Progress 05/01/21 to 04/30/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience includes undergraduate students, faculty and companion animal industry representatives interested in projects and outcomes related to applied career-oriented curriculum in a non-land grant college of agriculture. The development of the novel curriculum, internships, academic programming, and industry collaborations spanned a wide spectrum of industry representation, including companion animal health, management, housing service dog training, and laboratory-based learning for the spectrum of domesticated and non-domesticated companion animal species. The development of outreach opportunities touched sectors in the industry involved in service dog training, companion animal shletering and accessible veterinary medical care. Changes/Problems:A major change in the lifetime of the award was the pandemic, which stymied activities in the realm of in-person learning and outreach. The conditions, however, offered opportunity to learn and acquire online platforms that continue to operate currently despite the return to more traditional in-person lecture delivery. For example, curricular content is now routinely recorded so that students may access the content ahead of in-person instruction, and therefore have time to better prepare for the week's content ("flipping the classroom"). Connection to peers has been enhanced through online discussion and group forums created by necessity during the pandemic, and access to regional and national resources in live-time has been enahnced through wider use of Zoom and Teams online meetings formats. A ripple effect of the capacity building activitieshas been the explosive growth of the companion animal emphasis at UW-River Falls. Within the Animal and Food Science major, it has surpassed the equine emphasis to become the largest emphasis in the department, currently enrolling just over 300 students. Additionally, the companion animal coursework attracts students from a wide spectrum of disciplines (majors) at the university, creating robust enrollment, space and faculty load pressures. The university administration has recognized these pressures and is supportive of the need for designated space and additional faculty. Nevertheless, the demand of 300-plus students on the available load by two designated faculty in the emphasis continues to be quite exquisite in terms of teaching, advising, undergraduate research demands and community outreach. These pressures are broadly recognized within the companion animal faculty and university administration not as "problems" but as opportunities to remain a leader in this area of novel curriculum at a non-land grant college of agriculture. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A key area of professional development has been in the realm of companion animal shelter management. Funding through this award allowed load for PI Rausch to engage with and connect with regional and national experts to ulitmately develop and deliver the novel course ANSC 389 Companion Animal Shelter Management. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Instructional delivery of novel coursework Delivery of additional or expanded laboratory elements UW River Falls Marketing and Communications What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The companion animal emphasis now surpasses the equine emphasis in the Animal and Food Science Department, with over 300 students enrolled. It is, by enrollment, the third largest program at the university, within 8 years of becoming a stand-alone emphasis. The capacity building performed as a result of this award has attracted and retained students who perceive value in the education of companion animal science. The boradly applied skillset can be translated into areas of small business management, veterinary medical services, animal-assisted therapy application and public health, among others.
Publications
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Progress 05/01/18 to 04/30/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Target audience includes undergraduate students, faculty and companion animal industry representatives interested in projects and outcomes related to applied career-oriented curriculum in a non-land grant college of agriculture. The development of the novel curriculum, internships, academic programming, and industry collaborations spanned a wide spectrum of industry representation, including companion animal health, management, housing service dog training, and laboratory-based learning for the spectrum of domesticated and non-domesticated companion animal species. The development of outreach opportunities touched sectors in the industry involved in service dog training, companion animal shletering and accessible veterinary medical care. Changes/Problems:A major change in the lifetime of the award was the pandemic, which stymied activities in the realm of in-person learning and outreach. The conditions, however, offered opportunity to learn and acquire online platforms that continue to operate currently despite the return to more traditional in-person lecture delivery. For example, curricular content is now routinely recorded so that students may access the content ahead of in-person instruction, and therefore have time to better prepare for the week's content ("flipping the classroom"). Connection to peers has been enhanced through online discussion and group forums created by necessity during the pandemic, and access to regional and national resources in live-time has been enahnced through wider use of Zoom and Teams online meetings formats. A ripple effect of the capacity building activitieshas been the explosive growth of the companion animal emphasis at UW-River Falls. Within the Animal and Food Science major, it has surpassed the equine emphasis to become the largest emphasis in the department, currently enrolling just over 300 students. Additionally, the companion animal coursework attracts students from a wide spectrum of disciplines (majors) at the university, creating robust enrollment, space and faculty load pressures. The university administration has recognized these pressures and is supportive of the need for designated space and additional faculty. Nevertheless, the demand of 300-plus students on the available load by two designated faculty in the emphasis continues to be quite exquisite in terms of teaching, advising, undergraduate research demands and community outreach. These pressures are broadly recognized within the companion animal faculty and university administration not as "problems" but as opportunities to remain a leader in this area of novel curriculum at a non-land grant college of agriculture. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project specifically supplied the following opportunites: presentation of the project activities at the in-person NIFA convention in San Angelo, TX ("Creating Career Pathways through Innovative Agricutlural Science Curriculum and Outreach") to interested non-land grant Colleges of Agriculture faculty (2019) load hours for faculty development in field companion animal health clinics, utilizing student participation, at Red Lake Native Nation (Summer and Fall, 2019) early on-boarding of new designated companion animal faculty during the critical transition period of online learning in the midst of the global pandemic (Fall 2020) load hours for course development in collaboration with companion animal shelter medicine experts at UC-Davis Koret Shleter Medicine program, resulting in a new course and novelprogrammatic offerings for UWRF students (ANSC 389 Companion Animal Shelter Management, W2021-2022) expansion of service dog training collaborations through travel to Oshkosh, WI (Journey Together Service Dog org) 2018 and 2019. Continued online collaboration 2020 - 2022 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results distributed through: poster presentations at the NIFA Meeting, 2019. San Angelo TX media presentations through UWRF Communications What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Educational / Course development: Three unique courses were developed and offered during the life of this project: ANSC 389 Companion Animal Shelter Management (2020 - current), undergoing faculty governance approval process. ANSC 321 Companion Animal Care and Management (2018 - current), approved through faculty governance ANSC 389 Service Dog Training - an Industry Overview (offered through adjunct funding (grant subaward) 2018-2020) Additionally, the project supplied 38 paid internships through ANSC 270 / ANSC 370 Internship activity (2018 - 2022)
Publications
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Progress 05/01/19 to 04/30/20
Outputs
Target Audience:UW-River Falls Animal Science students (300 students, 2019-2020 enrollment) • Dunnn County Humane Society staff, animal populatioin and greater Dunn County population being served by the animal shelter services • Mission Animal Hospital staff, clientele and underserved communities lacking access to affordable veterinary services: veteran populations, disabled persons using service animals (dogs) and low-income metropolitan or remote/rural communities. • Persons with disabilities seeking service animals (dogs) • Incarcerated populations engaged with training service animals (dogs) • Community organizations (4H, breed clubs, non-profit volunteer base, etc.) seeking education / information regarding service dog training Changes/Problems:Undoubtedly, the major change has been the impact of COVID-19 on planned events for Year Three, including the intercollegiate service dog summit as well as 2020-2021 Oshkosh field trip to perform community education and prison educational exchange forum, and wellness clinic travel to the Red Lake Nation. Classes were moved suddenly to an online platform, creating additional and unexpected workload challenges. We will meet these challenges head on through the provision of novel online content, and the use of safe social distancing allowed by the large multi-use classroom space awarded in Year Two. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Applied skills in the following areas: safe animal handling and restraint, veterinary assistance, program management, community outreach, written and oral communication, professional networking, community education, leadership training and advanced service dog training (puppy to placement). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Product results (animal served) reporting to Red Lake Nation animal rescue non-profit Course enrollment and student evaluations reported through Acvitity Insight at UW-River Falls Feedback to Journey Together Service Dog Organization, with novel and expanded collaboration under development. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Final purchasing phase (supplies and equipment) of the project now that designated space has been obtained. Continued updating and enhancement of core coursework Mentorship of incoming new faculty Expansion of collaborations with Journey Together Service Dog Organization
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Course development: ANSC 321 Companion Animal Care and Management (Rausch) has passed through faculty governance and is now one of four required corse courses in the Companion Animal emphasis in the Animal Science major. ANSC 421: Pilot field experience for 12 Animal Science - Companion Animal students: Fall, 2019. Overnight travel to Oshkosh, WI for three activities: networking casual dinner experience with the Board Members of Journey Together Service Dog group, instruction to community-based class for Animal CPR, Educational Exchange with incarcerated inmates in the Journey Together Service Dog Training Program. ANSC 490 Independent Study: 8 students enrolled (summer session and fall semester) to partake in off-site epxeriential learning pilot course. The field experience course was developed and supervised by Rausch (PI) to provide a three-day veterinary clinical experience at Red Lake Nation Reservation in Redby, MN. Students gained skills such as animal handling and restraint, vaccine administration, basic health assessment, orphaned neonatal care and feeding, therapeutic grooming with sedation, client communication and mnagement of wellness care for low-income / underserved community. ANSC 389 Service Dog Insdutry (Ball), underdevelopment in Year Two for instruction, Year Three. Capacity Building: Three major developments in this area occurred during Year Two. First, the emphasis was awarded desginated teaching space in Hagestad Hall. The area is generous in size and allows abundant multipurpose use: private meeting room, secure storage of program equipment, demonstration space that accomodates animal use, and lecture space for fourty students. Second, under faculty guidance and mentorship, a new student organization was formed (with constitution and by-laws) called "CAPS": Companion Animal Professional Society. It held it's first meeting in late February, 2020, and will have a virtual meeting since the suspension of campus activity due to the pandemic. Student enrollment is at 76, which is remarkable for a club that formed and enrolled new membership during the school year (as opposed to the typical "Fall Activity Round-up"), and reflective of campuswide interest in companion animal science and professions. Third, the university awarded a tenure-track facuty position for the companion animal emphasis, the third designated position in a six year timespan. The position was filled, and the third Companion Animal faculty member will begin August, 2020. Internship: ADEPT 15 students Mission Animal Hospital 1 student Dunn County Humane Society 2 students
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Ball, L., S. Miller and B. Rausch. Creating Career Pathways through Innovative Agricultural Science and Outreach. Poster Presentation. NARRU Annual Conference Proceedings, October, 2019.
