Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience: Supplemental Instruction Our primary activities were focused on implementing Supplemental Instruction (SI) in the core science courses on our campus. Supplemental Instruction targets challenging courses, not students who are find the courses challenging. In the first year of the project, we offered a small pilot of SI in the second semester chemistry (30 students in CHEM 111). Each week the lesson plans included some ag-related examples. We are also targeting instructors on our campus, and offered a training workshop for them in the Fall 2015. Two of the members of the grant (Haffa, Detka), as well as the Interim Director of the Academic Skills Achievement Program attended a multi-day training in Supplemental Instruction to prepare for this effort. It was hosted by the CSU Chancellor's Office and co- taught by the University of MO-Kansas City International Program for Supplemental Instruction. We implemented SI in 3 biology, 3 chemistry, 1 kinesiology, and 3 physics courses in August 2015 on our campus. These courses are all relevant to USDA Mission Critical career preparation and all have high "DFW" (i.e. failure) rates. That semester we offered SI to over 1300 undergraduate by leveraging other grant funds in synergy with this project which is focused on the biology and chemistry courses. During the second year in addition to the core chemistry (CHEM 109, 110 and 111) and biology (BIO 210 and 211), we made the decision to add SI to genetics (BIO 311) as this course had the highest failure rate on campus. Because supplemental instruction is not mandatory we also made the decision to add discussion sections to BIO 210, BIO 211 and BIO 311. In BIO 210 one of the primary learning strategies that had been reinforced in Concept Mapping. BIO 211 has stressed the use of incomplete tables to organize ideas (Structure/Function etc) which provides visuals for organizing information. The instructor for CHEM 111 has been hosting group office hours/study group sessions, thus fewer students in that course came to the near-peer supplemental instruction sessions, but this strategy has been successful in student success. We are finding that SI is the place where students come seeking study strategies rather than simply to learn concepts. In year 3 we continued to support the Supplemental Instruction (SI) efforts in the core science courses on our campus. The courses include the core chemistry courses (CHEM 109, 110 and 111) and biology (BIO 210, 211, 311). We continued to offer the mandatory discussion sections for BIO 210, 211 and 311. Staff also worked to better catalogue and disseminate the SI materials to the SI instructors. While the grant no longer supported the SI efforts after year 3, we have continued to offer and expand these services. For 2017-2018 there were 20 SI tutors who averaged 2646 hours each. That is an average of 4.57 hrs per week per tutor, or 69 total hours per tutor Broadening Student Interest in USDA Mission Critical Careers To expand student interest in Ag-related careers two new courses were developed in year 1. Both are for freshman or sophomore students, who are early in their college career. They are open to all students on campus. The first is a general education course that satisfies the lower level written and oral communication requirement for all undergraduates: Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking for Agricultural Science. The issues explored are related to civil rights, land ownership, geographic location, farmworkers and other topics related to the cultural value of agriculture. The second course Careers in Agriculture combined classroom instruction with field trips to farms, packing plants, the USDA ARS, and other agencies relevant to agriculture in the Salinas Valley. This course was offered in August 2015 (fall semester). In year 2 we began working to develop a new major (Ag Crop and Soil Science), as well as a new concentration under the umbrella of Biology (Plant Biology. This was in collaboration with faculty from the nearby Hartnell Community College in order to develop the new degree program. Some of the lower division courses will be housed on that campus, as they already have in place strong industry support and a solid core curriculum. Faculty and staff have also been paid to develop Supplemental Instruction materials that have a focus on Agriculture when possible. Staff have been assisting in the advertising Ag-relevant opportunities via a weekly electronic newsletter In year 3 we assembled an Ag Task Force in order to gain the support and interest of the local agricultural communit. This group met on the CSUMB campus to provide input to our nascent degree program. We (PD Haffa and co-PD Anderson) also participated in larger community focus groups on the Hartnell campus, and at UC Davis and have been letting the local community know of our intent to offer the new Ag Crop and Soil Science degree in the near future. In order to complete the degree program's developmentthe paperwork was submitted through the campus and system channels. We anticipate the launch for the Ag Crop and Soil Science BS degree will occur infall 2019. In separate efforts the Dean of our college has secured a donation that will fund an endowed position to support this degree. Student Experiential Learning This granting period we were able to significantly increase the number of student engaged in agriculturally-relevant experiences including experiential learning, research, field trips, and conference. Below is a summary of the students who were provided paid experiential learning experiences. Of the students who were part of this program, only 1 left the university for a reason other than to graduate. It was a student in the graduate program, and it was in order to work. Year Number of Undergraduates Number of Graduate Students Gender M:F # URM 2014-2015 6 3 4:5 6 2015-2016 13 3 9:7 9 2016-2017 14 3 10:7 12 2017-2018 2 0 1:1 1 Recruiting and Supporting One Outstanding Student We solicited scholarship applicants across campus from 1st year students and all accepted incoming freshman or transfers with at least 3 years left in their educational goals. They had to demonstrate a strong interest in a career that was critical to the mission of the USDA. We initially chose a student who showed potential, but barriers to success.These include a lack of familial support, and a poor quality HS education. He was supported by a mentorship with a faculty member who works closely with the USDA ARS in Salinas, and financial support to insure he does not overextend himself by working to support himself and his family. He is the first in his family to attend college, and the first from his high school near Bakersfield, CA to be offered a scholarship. In spite of our help, his grades were not sufficiently adequate for us to feel we could continue with the support. In years 2-4 our One Outstanding Student interested in a USDA Mission Critical Career was Mykayla Latronica. She was provided with her scholarship, as well as the planned research experience in Costa Rica. She recently graduated cum laude with a degree in Molecular Biology, and will be starting graduate school in the Food Safety Program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She was awarded a USDA Scholarship to continue her studies there. Changes/Problems:Our primary problem has been with the agency contracted with to perform the external assessment of our instructional interventions. The survey instrument provided is focused solely on Experiential Learning. This survey will cost over $250 per student based on the limited reach of this activity. In contrast, we offered Supplemental Instruction to hundreds of students in the targeted courses covered by our project per semester, and thus thousands of students were not captured during the grant period, which would have brought the cost per survey into the $1-2 range. None of these students will complete such a survey. Early in the grant we tried to get the external assessor to modify the survey instrument, but we are not having any success improving his study design. The PD went on leave, and then retired during the first year of our project. Because he was not opening or forwarding emails, we did not actually get started on our project until January. However, we feel we have made up for lost time. Additionally, we were not included on the bulk of the communication to the PDs and were not invited to relevant meetings. In the future, one way to avoid this pitfall for other groups, would be for the USDA to send emails to both the PD and the co-PD of funded grants. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This grant has provided supplemental instruction support to train 92 tutors over academic years 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17. These tutors have in turn provided 7299 hours of tutoring to their near peers in support of science student success. While not funded by the grant, this work continued into 2017-18 as documented previously. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In order to gain the support and interest of the local agricultural community we have assembled an Ag Task Force. This group has met on the CSUMB campus to provide input to our nascent degree program. We (PD Haffa and co-PD Anderson) have also participated in larger community focus groups on the Hartnell campus, and at UC Davis and have been letting the local community know of our intent to offer the new Crop and Soil Science degree in the near future. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1) Increase the number and diversity of students completing degrees in agricultural and natural resource sciences Since the grant inception in 2014 the College of Science has enrolled 2947 new undergraduate and 336 graduate students. Of the undergraduates 453 (15.5%) have graduated, and 2074 (70.4%) are still enrolled. This cohort is on track to reaching our graduation goals. In the College of Science our URM student population has grown been near 40% for the duration of the grant and beyond (42% - 39%). Thus, while we were unable to increase the percent served, we were able to maintain our population in spite of our campus declaring impaction. As an HSI we are helping to diversity the workforce. Goal 2) Improve the curriculum for these career options A) Curriculum Development- We have developed courses in Plant Pathology, Plant Phyisology and Mycology to support our new Crop and Soil Science degree program. These are now popular within our biology curriculum and we will also be launching a new Plant Science concentration within the biology degree. While we did develop the Ag Journalism course, the faculty in that department have not offered it as of yet. The First Year Seminar "Eat, Love, Learn" continues to be a popular course for science majors. B) New Agriculturally Relevant Pathways- We are close to finalizing the development of a 2 + 2 program in Crop and Soil Science with local community colleges. This has taken longer than anticipated due to the recent changes in the General Education curriculum across the the entire California State University system. It is expected to launch in Fall 2019. The Dean has secured funding for an endowed position to support the program indefinitely. Goal 3) Better align the curriculum with the skills required to improve the competitive standing of the region's agricultural productivity A) Experiential Learning- 7 unique graduate students and 28 undergraduates have been provided with internships or research experiences working with on projects relevant to agriculture and natural resources. This number is slightly lower than our originally anticipated 9 and 30, but this is due to the retention of several students across multiple cycles of the grant. We selected undergraduate Mykayla Latronic as our one outstanding student. Following our field trip and internship day she secured a long term internship with Mann Packing. She has graduated cum laudein May 2018 and will begin an MS Food Safety Program at Cal Poly SLO in January 2019. She has obtained another USDA grant to support her further studies. B) Early Exposure to USDA Relevant Careers- Foundational science courses have had field trip experiences to the USDAARS (Salinas), the University of CA Cooperative Extension, and Monterey Mushroom. Additionally, on several occasions tour buses were rented and students visited professionals in the agricultural and natural resources community. This has allowed them to see connections between content and future goals.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
J. Duque*, S. Kortman, K. Prescott, J. Dexter, I. Zaragoza, E. Stanfield, C. T. Wang, K. Post, M. Cahn, F. Melton, A. Haffa. Quantification of N2O Emissions in Commercial Lettuce Fields Under Different On-Farm Irrigation and Nutrient Best Management Practices. Greater Visions Water Forum 2017, Seaside, CA, October 2017.
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Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17
Outputs
Target Audience:Again, during this granting period the primary target audiences included large groups of students enrolled in core science classes, individual students placed in one-on-one experiential learning scenarios, faculty and staff on the CSUMB campus in support of Supplemental InstructionI/internships/curriculum development. We also worked withfaculty on the Hartnell Community College Campus. The experiences of our students were enriched by community partners from industries (Andrew and Williamson, California Leafy Greens Board, Constellation Brands, D'Arrigo Brothers, Driscoll's, Fresh Express, Grower Shipper Association, INCOTEC, Ippolito International, Naturipe, Mann Packing, Pacific International Marketing, Scheid Vineyards, Tanimura and Antle, Taylor Farms, True Organic Products, Sakata Seed America, Scaroni Family of Companies, Wilbur Ellis) as well as government agencies (Monterey County Agricultural Center, USDA-ARS, NRCS, Resource Conservation District). These external partners helped in various ways including mentoring of students in experiential learning opportunities, providing on-site tours for students that included career advice and an internship fair, andin the development of a newcurriculum in Crop and Soil Scienceby serving on an Ag Task Force. Support of Large Instructional Courses This year we continued to support the Supplemental Instruction (SI) efforts in the core science courses on our campus. The courses include the core chemistry courses (CHEM 109, 110 and 111) and biology (BIO 210, 211, 311). We continued to offer the mandatory discussion sections for BIO 210, 211 and 311. Staff also worked to better catalogue and disseminate the SI materials to the SI instructors. Below is a summary table of hours dedicated to tutoring science students over the course of this grant. Academic Year # TutorsTotal Hours Average Hours/Tutor Average Weekly Hours/Tutor ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014-2015 26 2106 81 6.23 2015-2016 35 2893 83 6.36 2016-201731 230074 5.71 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Individual Student Support ~ Experiential Learning and Research During this grant period 17 undergraduates and 3 graduate students were provided paid experiential learning opportunities. This large number resulted because a number of the sites provided additional funds. The 17 undergraduates consisted of 6 women and 11 men. There was 1 Asian American, 2 Black/African Americans, 9 Hispanic/Latinx, and 5 Caucasians. All 3 graduate students were female. There was 1 Black/African American and 2 Whites. Funds from this grant were used to recruit a Hispanic male graduate student to the program, but he was offered other funding. Individual Student Support ~ Field Trips On September 26, 2016 twenty-two students toured local fields (strawberries and broccoli), a cooler, and a packing facility. After the tour the participants went to the Monterey County Agricultural Center and saw internship/career presentations from representatives from 13 local area agriculturally-relevant