Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The project targeted three key groups: currently enrolled TOCC students, prospective students from the Nation's high schools, and community members interested in pursuing certificates or Associate degrees in Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) programs. This focus was driven by several critical factors: A growing demand for educated Nation members, both on and near tribal lands, to fill FANH-related positions. Low higher education attainment rates among Nation members, with only 6.8% holding Associate degrees and 3.3% possessing bachelor's degrees or higher. Pressing public health issues, including food insecurity, high diabetes rates, substance abuse, and depression, necessitates a well-educated agriculture workforce. Environmental degradation and the risk of losing valuable agricultural knowledge and heritage Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We continue to support the Extension Agen Assistant and the Land Grant Office of Sustainability director's participation at the Falcon meetings. Student interns presented a poster at the conference regarding the traditional wild harvest of the Sonoran desert,where the Tohono O'odham Nation is located. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We had activities related to the ANR 111 course, where students prepared presentations as part of the final project. We have been trying to present these presentations to the community, but it has not been possible. We also had Youth Agriculture Day, where Baboquivari Unified School District students and the Tohono O'odham High School attended a presentation about our work at the Student Learning Farm. Having student interns also allowed the program to have more community members learn about the Tohono O'odham Agriculture practices. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Core challenge: Improved access to low-cost healthy food The grant personnel working with the Food and Farm Working Group for the Tohono O'odham Nation could start a farmers' market after the pandemic at the district offices in Sells, AZ. The participation has grown, and there are about 10 participants every time the farmers' market occurs. We taught the Agroecology and Tohono O'odham Agriculture course (ANR111) at the student learning farm (Oidag), where five students participated as part of their academic program. During the semester, they could take classes in person, with labs and presentations. Gastronomy and Good Health We had been working with the establishment of a traditional restaurant at the Sells Plaza called Tohono Kosin as a part of the workforce and community development. There, we will prepare food with traditionalO'odham crops. They will be prepared in a way that keeps the traditional food system of the Nation. We will use the Student Learning Farm to have its harvest be used to make traditional dishes and at some point they will be sold to the public.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Lenart, M., 2016. Edible Trees and Climate: A Focus on Arizona. A publication of the Linking Edible Arizona Forests (LEAF) Network. Available at:
eafnetworkaz.org.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience included enrolled TOCC students, potential students who will be recruited from the Nation's high schools, and community members who might be interested in registering for certificates or Associate degrees in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH) programs. The importance of this target audience is founded on the following needs: 1) The increasing need for educated members of the Nation living on and near the Nation to fill positions in the FANH areas. 2) Low percentages of higher education degrees for those living in the Nation, with 6.8% of enrolled members with Associate degrees and 3.3% with bachelor's degrees and higher. 3) Public health crises, including food insecurity, high rates of diabetes, substance abuse, and depression, that result in the need for an educated FANH area workforce. 4) An increasingly deteriorating natural environment and the challenges of losing agricultural knowledge and heritage. Changes/Problems:The fourth and final year of the Equity Grant was challenging given that from March 2020 to early 2022, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, TOCC has remained closed to in-person educational programs. However, as 2021 and 2022 progressed, there was a gradual reopening, and there was an increased effort placed on conducting outdoor activities. TOCC's LGOS has developed a multi-faceted program that is addressing this challenge. The Equity Grant has contributed to a firm foundation through several keystone courses, including Agroecology and Tohono O'odham Crop Production, Tohono O'odham Ethnobotany, and Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture. Although shuttered for several months, faculty have continued to develop and teach these courses and their associated lab sessions through various virtual learning method systems. The labs in these three courses continue to build how-to-articles and instructional videos for use by community members and in hybrid courses. The Pandemic forced a pause in many scheduled activities, including the annual TOCC Youth Agriculture Day and some of the typical events featuring harvesting traditional plants in the wild. Plans for a public event featuring a meal and the release of some of the how-to videos also were postponed. The TOCC-affiliated Farm and Food Working Group (FFWG) continued meeting monthly or biweekly during much of this time. The FFWG continues to be a powerful voice for the organic farmers of the Tohono O'odham Nation. Formed in 2008 by the Student Learning Farm Manager and Extension Agent Clifford Pablo, the group seems more cohesive and vital than ever, with dozens of participants attending regularly. The FFWG collaborated with the Ajo Community Sustainable Agriculture group to host a virtual Farmers Market for several months in spring 2021. The events have drawn considerable interest. This approach was necessary to reach many outlying communities across this sparsely populated 2.8-million-acre nation, especially given the Pandemic. Once the Pandemic is passed, it is envisioned that new farmers will have an opportunity to sell their produce in a Farmer's Market and at a new restaurant at the College that will specialize in local foods. Food safety training begun during the past year continued this year through virtual training sessions. The Agriculture Program is also developing its own "entrepreneurship program to provide beginning farmers with the business skills necessary to grow and sell healthy food and live more sustainably. