focused on measuring and improving retention and completion rates across campus. All project retention activities were facilitated through the BMCC Learning Center. Recruiting efforts during this reporting period included project staff attending 5 college recruiting fairs where they promoted science and technology programs at BMCC. Additionally, project staff visited 6 regional high schools where they met with guidance counselors and Native American advisors in an attempt to solidify relationships and encourage more students to consider attending BMCC for science and technology programs. Agricultural education efforts during this reporting period included a component of the BMCC Summer High School Science Camp taking place at Waishkey Bay Farm under the guidance of Farm Manager Monica Young. Science Camp participants received education in the areas of vegetable gardening, blueberry production, season extension technology, pasture-based beef production, pasture-based poultry production, and sustatinable agriculture in general. One BMCC student intern was hired to work at the Waishkey Bay Farm, learning all aspects of farm operations. Additionally, staff from Waishkey Bay Farm were invited into the classrooms at the Ojibwe Charter School to introduce students to sustainable farming activities; many of the students later visited the farm on field trips to obtain a first-hand understanding of farm activities.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Recruiting: Project staff coordinated Bay Mills Community College (BMCC) participation in 5 recruiting events (college nights at area high schools and tribal education departments). Additionally, project staff coordinated a visit to BMCC by a Native American motivational speaker who reached an audience of approximately 100 college and high school students and numerous college and high school faculty and staff; this speaker was so well received that he was invited to be the guest speaker at the 2012 BMCC commencement ceremony. Retention: Project staff coordinated 12 student success workshops at the BMCC Learning Center. Student and professional tutors were hired to provide one-on-one and small group tutoring on a daily basis in support of a variety of STEM classes. Close to 100 BMCC students took advantage of these free tutoring services. The BMCC Retention Committee is chaired by project staff and met monthly over this project period. Agriculture: As BMCC's Waishkey Bay Farm develops into a regional research, extension, and demonstration farm, it is providing significant opportunities for involvement of community members, College students and youth. The farm now has a large community garden, 4 Angus beef cattle, and a production hoophouse; during the summer of 2012, 500 meat chickens were raised and processed using the pasture poultry production method. Three workshops were facilitated on pasture poultry production, one on the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP), and one on USDA Programs and Tribal Communities. A high school intern was hired during the summer of 2012 and approximately 50 high school students attended one of three farm tours. A youth group from an area Tribal community including 85 young people participated in a day-long farm tour, as did 25 participants of a BMCC summer science camp sponsored by the Dept. of Defense. PARTICIPANTS: Individual participants in this project for this reporting period include: Aaron Tadgerson (BMCC Land Grant Coordinator), Steve Yanni (BMCC Land Grant Director), Debbie Wilson (BMCC Dean of Students and Retention Coordinator), Casey Munz (BMCC Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator), and Bill LeBlanc, (BMCC Student Agriculture Intern). Project partners for this reporting period include: Michigan State University, Lake Superior State University, US Dept. of Defense, NRCS/RD/FSA staff at the local USDA Service Center, Tribal Education Departments from the Bay Mills Indian Community and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, the Boys and Girls Club of Bay Mills, and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe Youth Department. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audiences for this reporting period were: current BMCC students, area high school students, area Tribal youth, area farmers, and regional Tribal communities. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Project Director, Aaron Tadgerson left the employ of BMCC during this reporting period; Steve Yanni was approved as the new project director and Jeannie Reffruschini (BMCC Director of Data and Reporting) was appointed as the new recruiting coordinator for this project.
Impacts
Project recruiting efforts, along with other College actions, have led to record enrollment in BMCC science classes. The retention committee has been institutionalized and is now a recognized component of the College and its improvement efforts; as new data collection efforts mature, we will be able to provide accurate retention data that will reflect, in part, the impact of project activities. College students hired as peer tutors have developed leadership traits, organizational skills, and teaching abilities that are directly attributable to their involvement with this project. As a result of project activities, youth interest in agricultural activities is very high; therefore, in 2013 a Waishkey Bay Farm 4-H Club will be established and led by project staff. Based on skills demonstration tests, participants in the pasture poultry workshops all gained knowledge and skills in all phases of pasture poultry production and processing. Two of the Tribal communities that were represented at the workshop on USDA programs and tribal communities are now in the process of purchasing agricultural properties for development by their tribes.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
The grant activities continue to increase Bay Mills Community College efforts to attract Native American students to the college and particularly to science based curriculum. Due to expanded science curriculum and additional course offerings, we are hiring an additional full-time science instructor. We are using our greenhouse, hoophouses, gardens, and science lab to recruit students from local schools; while interesting them in science and agriculture. We have been able to offer a number of internships to students to assist with agricultural based college and community programs. PRODUCTS: The recruitment coordinator attended ten student services meetings during the year, assisted with the campus tour during new student orientation sessions, organized a wildfire training on campus for twenty people in coordination with the BIA and U.S. Forest Service, and organized and facilitated a two-week long youth science camp on the Bay Mills Campus with financial assistance from U.S. Dept. of Defense and Lake Superior State University. In addition, he worked with Ojibwe Charter School to establish their greenhouse and promote educational opportunities using the planting, maintaining, growing, and harvesting of plants as the tools. Seven peer tutors providing math and English assistance to over 100 students. One contractual student working on a variety of agricultural initiatives including assisting with surveys; which increased her knowledge of statistical methods. OUTCOMES: A measure of the effectiveness of the recruitment and retention initiative is the continued increase in enrollment at BMCC. Our fall enrollment of Native American students in 2009 was 363 and in 2010 it increased to 413. Overall enrollment in 2009 was 664 and in 2010 it increased to 746. In addition, we have provided over $40,000 worth of free tutoring to our students and a number of student internship opportunities; particularly in agriculture and technology. DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES: BMCC has a contract with a local radio station, who runs advertisements on a regular basis each semester. In addition, BMCC has a monthly newsletter where college departments or individuals can post activities, announcements or stories as often as they want. The Tribal newspaper, which is printed bi-weekly also serves as a forum for BMCC activities and events in the community. BMCC also has a community education component, which involves various community activities sponsored by the college. Activities include a lunch and learn related to community gardening; family language night; beading, painting, traditional bow-making; etc. FUTURE INITIATIVES: The science camp is proposed to become a yearly summer event, as the Dept. of Defense has indicated financial support for future years. BMCC will continue to use agriculture as a recruiting tool; one in which students can develop an interest in science and math. BMCC is proposing to develop property into an agricultural incubator where community members can grow and sell produce and perhaps small farm animals as well.
Impacts
Initial impacts include increasing enrollment at BMCC. We expect to reach a critical mass soon; due to the fact that there are only a limited number of Native American college age students in the area and that is our target population. In addition, our enrollment is limited by the number of classrooms and instructors we have on staff. We have increased students enrolling in math and science however, as evidenced by our need to hire an additional science instructor. In addition, we are offering higher level math classes such as statistics and Trigonometry that we were not able to offer in the past due to a lack of interest.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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