Progress 02/15/11 to 02/14/16
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience in this overall project was multicultural high school senior students who had a strong interest in becoming a veterinarian as their future careers after finishing their undergraduate degree of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (VBSC major) at Penn State. The Project Director (PD) utilized numerous venues to reach out to the potential multicultural high school students. Those were as outlined in the original project: special ties to the urban high schools (i.e. W.B. Saul High School in Philadelphia); College of Ag's Open House; Spend A Summer Day at Penn State; Project Leader's outreach program: The VBSC Summer Camp. However, the most effective method was to utilize the Penn State's admissions offer lists which were availableto the PD starting in September of each year. The PD identified many potential strong high school multicultural students who already applied to Penn State and received an offer of admission. The project PI reached out to these potential students and explained the USDA-VBSC-MSP scholarship program in details. This method was also utilized to replace any scholar became ineligible after their first year in the VBSC Program. Changes/Problems:Challenges that the PD had to face duration of the scholarship program: Co-PI (Ms. Randi Congleton) left the university to pursue a PhD degree in Illinois four years ago. If the PD had done this project all over again, she could have started the project right away instead of using the first year for the recruitment efforts. Within the next four years, the PD unfortunately had to replace 4 scholars who either changed majors or were not academically successful in the program. Consequently, the PD ended up with one senior, one sophomore and one freshman at the end of the scholarship program (February 2016). Therefore, not everything in the grant was accomplished for someone who started in the last year of the project as a freshman. Another problem was competing with other institutions on the same multicultural high school seniors that we were trying to recruit to the VBSC-MSP scholarship program. Nevertheless, we successfully recruited scholastically strong students in the scholarship program. Of the seven scholars, some took the challenging scholarship program seriously while some didn't. The PD expressed that perhaps the RFP for future MSP funding should be more flexible to allow the PDs to include 2nd year students within the same undergraduate program instead of taking a chance on another incoming freshman. The PD also wished that the RFP would have a "no cost extension" to be able to finish all of the proposed activities for the scholars. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project provided the following opportunties (not in any particular order): 1. Undergraduate research 2. Pre-Vet Club participation and APVMA (American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association) Annual Conference participation 3. MANNRS participation and participation in the Annual Conferences 4. Ag Advocates Program participation 5. Short Term Study Abroad opportunities (Belize) 6. Rotations in the ADL (Animal Diagnostics Lab) 7. Field Investigations in the Vet Extension Unit 8. Summer Enrichment Program Participation in the VetWard Bound Program at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University 9. Outreach Program Involvement (scholars helped in the execution of hands-on experiences with the K-12) 10. Pre-Vet Club involvement (opportunities for leadership and hands-on clinical experiences) 11. NIFA's Directors Meeting How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The Project Director participated in the 94th Annual Poultry Science Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky in 2015. She presented this project as a poster in the "Extension and Education" section to the wider audience. The Project Director and the three USDA-VBSC-MSP scholars participated in the Directors Meeting and presented the project as a poster in August 25-27, 2015 in Washington DC to the wider audience. The Project Director is planning to publish this project and its findings in the Journal of Veterinary Medical Education. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Pre-veterinary and veterinary college student population is not reflecting the current ethnic and racial diversity of the population of the U.S. Our aim was to help increase the diversity at the pre-professional and professional level of veterinary medicine. The project aimed to achieve these goals by recruiting academically strong multicultural high school seniors to the Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (VBSC) major at Penn State; and by providing strong mentoring, advising, hands-on experiences, research, and co-curricular activities including short term-study abroad opportunities. This project impacted a total of seven multicultural students in the USDA-VBSC-MSP scholarship program at Penn State from 2011 to 2016. Out of seven, three remained in the scholarships program: J.L. graduating with Honors in the VBSC major and has an acceptance to a veterinary college in the U.S. starting in the fall of 2016; S.C. is graduating with an Athletic Training degree in May of 2016 (she parted from the VBSC-MSP program after her freshman year); M.P. is graduating from the VBSC degree in May of 2016; however, she too parted from the scholarship program after her freshman year due to not being able to meet the scholarship program criteria; A.N. is currently a junior and changed his major to Forestry but remained in the College of Ag.; A.K. is currently a non-degree student and parted from the program after his freshman year due to unsatisfactory scholarship; K.S. is a sophomore and remained in the scholarship program; and, lastly, R.M. is a freshman and is still in the scholarship program. The two remaining scholars, KS and RM will be given scholarships from the College of Agricultural Sciences as long as they maintain a satisfactory GPA and remain in the college. All students were invited to participate in the completely voluntary evaluation of the scholarship program at the completion of the grant. Five out of seven participated to have a face-to-face interview with open ended questions and discussion; and they agreed to fill out the survey. From the open ended questions, all five strongly expressed that financial support from the USDA-VBSC-MSP grant was a huge incentive for them to choose Penn State in addition to its excellent reputation; all expressed that the scholarships program was set up to provide layers of support system for them to tap into; they were all very pleased with the mentoring and advising they received. One of the recipients indicated the following "This has been a great ride for me. The people in this program shaped my Penn State experience; and, I attribute my success partly to the Project Director and my academic adviser". Most of the scholars appreciated the gentle push to do well in the program while one felt stressed out and pressured to succeed. JL and KS participated in the two-week long Large Animal Veterinary Medicine in the tropics course in Belize while RM went to Belize for 1 week as part of her semester long embedded course for Belize. Out of the three, two (JL and KS) participated in the Vetward Bound Program at Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine. They all expressed that these were opportunities of a life time for them. Overall, we gleaned from the face-to-face discussions that students were very pleased with the financial and personal attention and support that they received. The scholars expressed that they learned so much from their outside the classroom activities, such as the undergraduate research, rotations in the Animal Diagnostics Lab and field investigations at Vet Extension office at Penn State. The PD made sure to include the scholars in the preparation and execution of the departmental K-12 Outreach programs where scholars interacted with middle and high school students who have an interest in becoming a veterinarian. As role models to the K-12 participants, the scholars got engaged in the teaching of hands-on labs during these service learning engagements. JL has been an Ag Advocate which is a very prestige post to represent our College and the department in various recruitment platforms. She has been an active member and the president of the MANNRS. Other scholars (have) participated in the MANNRS and Pre-Vet club while they are/were in the scholarship program. According to the survey results, the students expressed that they have received strong emotional support from their family members during their education at Penn State. They felt that being multicultural didn't affect their successes or failures. All scholars expressed a huge comfort with their own racial and ethnic identity. They also strongly expressed that they were not treated any differently because of their ethnicity/race. They also never felt like a number at Penn State even though it is a big university. They were able to establish a good circle of friends to study together and support one another. In fact, JL has had the pleasure of mentoring RM in the same research lab. Overall survey indicated a great satisfaction by the scholars in the USDA-VBSC-MSP Scholarship Program. In conclusion, the PD felt that all the academic advisers and career mentors have made a positive contribution to all of the seven scholars during the last four years. For that, the PD expresses a great appreciation and gratitude for being awarded with an MSP grant in 2011.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Acar, N., 2015. The effect of significant scholarships and support services on recruitment, retention and graduation of underrepresented pre-veterinary students. Poultry Science. Volume:94(E-Suppl. 1). (Abstr.). In the poster we acknowledged NIFA.