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The TOCC extension team virtually participated in the annual FALCON meeting on October 2021 and attended in person at the FALCON October 2022 in Albuquerque, NM. During FALCON 2022 in Albuquerque, interns presented a poster related to soil and nutrition, receiving active feedback and compliments from attendees. A TOCC student intern made an excellent presentation during the meeting on the historical agricultural background of the TOCC Nation. LGOS staff also attended numerous meetings with peers as part of the Faculty Senate (T-Ba'tik) throughout the academic year. LGOS staff and others participated in the University of Arizona Produce Safety training course. The LGOS Director participated in the Cornell University virtual Produce Safety Alliance training and was certified as a Grower. The Director also participated in the PSA virtual Training of Trainers course and is now a certified trainer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through the presentations at meetings described above and through training events in courses and workshops. Some of the material covered in these classes will be available for widespread viewing by members of the Tohono O'odham Nation as part of a series of how-to videos. Newsletters and fliers have also been utilized to spread the importance of the messages. Other activities organized in 2022 and dissemination activities to communities were seasonal farmer markets, gardening at elementary schools, and attending the Native American Heritage Day event. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This report corresponds to the final year of the Equity Grant. Therefore, there will not be any future reporting. However, it should be noted that the following activities are still anticipated to be carried out beyond the life of the grant. We will host events to share videos, how-to-publications, and traditional foods during community events held at TOCC. Funds are available to continue employing a video intern to produce more videos. The LGOS plans to produce additional how-to videos. The topics of these videos will be subject to future refinement, but there appears to be material and interest in videos featuring the following processes: a) How to set up a simple irrigation system. b) How to set up a mini hoop house over rows of crops. c) How to harvest and prepare ciolim (cholla buds). d) How to harvest mesquite pods and grind them into a low-glycemic-index flour.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Grant activities began to show some life after a complete shutdown in 2020. There has been progress on the grant's objectives during 2021-2022. For example, in 2022, substantial progress was made in developing a certificate in Agricultural Entrepreneurship in-house, as other departments needed to show more interest. The Sustainable Agriculture (ANR 112N) course is intended to be part of the certificate in Agricultural Entrepreneurship. Courses for the certificate will be offered online or at times suitable for a full-time worker. The development of ANR 112N for online delivery suits an essential segment of the certificate's target audience: full-time workers interested in earning money from farming or at least offsetting some expenses for food for their families. The keystone course for the proposed certificate is ANR 111N, the class that is featured in the how-to videos. Previously, that course was offered twice a week in the early evenings, from 4 to 6:45 PM. After shutting down mid-semester in 2020, this course was again offered on Saturdays during spring 2021 in an outside setting. The success rate in these offerings was about 50% completion of the course. The ANR 111N course is the keystone course in the curricula design objective, with the course being the first one (semester) and the other certificate classes following up. Thirteen people were recruited into the course/Beginning Farmers program in the spring of 2020 when the Pandemic hit, and the college closed. Six of the original 13 returned during spring 2021 to complete the course. The development of the ANR 112N course also meets the goal of developing modules based on incorporating the how-to videos. Although no additional videos were completed during 2021-2022, several are in the pipeline but on hold due to the Pandemic.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The Tohono O'odham Nation, located in southern Arizona, encompasses a territory of 2.8 million acres, making it the second-largest Indian reservation in Arizona. Tribal enrollment includes a population of approximately 13,055 individuals living on the reservation and another 20,588 living off the reservation. Tohono O'odham Community College is a 1994 Land-Grant Tribal College located in the Tohono O'odham Nation. TOCC has a student body of approximately 400 students of which 85% are Native Americans, mainly Tohono O'odham. The vision of TOCC is to "become the Tohono O'odham Nation's center for higher education and to enhance participation in the local, state, national, and global communities." The Land Grant Office of Sustainability at TOCC is the local Extension office for the reservation. The entire nation, including TOCC students, makes up the target audience for all programming efforts. Changes/Problems:During the spring of 2021, the remaining six lectures from the spring 2020 class of Agroecology and Tohono O'odham Agriculture (ANR 111N) were restarted and eleven students completed the course. Thanks to the college's Endowment grant, the students in the course were able to take the course for free, and they received incentives to help them farm, including a wheelbarrow, compost, and tools including shovels, rakes, and hoes. They also received seeds from TOCC's seed collection, as supported by the NIFA Extension Capacity grant. The Special Emphasis grant, in turn, supported transportation for the students and in-class lunches featuring some of the traditional crops the students were learning to grow. An end of course quantitative evaluation gave the course a 3.94 out of 5. Qualitative findings provided the following comments: Great class and instructors are knowledgeable. Hands-on experience was great. Recommend class to others. Very appreciative. Appreciate the opportunity to participate and hope the class continues. Important to help growers / farmers interested