firms. Several other CSUMB and Hartnell students were able to join in this part of the day. As a result of a connection made at this event our outstanding scholarship student, Mykayla Latronica, was offered a position with Tanimura and Antle. After ~6 months she was promoted and was able to help recruit another student to fill her previous internship role. Individual Student Support ~ Conferences During this period of the grant 6 students attended 8 national conferences (Latinos in Agriculture, Grapevine, TX, the USDA NIFA Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, NM and the American Phytopathological Society Meeting in San Antonio, TX). Both Mykayla Latronica and Roberto Ornelas attended both the LAG and the USDA meetings. Other students (Richard Canes, Samuel Cude, Elisabeth Mersino, and Aiden Shands) each attended one meeting. Unfortunately, due to fears over immigration policies a number of students who were scheduled to attend the USDA meeting cancelled at the last minute. Additionally, 5 students attended 8 state conferences (AgSafe Farm and Foods, CSUPERB, WRPI) or international conferences held in the state (the American Geophysical Union). The project director (A. Haffa) and co-project director (S. Anderson) both attended the USDA NIFA PD meeting in Albuquerque, NMas well as the Ag Task Force meeting on the CSUMB campus(1/17/17), a Seed Central Seed Brainstorming Session on the Talent Pipeline (UC Davis 1/12/17), and a Seed Central student career mentoring event (Hartnell College, Salinas, 10/27/16). The PD also attended the Fresh Summit (Orlando, FL 10/13-10/16/17). The three more local events provided good networking opportunities with the local agricultural community, while the 2 national meetings provided a greater sense of the role of the Salinas Valley in agriculture on a broader level. Changes/Problems:We do not have any major issues to report in terms of the success of the Supplemental Instruction or the Internships, as well as the career mentoring via field trips to agricultural sites and agencies. While we originally intended these trips to be integrated into classroom experiences,we have found that having them be generally available to all students is more successful, and easier to manage as part of the curriculum.There is a growing body of students on our campus who are now interested in pursuing agriculturally-relevant careers. Due to shifts in the overall general education structure in the entire California State University system the launch of the new Crop and Soil Science degree program has been delayed a year. However, it is on track to be successful in the near future. Again this year we were not notified of the PD meeting and hope that we will be included on the email distribution list for 2018. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This grant has provided supplemental instruction support to train 92 tutors over academic years 2014-15, 2015-16, and 2016-17. These tutors have in turn provided 7299 hours of tutoring to their near peers in support of science student success. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?In order to gain the support and interest of the local agricultural community we have assembled an Ag Task Force. This group has met on the CSUMB campus to provide input to our nascent degree program. We (PD Haffa and co-PD Anderson) have also participated in larger community focus groups on the Hartnell campus, and at UC Davis and have been letting the local community know of our intent to offer the new Crop and Soil Science degree in the near future. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In order to complete the degree program's development we will be submitting the paperwork through the campus and system channels. We had anticipated the launch for fall 2018, but it is now likely to be fall 2019.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1) Increase the number and diversity of students completing degrees in agricultural and natural resource sciences Since the grant inception in 2014 the College of Science has enrolled 2634 new students. Of these 282 (10.7%) have graduated, and 1815 (68.9%) are still enrolled. This cohort is on track to reaching our graduation goals.As a campus our URM student population has grown from 48.7% in 2014 to 51.3% in 2016 (the most recent data), and we have been working on a graduation initiative to increase graduation rates across the board. The link belowcontains a detailedsummary of all newly admitted students into the College of Science since Fall 2014. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16Rh6oJBCuMjREH3L7oR63_fhY1M74MA2K37srjyhYrg/edit?usp=sharing Goal 2) Improve the curriculum for these career options A) Curriculum Development- We have developed courses in Plant Pathology, Plant Phyisology and Mycology to support our new Crop and Soil Science degree program. These are now popular within our biology curriculum and we will also be launching a new Plant Science concentration within the biology degree. While we did develop the Ag Journalism course, the faculty in that department have not offered it as of yet. The First Year Seminar "Eat, Love, Learn" continues to be a popular course for science majors. B) New Agriculturally Relevant Pathways- We are close to finalizing the development of a 2 + 2 program in Crop and Soil Sciencewith local community colleges. This has takenlonger than anticipated due to the recent changes in the General Education curriculum across the the entireCalifornia State University system. Goal 3) Better align the curriculum with the skills required to improve the competitive standing of the region's agricultural productivity A) Experiential Learning-7 unique graduate students and27 undergraduates have been provided with internships or research experiences working with on projects relevant to agriculture and natural resources.This number is slightly lower than our originally anticipated 9 and 30, but this is due to the retention of several students across multiple cycles of the grant. We have selectedundergraduate Mykayla Latronic as our one outstanding student. B) Early Exposure to USDA Relevant Careers- Foundational science courses have had field trip experiences to the USDA- ARS (Salinas), the University of CA Cooperative Extension, and Monterey Mushroom. Additionally, a tour bus was rented and studentsvisited professionals in the agricultural and natural resources community. This has allowed them to see connections between content and future goals.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Canes, R., and White, A. Mycelium Cultivation to a Small Farm Operation. (2017) Workforce Diversity and Career Opportunities within the USDA for Current and Recent Graduates, Albuquerque, NM, February 16-18, 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Cude, S. Shands, A., Miles, T. Cucurbit Downy Mildew Identification Assay. (2017) Workforce Diversity and Career Opportunities within the USDA for Current and Recent Graduates, Albuquerque, NM, February 16-18, 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Latronica, M., Mazzuca, M. Commodity Management Internship with Tanimura and Antle. (2017) Workforce Diversity and Career Opportunities within the USDA for Current and Recent Graduates, Albuquerque, NM, February 16-18, 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Mersino, E., and Baral, J. Tomato Breeding Internship with Enza Zaden. (2017) Workforce Diversity and Career Opportunities within the USDA for Current and Recent Graduates, Albuquerque, NM, February 16-18, 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Ornelas, R. Transcriptome Analysis of Downy Mildew of Spinach. (2017) Workforce Diversity and Career Opportunities within the USDA for Current and Recent Graduates, Albuquerque, NM, February 16-18, 2017.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Mortensen, ZH, Leandro, M., and Silveus, JM. Efficacy of Bioremediation of Agricultural Runoff Using Bacterial Communities in Woodchip Bioreactors. (2017) AGU Fall Meeting, Poster H13D-1403, San Francisco, CA, December 12-16, 2016.