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Progress 02/15/14 to 02/14/15
Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audience has been the MSP Scholars in the program. During the last three years, we have had 6 students in the program. We have one student (JL) successfully stayed in the major while other two became ineligible one (MP) with poor academics and the other (SC) changed her major in the first year. Two replacement scholars (AK and AN) were recruited in the second year. Once again one (AK) became ineligible while the other stayed (AN) in the major during his first year. In the third year, we recruited one scholar (KS) who is currrently successfull while AN changed his major. There is one vacancy right now which will be filled with another scholar for one year on the USDA-MSP-VBSC scholarship along with College of Ag's matching scholarships. If the replacement scholar isacademically successfull, College of Ag will continue to support the scholar until he/she graduates from the VBSC undergraduate degree. Changes/Problems: The major challenge that we encounter in this reporting period was to retain the two students in the rigorous pre-vet program. The seocnd set of replacement scholars, Austin and Adeniyi were admitted to the scholarship program with outstanding high school credentials with a great desire to be a veterinarian. Adeniyi was not able to succeed academically while Austin had a change of heart. Austin loves outdoors thus we matched him with a wildlife veterinarian to do his Independent Study rotations. But he decided to change his major to Forest Sciences with a wildlife emphasis. The exit interviews were conducted with the dismissed scholars. The conclusions were the same: "no longer desire to be a veterinarian; too much socializing; spending excessive amount of time on social media, phone, and internet instead of studying; college was a lot harder than they expected; didn't manage their times; and didn't take full advantage of tutoring options". These situations are really not unique to our scholars and in fact we experience the same kind of situations in our non scholarship student populations. The PI is still tracking these students' progress in their current majors at Penn State. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Jessica participated in the Natioanl APVMA Conference in Iowa State University in March 21-23, 2014. She also participated in the National MANRRS Forum in Birmingham AL in March 27, 2014. She participated in A2RC Program in Purdue University for two weeks in May 2014; and Summer Enrichment Program (Vetward Bound) in Michigan State University for seven weeks between June 07 and July 27, 2014. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We planned on Jessica's participation in a 8-week on site training program provided by the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine at New Bolton Center. Jessica will gain exposure and experience in several food supply veterinary medicine areas. She will rotate through several clinical services, working side by side with clinical faculty and veterinary students in Swine and Dairy Production Medicine, Large Animal Field Service, and Large Animal Reproduction and Pathology. Katherine (MSP scholar replacing Adeniyi) is scheduled to participate in the Summer Enrichment Program (Vetward Bound Program) for 7-weeks in the summer of 2015. There will be another scholar recruited into the program to replace Austin for one year on the USDA-MSP-VBSC Scholarship for the 2015-2016 academic year. The PI has just submitted an abstract to NACADA's Annual National Meeting, 2015 to disseminate the information from this current project. If accepted, all the scholars will be accompanying the PI to this meeting.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Desirable outcome from our project is to guide our scholars to succesfully gain admission to one of the 30 U.S. Veterinary colleges during their senior year. Jessica Linder, one of our successful scholars, gained admission to Purdue University's Veterinary College as a junior (90% of our students apply as a senior). Jessica attended two multicultural programs during the summer of 2014: a) Purdue Veterinary Medicine Access to Animal-Related Careers (A2RC) is a faculty-driven program coordinated by the Office of Diversity Initiatives. A2RC is a residential summer program targeted to 2nd and 3rd year pre-vet undergraduates. Jessica was invited to participate in this 2-wk program based on no cost to us or herself; b) Vetward Bound Enrichment Summer Program at Michigan State's College of Veterinary Medicine (June 07-July 25, 2014), 7wk program. This was Jessica's 1st SEL activity. Upon her return, she was featured by our college in the Undergraduate magazine that is published quarterly to attract prospective students to the college. Jessica continued on her ADL and Vet Extension rotations while earning "Independent Study" credits. She actually decided to pursue "Antibiotic Resistance" as her Honors College thesis studies with Dr. Karayawasam, veterinary microbiologist. Jessica visited Local Amish Farms under the close supervision by Dr. Patterson, Professor of Poultry Science as we proposed. Jessica was also chosen to be an Ag Advocate last year. Jessica was the Programming Chair for the MANRRS in 2014 and went to MANRRS National Conference in Birmingham, AL in March 27, 2014. She is the current THON Chair in the Pre-Vet club. She also travelled to Iowa State University for the National American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association (APVMA) Conference in March 21-23, 2014. Austin continued on his ADL and Vet Extension rotations in the spring-14 and fall-14. He shadowed veterinary microbiologists and pathologists very closely. He is mostly interested in wildlife medicine and outdoors thus in the middle of the Fall-14 semester he decided to change his major to Forest Sciences. Adeniyi concentrated on his academics; however, he was dismmissed from the program due to poor academics at the end of the Spring of 2014. He was replaced with Katherine who has done well in the Fall-2014 semester and is continung her studies in the VBSC major.