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Progress 05/01/18 to 04/30/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience: UW-River Falls Animal Science students (250 students, 2018-2019 enrollment) Dunnn County Humane Society staff, animal populatioin and greater Dunn County population being served by the animal shelter services Mission Animal Hospital staff, clientele and underserved communities lacking access to affordable veterinary services: veteran populations, disabled persons using service animals (dogs) and low-income metropolitan or remote/rural communities. Persons with disabilities seeking service animals (dogs) Incarcerated populations engaged with training service animals (dogs) Community organizations (4H, breed clubs, non-profit volunteer base, etc.) seeking education / information regarding service dog training Efforts: Curriculum development: Course development: Novel content for the Companion Animal program at UW-River Falls was provided through a pilot course: ANSC 389 Special topics: Companion Animal during Spring Semester 2019. This course enrolled 30 students, and had a wait list of three students. One student left the university during the semester; 29 completed the course successfully. This course successfully passed faculty governance to be implemented as a required, 3-credit course offering within the Animal Science - Companion Animal emphasis core coursework. It will be offered annually, both fall and spring semesters, beginning fall semester 2019. This represents a significant achievement of project objectives at an accelerated pace. This success will enable expansion of project activity into additional areas of curriculum and program development, with one such example listed directly below - formation of the Companion Animal Studies minor. Programming development: Enrollment in the Companion Animal emphasis now parallels the historically largest emphasis in the Animal Science department - equine. Both emphases enroll around 250 students. Also of significant importance is the fact that interest in Companion Animal course offerings is very strong from students not specifically enrolled in the Companion Animal emphasis. This includes students from across multi-discipline areas such as Ag Business, Broad Area Ag studies, Ag Education, Pre-professional students (pre-veterinary) in Biology and Chemistry, and Veterinary Technology students. Some of these students desiring access to the companion animal coursework but not necessarily the Animal Science major, can now be served by the flexible option of a Companion Animal Studies minor. This minor was created as a result of the interest in the coursework, the enrollment pressures on the courses, and the accelerated pace of the course development activities of the project (see above). The Companion Animal Studies minor was approved by faculty governance in the spring of 2019 and will be implemented for students beginning Fall 2019. Equipment and Supplies purchasing: Major purchases during the first year of the project included the acquisition of simulator models for student hands-on learning activities. These simulators obliviate the dependency on live-animal use, which has significantly reduced cost and challenges associated with live-animal use, particularly because companion animals are regulated under the Animal Welfare Act, impacting teaching use and demonstration. Supplies and equipment were also purchased to expand experiential learning components of the ANSC 421 Canine and Feline Care and Management course. Internship development: 18 students ADEPT 15 students Mission Animal Hospital 1 student Dunn County Humane Society 2 students Community outreach: ADEPT, through development of the ambassador internship program, provided student-lead community outreach in the form of presentations and demonstrations to the following organizations: Ezekiel Lutheran Church Adult Learning forum (18 individuals), Among Friends Dementia program (30 individuals), and UWRF Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization (6 youth). Additionally, the interns travelled to Oshkosh WI to collaborate with Journey Together Service Dog prison training program (32 inmates), organizing an Educational exchange clinic, to exchange ideas and experiences with training service dogs. Changes/Problems:The new course that was developed during the first year of the project revealed significant student interest in companionate animal species other than dogs and cats, especially non-domestic species (avian, reptile, amphibian, aquatic and some small mammals). Not surprisingly, the students are eager to learn about the challenges of husbandry and healthcare for the thousands of species of animals that fall into this category. This area of education is entirely unique at the undergraduate level and within Animal Science, which has traditionally focused on domestic animal species benefitting human populations for food and fiber. Furthermore, undergraduate education for these animal species has traditionally been provided through biology departments, focusing wildlife ecology and thereby inherently lacking information regarding captive management, as well as issues involving captive wildlife welfare and human society. Awareness of the opportunity to further improve the quality of the companion animal program has led to additional planned activities for the coming year, as described in this report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Upon reflection, it is fair to acknowledge that the accelerated pace, demands and success of the (above) course and programming development came at the expense of activities in the area of professional development for the PI. That said, a significant area of professional development was achieved through pursuit of certification for Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) through the Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society RECOVR initiative (8.5 hrs). Successful completion of this 9-hour veterinary course, juxtaposed with the purchase of the Canine CPR simulators, has uniquely positioned Rausch, PI to expand opportunity for student-lead animal CPR instruction to broader sectors of the community. This opportunity captures a novel and untapped community service while concurrently providing companion animal students with additional opportunities to develop and hone leadership and education skills through assistance with community-based instruction. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Dunn County Humane Society newsletter to report on the student internship and the progress in feline housing modifications through internship activity. Student presentations at the National Council on Undergraduate Research symposium, Green Bay Wisconsin, Mar 2019 (2 posters and abstracts). Educational exchange clinic with Journey Together Service Dog program and their prison-based service dog training program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Without question, this grant award has provided significant and substantial means of support that were critically needed within the large and growing Animal Science - Companion Animal emphasis at UW-River Falls. The robust activity that occurred in the first year resulted in stable implementation of three different internship programs, a course with rapid and successful passage through faculty governance, and an entirely new program in the Companion Animal Studies minor, also passed through faculty governance. The year 1 foundational work revealed that diverse experiential learning opportunities with live companion animals, especially exotics, are still lacking in the emphasis. This is primarily due to the program's rapid growth and large enrollment.Accommodating these educational experiences for such a large population poses numerous challenges, not the least of which are concerns regarding animal welfare, as addressed by AWA regulations that include strict protocol for the use of companion animals for teaching and demonstration purposes. One idea to address this challenge is to partner with agencies that would benefit from student enthusiasm and desire to learn. This idea will be developed over the next year of project activity, and includes plans to develop collaborative educational experiences both domestically and internationally. In addition to the activities originally proposed, the following lists new proposed activities to accomplish the overarching goal of building capacity for a comprehensive companion animal program at UW-River Falls: Domestic activitites: Develop partnership with Journey Together Service Dog Organization in order to expand educational exchange clinics to include not only the incarcerated population of service dog trainers, but also to volunteers associated with Journey Together and 4H groups / kennel clubs interested in service dog industry. Mission Animal Hospital: provision of student support teams for mobile clinic operations serving low-income rural populations and Native American reservation populations who are currently experiencing veterinary medical care access deficiencies and / or feral companion animal population control issues. Develop partnership with Rosie's Red Lake Animal Rescue. Envisioned are student support teams to provide structured, supervised support in a predictable manner for their seasonal and field-based veterinary services at the Red Lake Ojibwe reservation. International Activities: Wildlife Institute of Belize: spring-break travel to Belize to learn about the health and management issues pertaining tonon-domestic species of animals commonly kept as pets, namely herptile and psittacine species. Professional development through faculty exploration of additional opportunities in Thailand (elephants and small animal clinics) and Ecuador (Amazon-based field experiences) pilot course offering ANSC 389 Companion Animal Field Experiences in Spring 2020 that includes a required spring break international field experience in Belize pilot course offering ANSC 389 Companion Animal Field experiences that expands the Belize field experience from 10 days to 21 days. Other activities: continued equipment purchases, pending acquisition of space at UW-River Falls (awaiting administrative approval). additional course development in area of off-site experiential learning (see above) expanded reporting of project activities through conference (NACTA) poster presentations and abstract proceedings continued development of ADEPT activities
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Enrollment in the UW-River Falls Animal Science - Companion Animal emphasis continues to expand. Of special note, this enrollment draws non-traditional and under-represented populations in the U.S. agriculture workforce. As well as many first-generation students, the emphasis enrolls students from Hmong, Native American, Black and Hispanic populations, as well as international students and students with LGBTQ identities. The ability to address the education needs and career objectives of these student populations, while providing a pathway into agriculturally-oriented careers, directly achieves the over-arching objecting of the NIFA NLGCA award - to diversify the United States agricultural workforce to more directly reflect the diverse face of the American workforce population. With enthusiasm, we are happy to report that core course development proceeded at an accelerated rate during the first year of the three-year project. This acceleration allowed expansion of project activity into an unplanned area (programming). Now that we have met this goal, we are embarking on exceeding it through addressing the continued student demand for experiential learning