Recipient Organization
ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY
4900 MERIDIAN STREET
NORMAL,AL 35762
Performing Department
Food Science & Animal Indus
Non Technical Summary
(A) Identification of the Problem and Project Rationale: Nationally, the Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine programs continue to provide U.S. college graduates with a wide-range of career opportunities in the food, agricultural, and natural resources system. These opportunities are expected to remain strong between 2005 and 2010, with more than 52,000 annual job openings for new graduates during 2005-2010. Some 49,300 qualified graduates will be available each year for those positions. The lack of qualified graduates will be particularly acute in the area of animal health where reports by career development firms have projected serious shortages of veterinarians by the year 2010, due in part to the low number of students, including minority students, choosing to enroll in Veterinary Medicine. A decrease in new graduates of the two programs could have a negative impact on the U.S economy. In addition to its global lead in the fight against diseases like swine and avian flues, mad cow disease, etc., the U.S is leading the world in food animal production. The production of animals for human use, for food or companionship, is a multibillion-dollar annual industry in the U.S, and a very vital part of our national economy. According to the USDA, more than $70 billion of meat animals were produced in the U.S in 2005. Furthermore, the agricultural sector, including animal agriculture, is a source of over 12 million job opportunities for experts in agricultural sciences. At AAMU, over the past 10 years enrollment in Animal Science has dropped by more than 15 percent to the current enrollment of forty-six students. As a result, the department was asked to place the Animal Science graduate program on hold, leading to a significant decrease in the number of undergraduate students who join the program with the intention of pursing a graduate degree in Animal Science. In addition, the enrollment at the University's Pre-Veterinary Medicine program also has declined. Hence, it became necessary for us to develop this proposal with the intention of sustaining a high enrollment in the two programs by using the proposed funds entirely in providing academic scholarships to students and raising awareness of the programs particularly among minority students. (B) Products, Results and Measurable Outcomes: The project will have: I. Produced educational materials including a CD video, brochure, poster, and website. II. Introduced the programs to high school minority students. III. Attracted over 50 percent of those attending the first summer workshop to the program. IV. Increased the number of Animal Science recruits by over 30 percent over the number of students recruited one year prior to the grant. V. Developed and implemented a comprehensive student retention program. VI. Developed and shared the project's outcome with the other 1890 and 1860 institutions utilizing our approach in increasing enrollment in the two programs. VII. Attracted funds needed to sustain the generated interest and awareness in the two programs among minority high school seniors. VIII. Additional measurable outcomes are listed in the project's narrative.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
I. Objectives: 1) Increase awareness of Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine programs among minority students. 2) Increase recruitment and retention of students in the two programs. II. Goals: The project's goals will be achieved through the following objectives: 1) Promote the two programs among students, African-Americans in particular, by launching an intensive career awareness program aimed at expanding the knowledge and opportunities available for graduates of the programs. 2) Strengthen Animal Science by increasing enrollment of minority students two to three times the current enrollment level of forty-five students in the next two years. 3) Design and implement a comprehensive retention mechanism that will effectively identify potential students who might drop out of the program by implementing a faculty/student mentor program that will maintain 50 percent retention. 4) Collaborate with faculty in Chemistry, Biology, and Food Science programs with the aim of increasing student enrollment in the programs. III. Activities, events, and products The main focus of this project will be student recruitment and retention in the Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine programs. This will be achieved through: 1) The development of state- of- the- art CD video and website with relevant information on agriculture in general and Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine in particular, for use during visits to high schools, and community colleges. 2) Participating in high school, university and alumni career fairs. 3) Recruiting high school seniors through departmental open house events and AAMU high school senior day program. 4) Organize summer internship program for underrepresented groups, and high school students intending to enroll in the programs. 5) Providing financial incentives with the aim of supporting potential students and freshmen during the summer internship and fall and spring semesters, respectively. 6) Increasing teachers' awareness of the programs by inviting them to participate in training workshops to update them on current animal agriculture hot topics. 7) The establishment of: i) Pre- college programs aimed at early identification of potential students by strengthening grades 10-12 students' knowledge of animal agriculture. ii) Relationship with various high schools throughout the state of Alabama, particularly those in the Huntsville area and in rural communities. iii) An advising committee that provides mentoring and advice to all incoming students with the aim of retaining 50 percent of the programs' freshmen. iv) Long-term collaboration with professional organizations, as well as with related disciplines at AAMU and other HBCUs with the aim of strengthening those programs too. (D) Dissemination: We will follow a multi-channel dissemination strategy to highlight the outcomes of the project, including academia (high schools and professional organizations) and other 1890 institutions. The following media channels will be considered: 1) publications, where a manuscript will be prepared for submission to referral publications, 2) training, 3) dissemination materials, including a website and poster.
Project Methods
The elements of the project will be implemented as follows: I) Recruitment: 1) Introduce potential students, minorities in particular, to the Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine programs through increasing public awareness about opportunities the two programs offer. Recruitment and Retention materials including a CD video, website, brochures, and posters with relevant information on Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine topics will be developed to educate high school students and teachers about the diverse opportunities in agriculture in general and particularly Animal Science. 2) Recruitment efforts will focus on increasing the number of students from historically underrepresented, low income, or educationally disadvantaged communities by targeting high school students' in grades 10 through 12 from schools where AAMU has already established a working relationship. The primary approach here will be the use of school visits in presenting Power Point Presentations and a CD video followed by question/answer sessions. Following the visits, open days and school visitations to AAMU will be organized with the aim of introducing the students to the program. 3) Students who show interest in the programs will be considered for participation in a six-week summer program to be held in the department. Potential participants can be recommended by their teachers or guidance staff based on their interest and their potential to become animal scientists. In addition, students could self-identify and apply on their own. 4) A group of area secondary and high school teachers will be offered an opportunity to participate in workshops aimed at increasing their awareness of the Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine and highlighting to them current opportunities for graduates of the programs. These teachers will be trained to advise and support the under-identified student population that shows interest in the discipline. 5) The project will develop long-term collaboration with related disciplines at AAMU and other HBCUs. II) Retention: The project will develop a student retention program via mentoring and experiential learning that will result in a 50 percent retention rate in Animal Science by 2013 as follows: 1) Establishment of a committee to be charged with providing mentor and advice to freshmen. 2) Financial support such as scholarships and biweekly employment opportunities will be offered to attract and retain students to the programs. 3) Offer internships in the form of summer training opportunities in collaboration with University of Kentucky. (III) Evaluation Plans: The project will be evaluated for number of students who attended summer workshop; number of students who applied for the program in 2012-2013; number of students enrolled in the program in 2012; number of students retained during the second year of the project; and the extent of understanding of Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary Medicine among targeted students and teachers. At the end of the second year, final evaluation will be carried out by the same committee. Recommendations of the committee will be used in future recruitment and retention activities.