Publications
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Progress 02/15/13 to 02/14/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audience was to select three multicultural high school seniors who already applied to Penn State during the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 (two replacement scholars) academic years respectively. The PIs interactions were with these three scholars. Changes/Problems: Problems and Challenges: we have encountered a number of challenges and problems before and after we recruited the students into the Scholarship Program. The first challenge we encountered was competing with other universities to recruit strong multicultural students to apply to the Scholarship Program. We aggressively reached out to the pool of students provided to us through the Penn State’s Admission's Office. However, not many students applied to the scholarship program which somewhat limited the final pool. After we identified 3 outstanding scholars for the 2012-2013 academic year, only 1 scholar persisted in the program at the end of the first year (Ms. Linder). One scholar changed her major (Ms. Coy) to Kinesiology and became ineligible while the other didn’t meet the GPA requirement to persist in the program (Ms. Patrovanie) and became ineligible. There is always the threat of changing majors and/or not being successful in the major. During the exit interview, Ms. Patrovanie indicated that the college education was a lot harder than she ever expected. She is still in the VBSC major program but without a scholarship and she is provided the same mentoring and academic advising services. During the 2013-2014 academic year, the PI replaced Ms. Coy and Patrovanie with Mr. Noguera and Kukoyi after going thorugh a rigorous selection process among the high school applicant pool. Mr. Kukoyi was put on academic probation due to poor scholarship during the Fall-2013 semester even though strong mentoring and academic advising services were provided for him. He too indicated that the college was a lot harder than high school. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Planned activities: Ms. Linder is continuing on her Independent Study rotations in the ADL and Vet Extension and Field Investigation units. This is her third semester in these units while Mr. Noguera’s first. The scholars earn 1 credit in each semester. Ms. Linder and Mr. Noguera will participate in the field investigation under the close supervision from Dr. Paul H. Patterson, Professor of Poultry Science during the spring-14 semester. They will be visiting a number of Amish farms with small poultry flocks and other livestock. Ms. Linder and Mr. Noguera will participate in the national American Pre-Veterinary Medical Association national meetings in Iowa State in March of 2014. Ms. Linder will participate in the Michigan State’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s Vetward Bound Summer Program while Mr. Noguera and Kukoyi will intern in their local veterinary clinic as outlined in the proposal. Ms. Linder just finished the application process for the Ag Advocates which is a program where the chosen students gain knowledge of agricultural research, teaching, and extension programs at Penn State. They promote the Nittany Lion spirit and develop valuable public-speaking and leadership skills. They interact with business and industry professionals and work with University faculty, staff, and administrators. They represent the College of Agricultural Sciences at various recruitment and retention events and programs. Mr. Noguera and Kukoyi will apply as a sophomore next year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Since we are continuing working towards our goals 3 (retain), 4 (mentor), and 5 (train), The PI and the Co-PI intend to hold regular monthly meetings with the students to go over their progress individually on a more frequent basis to intercept if there is any challenge(s) that any scholar is facing on a timely fashion. This is designed especially for the current freshmen scholars, Mr. Kukoyi and Noguera while Ms. Linder has been well established and has been maintaining an excellent GPA.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Accomplishments: We accomplished the first two objectives of our grant 1) to recruit 3 high school seniors into the VBSC-MSP Scholarship Program; and 2) to provide scholarships through rigorous selection process which was outlined in the grant previously. There are currently three scholars in the VBSC-MSP Scholarship Program: Ms. Jessica Linder (sophomore), Mr. Austin Noguera (freshman and replacement scholar) and Mr. Adeniyi Kukoyi (freshman and replacement scholar). We are continuing working towards objectives 3) to retain the scholars in the VBSC-MSP Scholarship Program; 4) to mentor the scholars in their academic, professional, and personal growth; and 5) to train the scholars for academic excellence, leadership, problem solving, and global awareness with particular attention towards Large Animal Veterinary Medicine and Food Supply Veterinary Medicine. The PI, the senior academic adviser, and the Program Coordinator of the Multicultural Programs have been meeting with our scholars regularly via one-on-one at the beginning, middle and at the end of each semester to keep a close contact with them and to ensure their success in the VBSC undergraduate program. The two of the scholars (Austin and Adeniyi) are placed in the Freshmen in Sciences and Engineering (FISE) House where majority of the multicultural freshmen students are placed while Jessica continues to be in the Honors College housing. All scholars have direct access to Guided