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Progress 09/01/15 to 08/31/16
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences for this granting period include large groups of students enrolled in core science classes, individual students placed in one-on-one experiential learning scenarios, faculty and staff on the CSUMB campus in support of developing Ag Curriculum, faculty on the Hartnell Community College campus, and community partners fromindustries (e.g. The Grower Shipper Association, Driscolls, True Ag, EnzaZaden)and agencies (e.g. USDA- ARS, Santa CruzRCD) who are providing career mentoring and experiential learning opportunities, and career mentoring via site visits. Support of Large Instructional Courses The primary activity in support of the academic programs in the second year of the grant was again to provide Supplemental Instruction (SI) in the core science courses on our campus. In addition to the core chemistry (CHEM 109, 110 and 111) and biology (BIO 210 and 211), we made the decision to add SI to genetics (BIO 311) as this course had the highest failure rate on campus. Because supplemental instruction is not mandatory we also made the decision to add discussion sections to BIO 210, BIO 211 and BIO 311.In BIO 210 one of the primary learning strategies that had been reinforced in Concept Mapping. BIO 211 has stressed the use of incomplete tables to organize ideas (Plant Structure/Function etc) which provides visuals for organizing information. We are finding that SI is the place where students come seeking study strategies rather than simply to learn concepts. We also are noting that instructor buy-in is extremely important in terms of getting students to walk through the door. Individual Student Support ~ Experiential Learning and Research Opportunities, Field Trips, and Conferences This granting period we were able to significantly increase the number of student engaged in agriculturally-relevant experiences including experiential learning, research, field trips, and conference. Below is a summary of the students who were impacted. --------------------------------- KEY: *= internship paid by USDA between September 1, 2015- August 31, 2016. # Student received USDA funding between September 1, 2014-August 31, 2015, and other on-campus funding to continue the work between September 1, 2015- August 31, 2016. CDFA = registration fees paid by campus matching funds to attend CDFA- WPHA conference. EA =Registration fees paid by campus matching funds to attend EcoAg conference. AGU = Student registration fees paid by grant to attend AGU conference to present Ag-related research. ARI = Student attended the Agricultural Research Initiative Conferencewith CSU System funding. ------------------------------------- STUDENTS: CDFA- Sam Arredondo (Undergraduate) CDFA, EA- Adriene Baade (Undergraduate) *Joanna Cardenas (Undergraduate), AgBiotech, Inc. CDFA-Mahala Cardinelli (Undergraduate) *Anna Conlen (Undergraduate --> Graduate Student), NASA/CSUMB Cooperative research on how BMPs influence nitrate in field studies *Michelle dela Cruz (Undergraduate), CSUMB/Community Ag agencies research on the history of Food Labels in the Salinas Valley *Francisco Hernandez (Undergraduate), NASA/CSUMB Cooperative research on how BMPs influences nitrous oxide emissions *John Inman (Graduate Student), BLM Grassland Range Management using Goats CDFA- Noah Luecke (Undergraduate) *Jose Madrid (Undergraduate) NASA/CSUMB Cooperative research on how BMPs influences nitrous oxide emissions CDFA-Dylan Martin (Undergraduate) *Elisabeth Mersino (Undergraduate) Enza Zaden Tomato Plant Breeding and Genetics *Rebecca Moore (Undergraduate) RCD Santa Cruz, reducing soil erosion and urban and agricultural runoff, off-farm sediment transport, non-point source pollution, salmonid and wildlife recovery, and improving ecosystem health. #, EA-Teresa Munoz (Undergraduate) Use of WoodChip Bioreactor to Reduce Nitrate *,EA, AGU, ARI- Gabriel Muro (Graduate Student) Use of Ground Penetrating Radar to Study Vadose Zone Water Movement Under BMPs *Mary Joe Martinez (Undergraduate) TrueAg Organic Fertilizer Research CDFA, #- Julio Martinez (Undergraduate) USDA-ARS Plant Pathology # CDFA- Justin Vivar (Undergraduate) Use of WoodChip Bioreactor to Reduce Nitrate Additionally, as part of course field trips, 19 Students toured the USDA ARS in Salinas, CA using grant funds, 19 Students toured the UC Cooperative Extension, and 15 students toured Monterey Mushroom as part of classroom field trips. Ag Curriculum Development Faculty on our campus have been working to develop a new major (Tentatively: Plant and Soil Science), as well as a new concentration under the umbrella of Biology (Plant Biology) during this funding cycle.Faculty and staff have also been paid to develop Supplemental Instruction materials that have a focus on Agriculture when possible. Staff have been assisting in the advertising Ag-relevant opportunitesvia a weekly electronic newsletter. Faculty on our campus have also been in active collaboration with faculty from the nearby Hartnell Community College in order to develop the new degree program. Some of the lower division courses will be housed on that campus, as they already have in place strong industry support and a solid core curriculum. Community Partnerships This year the CSUMB campus has made numerous and varied efforts to connect to the regional agricultural industry and associated agencies. Students and staff have taken tours hosted by the Monterey County Agricultural Education Bureau. Our campus hosted an event with the Grower Shipper Association (Greater Vision, September 5, 2015). The Project Director was also provided an all-expense paid opportunity to attend the Produce Marketing Association "Fresh Summit" in Orlando, FL October 14-16 through the Growing Talent initiative of PMA. In spring, as we began to develop the curriculum, we began reaching out to the local community partners. We have been met with enthusiasm, and many statements of "its about time". Changes/Problems:It has been challenging to get instructor buy-in for the validity of supplemental instruction. We hope that now that we have concrete data we will be able to change the mindset and create a campus culture that values learning how to learn, rather than simply memorizing facts. (not a major change, simply a problem statement) It has also been difficult to integrate field trips into the core lower division courses. To circumvent this problem we havedeveloped stand-alone opportunities for students and facilitated their ability to attend. (e.g. Seed Central Events on the Hartnell Campus, or Field Trips open to all students not just a particular class). Fortunately, the PD was awarded tenure and is on leave this fall. This has allowed for tremendous growth in her understanding of grant management and facilitated the time necessary to develop strong regional relationships to support these efforts moving forward. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided extensive support for the development of Supplemental Instruction materials, and for the dissemination of them through our campus' Center for Cooperative Learning. In addition to the student training described in the "Target Audience" section of this report, this project has provided extension training in grant management to the PD. (This is the PDs first major grant).The PD is also becoming more integrated into the regional agricultural community, and is learning about the networks and other ancillary training opportunities available to the students on our campus. Funding also supported the purchase of a variety of small equipment and materials for classroom instruction related to plant and soil science, and genetics. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Students have presented the results of their research and experiential learning at the agencies they worked at (e.g. Enza Zaden), or at scientific meetings (the AGU), as well as California State University system-wide and campus events. The Supplemental Instruction materials have been catalogued and shared with the near-peer students who are involved in the dissemination through the Center for Cooperative Learning. The newly developed curricular materials have been shared campus-wide, and are being routed to the CSU Chancellor's Office. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Through a survey accomplished in concert with the Community Health and Human Services faculty on our campus we found that one of the primary reasons that our upper division courses are less diverse than our lower division courses is that We are in the process of creating an industry/agency Agricultural Curriculum Advisory Board. The first meeting is planned for December 2016. We have also begun the statistical analysis of the impact of the Supplemental Instruction on student learning as they progress through the lower division core science courses into the upper division. The final documents will require CSU System as well as WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) approval and the PD and co-PD are working on this. We have developed a strong relationship with the Grower Shipper Association and have they have just recently hosted a first annual Career and Internship Tour Day for our students. We are working to solidify this and insure it continues in future years. Through this venue we made a score of new contacts concerning student internship and career opportunities and have been actively sharing them with our student body. We will continue to do this. Now that we have developed a data set surrounding the use of Supplemental Instruction we will disseminate it on our campus, and seek to share it via a published manuscript and at conferences.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This funding has impacted the California State University Monterey Bay campus by improving student success in high risk science courses, improving the curriculum, and increasing the awareness on the part of the students and faculty about the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill mission critical occupational needs in the surrounding agricultural industry. The faculty engaged with this grant have created stronger ties between the campus and the regional agricultural community, and Hartnell College, a nearby community college that already has a strong lower division agriculturally-relevant curriculum. Due to this funding, the campus is now poised to launch a new degree program in Plant and Soil Science using the input from local industry partners, and faculty at Hartnell. Students have responded with an increased interest in experiential learning opportunities and career options. While the program is in its nascent stages of development, it has the potential to provide long term impacts on the Salinas Valley agricultural industry and beyond. The major goals of this project are to: 1) increase the number and diversity of students completing degrees in agricultural and natural resource sciences; 2) improve the curriculum for these career options; 3) better align the curriculum with the skills required to improve the competitive standing of the region's agricultural productivity; and, 4) provide students with early exposure to careers in food, agricultural, and natural resource sciences. Objectives: 1) Retention- We will develop and implement supplemental instruction in foundational courses to increase the current underrepresented minority 6 year graduation rate in Agricultural and Natural Resource Science programs from 20% to 65%. We have implemented supplemental instruction in the core lower division science courses. URM students who began with the initial cohort impacted by this grant would have first been affected in Spring 2015. At this time we cannot state conclusively whether this cohort will have those graduation rates 4 years from now. However, in tracking the students from the original cohort who took advantage of Supplemental Instruction early on we are finding statistically significant success in future courses. CHEM 110 Data -Spring 15 245 students enrolled; 162 students(66%) passed and 83 students (34%) did not pass. (We are calling all 245 studentsCHEM 110 SP 15 Cohort). 