in traditional agriculture. Inspired me to continue my work in traditional agriculture. The COVID-19 pandemic forced a pause in many activities planned for the spring, including the annual TOCC Youth Agriculture Day and some of the typical events featuring the harvesting of traditional plants in the wild. Plans for a public event featuring a meal and release of some of the how-to videos also were postponed. The TOCC-affiliated Farm and Food Working Group (FFWG) continued meeting monthly or biweekly during much of this time frame. The FFWG continues to be a powerful voice for the organic farmers of Tohono O'odham Nation. Formed in 2008 by the Student Learning Farm Manager and Extension Agent Clifford Pablo, the group seems to be more cohesive and vital than ever, with dozens of participants attending regularly. The FFWG collaborated with the Ajo Community Sustainable Agriculture group to host a virtual Farmers Market during several months of spring 2021. The events have drawn considerable interest. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The TOCC extension team participated in the annual FALCON meeting, virtually this year on October 2021. A TOCC student intern made an excellent presentation during the meeting on the historical agricultural background of the TOCC Nation. LGOS staff also participated in numerous meetings with peers as part of the Faculty Senate (T-Ba'tik) throughout the academic year. LGOS staff and others participated in the University of Arizona Produce Safety training course. The LGOS Director participated in the Cornell University virtual Produce Safety Alliance training and was certified as a Grower. The Director also participated in the PSA virtual Training of Trainers course and is now a certified trainer. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated throughtraining events in courses and workshops. Some of the material covered in these classes will be available for widespread viewing by members of the Tohono O'odham Nation as part of a series of how-to videos.Newsletters and fliers have also been utilized to spread the importance of the messages. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the final year of the Equity Grant. Therefore, there will not be any future reporting. However, it should be noted that the following activities are still anticipated to be carried out; Pandemic permitting. We will host an event to share videos, how-to-publications and traditional foods during a community event held at the College. Funds are available to continue employing a video intern with the intention to produce more videos. The Land Grant Office for Sustainability plans to produce additional how-to videos. The topics of these videos will be subject to future refinement, but there appears to be material and interest in videos featuring the following processes: How to set up a simple irrigation system. How to set up a mini hoop house over rows of crops. How to harvest and prepare ciolim (cholla buds); and How to harvest mesquite pods and grind them into a low-glycemic-index flour. Continued development of the (ANR112N) Sustainable Agriculture course will proceed as will development of the Agricultural Entrepreneurship certificate. The Sustainable Agriculture course and the certificate are being developed so that both TOCC credit students and non-credit community members can participate and benefit.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Grant activities began to show some life after a complete shutdown in 2020. There has been progress on the grant's objectives during 2021. For example, during 2021, substantial progress was made on developing a certificate in Agricultural Entrepreneurship in-house as there was not much interest shown by other departments. The Sustainable Agriculture (ANR 112N) course is intended to be part of the certificate in Agricultural Entrepreneurship. Courses for the certificate will be offered either online or at times suitable for a full-time worker. The development of ANR 112N for online delivery suits an important segment of the certificate's target audience: full-time workers who are interested in earning some money from farming or at least offsetting some expenses for food for their families. The keystone course for the proposed certificate is ANR 111N, the course that is featured in the how-to videos. Previously, that course has been offered in the early evenings, from 4 to 6:45 PM twice a week. After shutting down mid-semester in 2020, this course was once again offered on Saturdays during spring 2021 in an outside setting. Although only about half of the original class finished the course, it was a popular offering. The ANR 111N course is the keystone course in the curricula design objective, with the course being the first one (semester) and the other courses of the certificate following up. Thirteen people were originally recruited into the course/Beginning Farmers program during spring 2020 and the Pandemic hit, and the college closed. Six of the original 13 returned during spring 2021 to complete the course. The development of the ANR 112N course also meets the goal of developing modules based on incorporating the how-to videos. Although no additional videos were completed during 2021, several are in the pipeline but on hold due to the Pandemic.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:The Tohono O'odham Nation, located in southern Arizona, encompasses a territory of 2.8 million acres, making it the second-largest Indian reservation in Arizona. U.S. Tribal enrollment includes a population of approximately 13,055 individuals living on the reservation and another 20,588 living off the reservation. Tohono O'odham Community College is a 1994 Land-Grant Tribal College located in the Tohono O'odham Nation. TOCC has a student body of approximately 300 students of which 85% are Native Americans, mainly Tohono O'odham. The vision of TOCC is to "become the Tohono O'odham Nation's center for higher education and to enhance participation in the local, state, national, and global communities." The Land Grant Office of Sustainability at TOCC is the local Extension office for the reservation. The entire Tribal nation, including TOCC students, makes up the target audience for all programming efforts. Changes/Problems:Tohono O'odham Community College offically closed in late February due to the Coronavirus. All activities with the exception of laboratory hours for the Agroecology class were curtailed. Staff have have continuedsporadic oncampus visits. The farm manager has been able