Study Group and individual tutoring through Penn State’s commitment to learning inside and outside the classroom (Penn State Learning) while the FISE house offers tutoring in math, chemistry, and physics during fall and spring semesters. All students have been involved in the Pre-Vet club and MANNRS activities in addition to other interest clubs, and are holding various committee responsibilities within the clubs where students find opportunities to get involved in community activities. We have observed that our scholars learn, understand, and engage with others (peers, faculty, K-12 and public), and develop skills such as leadership and learn responsibilities to solve problems at the local level, hopefully later at a national/international level. Additionally, the scholars have helped the PI to execute Outreach Programs to teach K-12 about veterinary medical field and biomedical sciences through hands-on experiences. Through PI's outreach activities, students have learned various skills (i.e. how to set up and execute a program; leading K-12 student groups) by providing their time and services and have come face to face with middle and high school students, and parents. Ms. Linder has been involved in Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, and Veterinary Extension and Field Investigation rotations (independent study) under the direct supervision from Drs. Bhushan Jayarao and David Wolfgang as outlined in the grant proposal. She has spent two complete semesters in these laboratories (spring-13 and fall-13). She has shadowed board certified pathologists (large, and small animals), virologists and bacteriologists. She saw the experts doing necropsy, taking tissue samples, and examining samples under microscope, and making diagnoses. She has followed dairy extension veterinarians by participating in the field investigations. She has helped technicians collecting various samples from the fields, and analyzed them in the labs and witnessed veterinarians making diagnoses on various animal health issues while educating the animal owners. Mr. Noguera has just started his independent study rotations in the spring of 2014 semester in the above mentioned laboratories as outlined in the grant. Mr. Kukoyi will resume these activities in the fall of 2014 due to his current academic probation (elaborated under the challenges section). The impact: Experiences gained through Independent Study rotations in the ADL and Vet Extension and Field Investigations units so far have had a huge impact on Ms.Jess Linder. She is now strongly considering large animal veterinary medicine and food supply veterinary medicine instead of companion animal medicine. She indicated that her horizons were opened by these two units tremendously and she now really enjoys following up on a case between field and labs.
Publications
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Progress 02/15/12 to 02/14/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We, the PI and Co-PI contacted 32 eligible multicultural students who had an offer of admission to the VBSC major at Penn State's University Park campus. We utilized the USDA's MSP scholarships and the matching amounts from the College of Ag Sciences (the total amount was up to the cost of in state tuition) in addition to emphasizing on the nature and strength of the scholarship program. We strongly encouraged the applicants to send in their essays to meet the initial application process requirement. Among 32, only 7 students sent their essays answering the questions outlined in the previous report. We made phone calls to encourage the remaining students and brought their parents into the conversation, however; we didn't receive more than 7 applications. Our committee consisting of 3 veterinarians (the PI is included), the Co-PI (Multicultural Program Director in the College of Ag), and the Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Education of College of Ag. The applications were reviewed by the committee and applicants were ranked from 1 to 7 (The PI removed the identity of the applicants and gave them numbers to remove any biasness). We interviewed them over a conference call. Once again candidates were ranked from 1 to 7. Three offers were made to 1 African American and 2 Hispanic students who were ranked at the top and they all happened to be females. The breakdown of their home states are: MA, NJ, and PA. The scholars were placed in their fall-2012 semester courses based on their placement test results on Math and Chemistry in July 2012. Students arrived for their orientation in August 26, 2012. Two of the students were placed in the FISE House which is housing for first year students in the sciences and engineering majors while one was placed in the Honors College dormitory since she is an honors student. As we proposed, they were assigned to be advised by a senior and experienced academic adviser. We met with the scholars in the beginning, mid-semester and at the end of the semester as a group and then individually. We also asked students to write their career goals to have a working documentation which might be revised as they continue to make progress in the pre-veterinary major. PARTICIPANTS: Personnel change: The PI would like to report that the project Co-PI left her position of Multicultural Programs Directorship post, Penn State's College of Ag Sciences, to pursue a PhD program in May of 2012. Since then, the College has created a position of "Assistant Dean for Multicultural Affairs" and appointed Professor Patreese Ingram to this position. Under her post a new Multicultural Programs Coordinator position was created and that position was filled by Mr. Derek James in February 7, 2013. The PI has been working closely with these individuals since then. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