84 (CHEM 110 SP 15 CLC user Cohort) students attended tutoring for CHEM 110 22 (CHEM 110 SP 15 CLC user Cohort) (26%) CLC users did not pass CHEM 110; 62 (74%) did pass CHEM 110 Results of chi squared test of independence suggest, a significant association between participation in the CLC and passing CHEM 110 (χ2 = 149, DF=2, P < 0.00001). This same cohort of students was then tracked through to BIO 210 (the 3rd course in the sequence after CHEM 111). BIO 210 Data -Spring 16 142 students enrolled in BIO 210spring 16 Of the total 142 enrolled, 50 (35%) are from the CHEM 110 SP 15 Cohort Of the 50 students, 18 (36%) were from the CHEM 110 SP 15 CLC user Cohort Of the 18 CHEM 110 CLC User Cohort, 15 (83%) passed BIO 210 in SP 16 Of the 32 CHEM 110 Cohort non CLC users, only 66% passed BIO 210 in SP 16. There is only a 17% fail rate in BIO 210 among the CHEM 110 SP 15 CLC user Cohort, and there is a 44% fail rate among CHEM 110 Cohort non CLC users Results of χ2 test of independence suggest, a significant association between early adoption of CLC services, during CHEM 110, and passing BIO 210 in the first year (χ2 = 31.24, DF=2, p < 0.000001). 2) Student Demographics in Agriculture and Natural Resource-science Degree Programs- Our objective is to have 1000 students enrolled in relevant undergraduate and graduate degree programs and that 500 will be underrepresented minorities. Fall 2015 Data for the CSUMB campus shows aTotal Enrollment of7,102, of which 6,648 were undergraduates. http://www.calstate.edu/AS/stat_reports/2015-2016/fmaj02.htm 954 students were enrolled in Fall 2015 in the sciences that are relevant to the USDA Mission: Biology (672), Environmental Science (116), Environmental Studies (153), and Watershed Management (13) Other majors on campus that are relevant to the mission, but not in the College of Science include: Agricultural Business (19), Exercise Physiology (218), Kinesiology (462).Thus, there are 1653 undergraduate students on our campus who could serve the Agricultural Community. The CSUMB student body is 46% URM (https://csumb.edu/sites/default/files/images/st-block-39-1454606038368-raw-erssenrollmentfastfactsfall20152.pdf). The ethnic/racial breakdown is: Mexican Americans (2,482), other Latinos (427), African American (405), and Native Americans (28). There are also 440 students who are two or more races, and 503 unknown, which could potentially bring this to 60%. In Biology, which is currently our primary student pathway from CSUMB to a career in Agriculture 53% of our students are URM. (access to this requires faculty log-in to the Cal State system). 3) Curriculum Development We have developed 2 new courses with USDA relevant themes (a First Year Seminar on Childhood Obesity, and a writing class in Agricultural Journalism). This past year 138 students were enrolled in the First Year Seminar Eat, Love, Learn. We anticipate that with the launch of the new degree program the other course will also be offered soon. 4) New Agriculturally Relevant Pathways The College of Business has developed a 2+2 pathway in Agribusiness. https://csumb.edu/business/hartnell-22-transfer-ag?_search=agribusiness In the first year 19 students have declared this major. http://www.calstate.edu/AS/stat_reports/2015-2016/fmaj04.htm The College of Science has also sought and obtained university-wide approval to develop a new degree program in Plant and Soil Science. Additionally, we are working to develop a new concentration in Plant Biology for students interested in pursing research in plant pathology, breeding, or genetics. 5) Experiential Learning- 9 graduate students and 24 undergraduates will have 1-year internships or research experiences working with on projects relevant to agriculture and natural resources There will also be one undergraduate who will be selected for a 4-yr research stipend/scholarship. This year we were able to meet our goal of providing experiential learning and opportunities for 8 undergraduate and 3 graduate students (detailed below in Target Audience). The student who we originally selected for the 4 year scholarship chose not to continue and we revisited the original application pool and have selected a new student. She has recently attended the Latinos in Agriculture and is currently seeking an internship in Food Safety. 6) Early Exposure to USDA Relevant Careers- Foundational science courses will have field trip experiences and visits from professionals in the agricultural and natural resources community so that early in their academic programs they are able to see connections between content and future goals. Classroom visits were taken in Spring 2016 to the USDA ARS, the UC Cooperative Extension, and Monterey Mushroom with funding from this grant. Over the spring and summer terms we developed a strong relationship with the local Grower Shipper Association. In collaboration with them an all day Ag-Career and Internship Day was planned and executed in the early part of the year 3 funding.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Muro, G, and Haffa, A, Monitoring of Soil Moisture Dynamics Via Ground Penetrating Radar, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, December 2015, SF, CA Abstract No.83268.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
G. Muro, Isolating the Effects of Low-cost Best Management Practices on Soil Moisture Dynamics and N2O Emissions with Ground Penetrating Radar, CSU Agricultural Research Initiative Fall Meeting Claremont, CA, (oral presentation).
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Munoz, T, and Vivar, J. Identifying Novel Aerobic Denitrifiers from the Molera Constructed Treatment Wetland, CSUMB Spring Capstone Festival, May 2016 (poster presentation).
- Type:
Other
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
M. Sosa, Z. Mortensen, A. Ball, T. Munoz, and J. Vivar, A Controlled Study of Denitrifying Bioreactors, CSUMB UROC Spring Showcase Oral Presentation, https://csumb.edu/uroc/csumb-showcase April 22, 2016.
