Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853
Performing Department
Food Science
Non Technical Summary
While the agricultural workforce is very diverse through much of the country, the extension personnel employed by counties, states, and universities to provide leadership to this sector is not. As a result, it can be difficult to overcome cultural and language barriers to effectively communicate with multicultural target audiences. Our approach is designed to: (1) recruit 11 students from Hispanic, African, and Native American groups, from 2-year colleges, within the Northeast region, into one of Cornell's Food Science, Agricultural Sciences, Viticulture and Enology, Agribusiness, and Food Industry Management undergraduate programs; (2) provide academic advising, career mentoring and personal counseling to ensure these scholars successfully complete a BS degree; and, (3) assist graduates in securing professional positions in extension education. Expected outcomes are the core competencies to be achieved by the MPSs upon graduation from the program, which include (a) technical skills, consisting of theoretical knowledge and selected practical skills in the major program of choice, (b) information literacy skills using various media and library resources and statistical methods, and (c) professional competencies, including oral and written communication skills, critical thinking and problem solving, team work, leadership, networking and business etiquette, integrity and ethics, time management, and diversity awareness. Results will be shared with other schools and, ultimately, individuals, families, businesses, and communities will benefit from more diverse agriculture-related professional extension educators.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
40%
Developmental
60%
Goals / Objectives
Measurable objectives of the proposed project include (1) number of MSPs recruited into our five selected programs, (2) number of MSPs successfully graduating from Cornell, and (3) number of MSPs entering the extension workforce. The effectiveness of MSPs recruitment efforts will be measured by the number, diversity, and quantitative profiles (e.g., GPA) of admitted students. As part of the project, a seminar course will be created to serve as a capstone experience. This capstone experience will involve the MSPs developing and delivering outreach programming, primarily that involving community service learning with K-12 schools and/or their students. Throughout the F.A.C.E.S. program, MSPs will monitor and evaluate their own progress through the use of e-folios. It is anticipated that e-folios will contain examples of student proficiency with communication and outreach education involving food and agriculture related issues, especially targeting diverse school-age audiences. Because of the electronic, dynamic, and interactive nature of the e-folios, MSPs will be able to share pieces of their portfolios with other prospective agriculture students and audience, both on and beyond campus. An overarching aim of the use of e-folios and the collaborative seminar will be to develop a community of MSPs engaged in communication and education about food and agriculture related issues and opportunities. Still, the intent is not that this is a closed community, but one that evolves to attract new students to these academic pursuits. Cornell MSPs will be engaged with high school students from across NYS, and perhaps the Northeast, through existing and emerging networks, such as FFA, 4-H, farm-to-school programs, and others.
Project Methods
We have assembled a multidisciplinary team of faculty, professional mentors, and university counselors to offer an outstanding education that integrates scientific research, experiential opportunities, and success skills development, while providing a supportive environment, strong academic advising and professional mentoring. An innovative aspect of this proposal is the inclusion of e-portfolios as a strategy to both monitor student progress and create a career planning tool. Efforts include a combination of a comprehensive recruitment plan, development of specific curricula, inclusion of experiential, interdisciplany and capstone experiences, a formal mentoring plan, integration of "best practices", partnering to access new strategies, service learning and participation in professional meetings. As program evaluation, for the duration of this grant, MSPs will be interviewed by an independent party at the end of each semester to assess their program satisfaction and identify areas for improvements; exit interviews at the end of the degree program will also be conducted and will continue after completion of the. Additionally, we will follow MSPs' career path after 0.5, 1, 3, and 5 years; this will allow us to assess the program by determining the number of graduates not only entering but continuing agricultural related careers.