We were able to award VBSC-MSP-USDA scholarships to three deserving multicultural freshman students. They met their minimum GPA requirements in order to continue to receive their MSP scholarships while two excelled in the program. The scholars now started their Animal Diagnostics and Vet Extension rotations in the spring semester for 1 credit. They strongly expressed that they are learning something new during their Independent Study rotations in the Animal Diagnostics Laboratory and Vet Extension Field Studies. These two labs are engaged in food safety, microbiology, public health, and preventative medicine. As we proposed, the scholars have participated in the Pre-Vet and MANRRS activities in their fall and spring semesters as they found time from their rigorous schedules. The scholars will also obtain volunteer positions in their home town veterinary clinics to gain hands-on experiences during the summer of 2013.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 02/15/11 to 02/14/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: PROGRESS: 02/15/2011-02/14/2012: Project directors worked on recruiting high school seniors to apply to Penn State University's Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (VBSC) major. All recruitment efforts were prioritized for the high schools in Pennsylvania. Co-PI is the director of the Multicultural Programs in the College of Ag Sciences. She works closely with many urban high schools where there is a significant presence of students from various racial/ethnic backgrounds. She widely distributed the information among these high schools about the scholarship. Both directors visited W.B Saul High School for the Agricultural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA and distributed the scholarship information among the 12th grade students. Furthermore, announcements were made at several university meetings to encourage other recruitment colleagues to spread the word to students who may be interested. PI meets with many prospective students through many outreach programs for high school students (VBSC Camp, AG Open House, and Spend-A-Summer-Day) throughout the year. She strongly encouraged the racially/ethnically qualifying students to apply to Penn State to be eligible to apply for the USDA-VBSC-MSP scholarships. Recruitment period ended in December of 2011. Most students apply to Penn State by 30th of November each year. Although we strongly encouraged students who are academically and racially/ethnically qualified for the nature of the scholarships, we still had to rely on the lists that we have received weekly from the Admission's Office at Penn State from October 2011 to-date. Applying to Penn State's VBSC major is the key to be eligible to apply to the scholarships. Using the weekly rosters received from the admissions office, we started to contact the eligible students via phone and e-mail. Selection process among the eligible students was based on their SAT's, high school GPA and science predictors. Because our VBSC pre-vet major is a very rigorous curriculum, we have contacted those students whose likelihood of succeeding in the major is high. These students were being pursued by other institutions as well as Penn State. We also have chosen students who received an offer of admission to the main campus because all the laboratory rotations are proposed to be done in the main (UP) campus; and the selected students will participate in a prestigious living-learning program for S.T.E.M students that will provide a positive transition in the first year. We set the scholarship application process as two-tiered evaluation and established a departmental scholarship committee: 1. Writing an essay to answer the following questions: a) Please describe your experiences that stimulated your desire to become a veterinarian; b) Please describe the challenges faced by the veterinary profession in their roles to help provide a safer food supply, and/or to contribute to the public health; c) Describe 3-5 key leadership and communication skills needed by veterinarians; and d) How you think you can contribute to the diversity and have a lasting impact on College of Ag Sciences and the Penn State. 2. Interview the students either face-to-face or by teleconference. PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
OUTCOME: Total number of students received an offer of admission for the VBSC major were 326 (all campuses) between October 25, 2011 and February 14, 2012. Of the total, 73 were from multicultural ethnic/racial backgrounds. A total of 176 students received offers to the main (UP) campus out of 326. Of the total of students received offer of admission to the UP campus, 40 students were from multicultural ethnic/racial backgrounds. After we examined the rosters for the VBSC major, we have started to contact eligible students for applying for the USDA-VBSC-MSP scholarships by phone first and e-mails as a follow up. The PI and Co-PI encouraged them to submit their applications which included writing an essay answering the questions stated above. We will continue to examine the rosters that we receive weekly until May 1st and will contact the eligible students. The scholarship committee is looking forward to reading the applicants' essays and to interview them as soon as possible. We hope to award the three scholarships to the students among the most qualifying applicants in June of 2012.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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