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Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Supplemental Instruction Our primary activities were focused on implementingSupplemental Instruction (SI) in the core science courses on our campus. Supplemental Instruction targets challenging courses, not students who are find the courses challenging.In the first year of the project, we offered a small pilot of SI in the second semester chemistry (30 students inCHEM 111). Each week the lesson plans included some ag-related examples. We are also targeting instructors on our campus, and are offering a training workshop for them in the Fall 2015.Two of the members of the grant (Haffa, Detka), as well as the Interim Director of the Academic Skills Acheivement Program attended a multi-day training in Supplemental Instruction to prepare for this effort. It was hosted by the CSU Chancellor's Office and co-taught bythe University of MO-Kansas City International Program for Supplemental Instruction. We have implemented SI in 3 biology, 3 chemistry, 1 kinesiology, and 3 physics courses in August 2015 on our campus. These courses are all relevant to USDA Mission Critical career preparation and all have high "DFW" (i.e. failure)rates. We arenow offering SI toover 1300undergraduate students this semester alone. We have been able to do this by leveraging other grant funds in synergy with this project which is focused on the biology and chemistry courses. Broadening Student Interest in USDA Mission Critical Careers To expand student interest in Ag-related careers two new courses were developed. Both are forfreshman or sophomorestudents, who are early in their college career. They are open to all students on campus. The first is a general education course that will satisify the lower level written and oral communication requirement for all undergraduates:Reading, Writing, and Critical Thinking for Agricultural Science. The issuesexplored are related to civil rights, land ownership,geographic location, farmworkers and other topics related to the cultural value of agriculture. The second courseCareers in Agriculturewill combine classroom instruction with field trips to farms, packing plants, the USDA ARS, and other agencies relevant to agriculture in the Salinas Valley. This course is being offered for the first time starting in August 2015 (fall semester). Student Experiential Learning Undergraduates with an interest in USDA relevant projects were targeted, especially underrepresented minoritiesand students who had not been previously offered relevant experiences. One was placed for the summer with the US Forest Service at Los Padres National Forest. She reported to the Forest PublicAffairs Officer and provided operational support in the area of visitor information. She also helpeddevelop effective external messaging,social media content, and other informational materials as required in support of the program. Some of her time was spent on the trails doing conservation and land management tasks. Another was placed in an internship with an Ag-journalist on the CSUMB campus. Several students worked on a agricultural run-off water management project, that was also supported by funding from the CSU Agricultural Research Initiative. They identifed and cultured microbes capable of nitrate and pesticide remediation, and worked with a team on the CSUMB campus that are building a series of bioreactors to study best management practices. The team is seeking additional funding from the Strawberry Association, and the EPA. We recruited 2 other students to work along side the graduate students at the BLM and with the NASA COOP described below, but both obtained other funding. The PD (Haffa) attended the Watershed Research and Policy Initiative meeting held at Fresno State, April 2015, with 2 undergraduate students working on bioremediation of agricultural water. The target for the graduate experiential learning experiences during the early months of the project were students currently on campus who had expressed interest in pursuing USDA relevant projects. One spent themajority of her time working on the Fallow Area Mapping (FAM) project using remotely sensed satellite information to map fallowed lands in the Central Valley, CA. This information is used to support California Department of Water Resources in responding to current drought conditions. Her work included researching and developing algorithms to use for satellite crop type identification and conducting field surveys to validate satellite crop type estimates. She also worked on a GIS analysis of climate change impacts on ecosystem conditions in national parks and forests. She often workedin the field, installing and maintaining soil moisture sensors, conducting nutrient sampling, and managing irrigation and yield trials at a USDA research farm. The other worked with the BLM. Hisresearch was to measure the efficacy of goat browsing as a tool to reduce and reverse shrub encroachment in a California coastal grassland. This is relevant to land management issues because California coastal grasslands provide important ecological and economic services such as habitat for conservation priority species and livestock forage. These services are being threatened by shrub encroachment, which land managers have observed in California coastal grasslands for at least the past five decades. In the past, wildland fire provided an effective disturbance for maintaining grasslands. Today, goat browsing may be able to provide a similarly effective disturbance. In Spring of 2015 we also actively recruited incoming students with interests in USDA relevant careers. Two of the recruits are Hispanic males, andthe otheris female. One will be working on developing best management practices for irrigation and fertilizer management as part of the NASA-CSUMB cooperative. The other has been negotiating a Professional Science Master project with the US Forest Service. In order to recruit one of these students we offered him a summer stipend the year prior to initiating his courses, so that he could begin to develop relationships with the growers and land owners in his study site. All three of the recruited students are enrolled for the fall semester. Recruiting and Supporting one Outstanding Student We solicited scholarship applicants across campus from 1st year students and all accepted incoming freshman or transfers with at least 3 years left in their educational goals. They had to demonstrate a strong interest in a career that was critical to the mission of the USDA. We chose a student, Francisco Javier Hernandez, Jr.,who showed potential, but barriers to success. These include a lack of familial support, anda poor quality HS education.He will be supported by a mentorship with a faculty member who works closely with the USDA ARS in Salinas, and financial support to insure he does not overextend himself by working to support himself and his family. He is the first in his family to attend college, and the first from his high school near Bakersfield, CA to be offered a scholarship. Heplans to pursue a career in some sort of plant breeding or genetics field, but has had limited exposure to these topics. We had hoped to begin supporting him in the summer, and provided him with housing on campus and access to the Math course he needed to graduate in 4 year (at a nearby community college). We also had an experiential learning opportunity lined up with a faculty member who also works closely with the USDA ARS in Salinas (Dr. Timothy Miles). Mr. Hernandez was unable to live in the area, this summer due to familial obligations, but we have decided to continue to support his education. His scholarship funds will be provided this fall forward. By giving him the last allotment in the final months of the grant (August 2018), we believe that we will be able to support his continued success in spite of these incredible obstacles. Changes/Problems:Our primary problem has been with the agency contracted with to perform the external assessment of our instructional interventions. The survey instrument provided is focused solely on Experiential Learning. This survey will cost over $250 per student based on the limited reach of this activity. In contrast, we are ahead of schedule andoffering SI to hundreds of students in the targeted courses covered by our project andover 1300 students total on our campusthis semester alone, and thus over 2000 are predicted for the the upcoming grant period, which would bring the cost per survey into the $1-2 range. Noneof these students will complete such a survey as it is not relevant to the primary work of our grant. We have tried