within the companion animal sciences. Objective 1: Educational: Course Development development of two additional core course offerings purchase of equipment and instrumentation essential to core companion animal course learning outcomes Course development: A course developed during Summer and Fall Semester 2018 (Rausch, PI) was offered as a pilot course for Spring semester, 2019. This 2-credit course was expanded and submitted as a 3-credit course proposal, which passed faculty governance in the Spring of 2019. The course was accepted into the core curriculum for the Animal Science major - Companion Animal emphasis as ANSC 321 Companion Animal Care and Management, a 3-credit lecture-based course, to be offered both fall and spring semesters annually. Initial offering of this novel course will begin Fall Semester, 2019. Programming development: The companion animal coursework faces enrollment pressures from students in other majors (pre-veterinary, ag business, education, veterinary technology among others), and students enrolled in other species emphases in the ANSC major. Some students are finding that their career objectives would be best-served by a minor in the companion animal coursework. There was no such option available to UW-River Falls students. The existent Animal Science minor included coursework focusing solely on production animal species and management, which was not serving the career objectives of the novel student population in the Animal Science major. To serve this interest, Rausch proposed and successfully developed a Companion Animal Studies minor, which was accepted by faculty governance in the spring of 2019. This new minor will be available for students beginning Fall Semester, 2019. Continuing under this goal were the initial purchases made during 2018-2019 to support the laboratory components of the ANSC 421 Advanced Canine and Feline Care and Management course. These purchases addressed the pressing need for hands-on learning in this capstone course through the use of simulators, namely: canine limbs (4), canine CPR models (5), skin models (4), ear models (4) and oral / jaw models (4) and fluid-delivery systems (5). These models allow students to learn and practice: wound care, triage / field first-aid, basic life support, grooming, fluid support, and recognition of basic canine and feline pathologies related to common care practices through all life stages. Additional supplies were purchased to assist in the delivery of content pertaining to safe handling / safe restraint procedures. Objective 2: Educational / Outreach: Capacity building in the newly developed Assistance Dog Education Program and Training (ADEPT) Augmentation of the current ADEPT internship through creation of Ambassador program activities, cultivating additional student leadership and team experiences (locally, nationally, internationally). Ball, co-PI, expanded enrollment in ADEPT from 7 students to 15 students, and began implementation of the Ambassador internship through cultivation of more advanced training and teamwork skills of returning students in the ADEPT program. In addition to providing community outreach in the form of educational presentations and demonstrations of service dog work, the returning interns served as mentors to newly enrolled interns, assisting with the learning process for service dog training as well as animal care. The students participated in an on-site summer clinic at Pawsitive Perspectives training center, learning the ADA laws and regulations surrounding service dogs, public access training, and care of the dogs. Students traveled to Oshkosh, WI to participate in an educational exchange with Oshkosh State Correctional Institute inmates involved in the Journey Together Service Dog training program. Additionally, students enrolled in the novel Ambassador program began community outreach activity through provision of educational seminars and demonstrations both on-campus and through the broader community. Objective 3: Educational / Outreach: Internship development Generation of innovative and unparalleled field-based undergraduate internship experiences at a nationally unique, non-profit full-service veterinary hospital. Internship design and development will build on established outreach activities to under-served communities of pet owners, including: veterans, persons with disabilities and low-income populations of companion animal owners. Development of novel internship offerings in the Companion Animal program began during summer of 2018, with successful implementation of three slots at two locations: Dunn County Humane Society (DCHS), Menomonie, WI (2 internships) and Mission Animal Hospital, Eden Prairie, MN (1 internship). At DCHS, the interns were immersed in the daily operations of a county-run animal shelter. Experiential education was provided in the form of animal care, animal health, public service and communication and non-profit management. Additionally, the students successfully presented results of a project to develop feline housing portal modifications; the results of this project allowed additional development of plans for installation of new feline housing in the animal shelter. These results were communicated in a student-lead NCUR poster presentation an abstract publication in Spring, 2019. At MAH, the intern rotated through this large, non-profit veterinary hospital in the departments of: human resources, community outreach / fundraising, veterinary mobile practice operations in under-served communities, and veterinary technology. All students in each of the internship areas (ADEPT, DCHS, MAH) report high satisfaction with the learning areas and the overall experience. In the case of the MAH internship, the experience lead to full-time employment with the hospital.
Publications
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