to get the external assessor to modify the survey instrument, but we are not having any success improving his study design. The PD went on leave, and then retired during the first year of our project. Because he was not opening or forwarding emails, we did not actually get started on our project until January. However, we feel we have made up for lost time. In the future, one was to avoid this pitfall for other groups, would be for the USDA to send emails to both the PD and the co-PD of funded grants. Our campus was fortunate to hire two new assistant professors with strong interests in agriculture (a plant pathologist and a chemist). They will be helping to teach 2 of the core courses indentified by this project (BIO 211 and CHEM 111). Thus, we have delayed the purchase of instructional equipment to support ag education until they are more fully immersed, and then utilize their knowledge to best support our instructional efforts in the laboratories. We were also able to support the Agricultural Careers course field trips with campus vans in this, its pilot semester offering. Thus, we have not spent the instructional travel funds. Our plans are to expand field trips to broader campus audiences, and to seek speakers who could be hosted at on-campus events. The entire CSUMB campus web sites were completely overhauled this year, to allow easier access on mobile devices. This caused a delay in our acquistion of a web address. When we began placingstudents with experiential learning opportunities we founddifferential pay rates between agencies and grant listed rates, and that longer hours were needed to provide a summer experience. For example, the US FS requested over 350 hours for their student intern, as opposed to the 200 budgeted hours.This resulted in fewer student than originally planned. Moving forward, we am working to identify supplementary funds from other sources to close the funding gaps. We held our competition for the scholarship in the spring. We recruited from all current Freshman, and all incoming students with at least 3 additional years of schooling to graduate. Because of our desire to cast a broad net, the student was not selected until late April. He struggled with family responsibility and staying on campus for part of the summer to work with our plant pathologist and enroll in a math course. Ultimately, hedecided that the former was better for him, but we decided to stick with our plans to support him. Because of this he is now just getting started with his campus support and mentoring. He is an incredible diamond in the rough, and we hope to chaperone him toward a successful career in plant genetics or breeding. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Co-PD (Anderson)attended the PD meeting in Florida. The PD (Haffa) and Key Personnel identified to be the Supplemental Instruction Supervisor (Detka) attended training in Supplemental Instruction. The 2 of them, along with another colleague (Singh)plan to disseminate what they learned to the CSUMB campus faculty so that SI can be more broadly dispersed. We have made plans for this dissemination with the Director of Teaching, Learning and Assessment on our campus this fall (2015). 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 are trying towork with the external assessment firm identified by the USDA to quantify and characterize our instructional interventions. To date, they are only willing to target theirsurvey to the 8 students in Experiential Learning opportunities, rather than the many being offeredSupplemental Instruction.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
1) Retention-We have laid the foundation for offering supplemental instruction in the core science programs on our campus. Key personnel on the grant have taken training in SI and are preparing to disseminate it across our campus. We have had incredible momentum on this account. While we had hoped to begin implementing SI in CHEM 111 this fall we are going much further. We have identified and hired students to implement SI inall of thecourses identified in the grant proposal ahead of schedule(CHEM 111, BIO 210, BIO 211)in Fall 2015. Additionally, we are offering SI in BIO 311 (genetics, which had the highest fail rate on campus last year), and CHEM 109, CHEM 110, PHYS 121, 150, 220, and KIN 371.Students who are able to pass these core coursesare well-prepared to complete a degree in a USDA-relevant major. We are offering SI to over 1300 students this fall. This is due to our working closely with our campus ASAP Center and the staff there. 2) Student Demographics in Agricultural and Natural Resource-science Degree Programs-Because there is a lag for the reporting of institutional research data, it is difficult to assess our success at this goal. Fall 2014 Data: Total Enrollment 6631, of which 6229 where undergraduates. http://www.calstate.edu/AS/stat_reports/2014-2015/fmaj02.htm 814 students were enrolled inFall 2014 in the sciences that are relevant to the USDA Mission:Biology (672), Environmental Studies (116),Watershed Management (26). If all of the majors oncampus are included:Agri-business (13),Excercise Physiology (237), Kinesiology (374), (the latter 2 address nutrition andchildhood obesity) there were 1438 students. Source: http://www.calstate.edu/AS/stat_reports/2014-2015/fmaj04.htm In fall 2015 38% of our student body has self-identified as Hispanic, which is the largest demographic on campus. Caucasians are second at 35%. Again, this data experiences a lag, and we will update this as necessary in future reports. 3) Curriculum Development- We have developed 2 courses with USDA relevant themes (a writing class in Agricultural Journalism, and an Agricultural Careers course). We are offering the latter for the first time this fall. We are submitting the Agricultural Journalism course for General Education (GE) approval this fall. (Last year our campus had a moratoriam). Although not part of this grant, our campus is offering a new Plant Pathology course for the first time this fall, and it is completely full. Thus, in the fall semester we currently have 32 students enrolled in these 2 new courses. The First Year Seminar (Eat, Love, Learn) explores nutrition and there are 62 students enrolled in the 2 sections this fall. Thus, we havereached our goal of 86 by the end of the second semester just this fall. Our campus has been experiencing incredible growth, due to impaction on other campuses and lack of impaction until recently on our own. 4) New Agriculturally Relevant Pathways- We have initiated the paperwork (Authorization to Plan) process, and have received the go ahead from our Associate Vice President for Academic Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, as well as the Associate Vice President for Academic Programs/Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Programs. We have met several times with the Dean of Advanced Technology and Applied Science at Hartnell Community College and have received student interest surveys from him. We have also initiated a community needs assessment that is required of the Authorization to Plan paperwork. We hope to submit the document to the campus curricular bodies this coming fall. In addition to the 2+2 pathway we are also hoping to have our own campus Agricultural degree program as well for non-transfer students. We are working on the first step with is a community needs assessment survey to justify the degrees. 5) Experiential Learning-In the first year of the project 3 graduate and 4 undergraduate students have had internship and research experiences. We have held a competition and selected one undergraduate student for a research stipend/scholarship. 6) Early Exposure to USDA Relevant Careers-We plan to implement field trips this fall in the Agricultural Careers course. We have started a website to share internship, workshop, and field trip opportunities.At the end of every class period an agriculturally relevant example was provided in the second half of the secondsemester biology course (BIO 211), which was being taught by former USDA ARS scientist, and current CSUMB faculty. Our campus also became and ARI (Agricultural Research Initiative) campus in the CSU System. This opened up grant funds to our campus and this is providing students with research experiences not directly funded by this project.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Improving Student Success in Agriculture-related Sciences with Academic Support and Career Mentoring, S. Anderson, A. Haffa, and M. Los Huertos, National Agi-science Education Conference, Nov 18-22, 2014, FIU, Miami, FL
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