to continue with some of the farm improvements listed inthe grant. All other activities and events have stop What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?TOCC staff participated in the annual FALCON meeting, held in Denver from October 25-28, 2020 including (by invitation) the meeting for project directors. In addition to attending the FALCON meeting, TOCC served as a member of the FALCON Planning Committee, working with John Phillips and others to determine the focus and venues for this event, which highlighted the 25th anniversary of the passage of legislation that gives tribally controlled colleges land grant status. On January 23, 2020, TOCC staff attended the Conference for Advancing STEM in Minority-Serving Institutions held at the University of Arizona. Topics focused on transformational change toward a "servingness" orientation. LGOS staff participated in numerous meetings with peers as part of the Faculty Senate (T-Ba'tik) throughout the academic year, as well as three half-day meetings involving the Maci:dag Wo:g STEM Faculty Learning Community launched in May of 2019. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through the publications described above, as well as through training events in courses and workshops. Some of the material covered in these classes will be available for widespread viewing by members of the Tohono O'odham Nation as part of a series of how-to videos.Newsletters and fliers have also been utilized to spread the importance of the messages. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Given the COVID 19 Pandemic, plans for the next reporting cycle are tentative at best. We would like to host an event to share videos, how-to-publications and traditional foods during a community event held at the College. Funds are available to continue employing a video intern with the intention to produce more videos. The Land Grant Office for Sustainability plans to produce additional how-to videos. The topics of these videos will be subject to future refinement, but there appears to be material and interest in videos featuring the following processes: How to set up a simple irrigation system. How to set up a mini hoop house over rows of crops. How to harvest and prepare ciolim (cholla buds); and How to harvest mesquite pods and grind them into a low-glycemic-index flour. Continued development of the (ANR112N) Sustainable Agriculture course will proceed as will cooperative efforts between the Agricultural and Business programs at the college. The Sustainable Agriculture course is being developed so that both TOCC credit students and non-credit community members can participate and benefit.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Grant activities continued during the first half of the fiscal year, however, the COVID 19 Pandemic halted virtually all progress during the second half. The plans to pursue a certificate in Agricultural Entrepreneurship are currently being re-evaluated given personnel changes and COVID 19. The Business Program is interested in continuing its collaboration in developing a certificate. The Sustainable Agriculture (ANR 112N) course is intended to be part of the certificate in Agricultural Entrepreneurship, with courses scheduled either online or at times suitable for a full-time worker. The course has been developed, albeit one year later than originally planned. The development of ANR 112N for online delivery suits an important segment of the certificate's target audience: full-time workers who are interested in earning some money from farming, or at least offsetting some expenses for food for their family. The keystone course for the proposed certificate is ANR 111N, the course that is featured in the how-to videos. Previously, that course has been offered in the early evenings, from 4 to 6:45 PM twice a week. Offering the course in the evening made it possible for the many full-time workers in the TOCC Early Childhood Education program to participate in the courses, which fit well with plans to incorporate gardening activities into the Tohono O'odham Nation's Head Start programs. The ANR 111N course is the keystone course in the "1 + 1 + 2" format, with the course being the first one (semester), the certificate being the second 1 (year), and the associate's degree in agriculture being the 2 (year) program mentioned above. Thirteen people were recruited into the course/Beginning Farmers program during spring 2020. This is more than double the number of students recruited into the first offering of this class in 2016. The development of the ANR 112N course also meets the goal of developing modules based on incorporating the how-to videos. Four videos were completed by the end of May, and several more are planned for the coming year. Although the video intern has graduated, the LGOS plans to hire this new graduate as an independent consultant for future work.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Finding Common Ground. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of their designation as land grant institutions, tribal colleges are working to strengthen relationships with their mainstream university partners.
https://nativesciencereport.org/2019/11/finding-common-ground/
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
A Foot in the Door. Currently, only mainstream land grant universities are eligible for funding through the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program, which supports Cooperative Extension programs on reservations. New legislation will finally allow tribal colleges to compete. Its a step in the right direction, Native educators say. https://nativesciencereport.org/2020/02/a-foot-in-the-door/
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Progress 09/01/18 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience(s) you describe should include only those that your efforts reached during the current reporting period; this may mean that the audiences you list are only a subset of the all those you included on your project initiation. Target audiences include individuals, groups, market segments, or communities that will be served by the project. Where appropriate, you should also identify population groups such as racial and ethnic minorities and those who are socially, economically, or educationally disadvantaged. The Tohono O'odham Nation is located in southern Arizona and encompasses a territory of 2.8 million acres, making it the second-largest Indian reservation in Arizona and the U.S. Tohono O'odham Community College is a 1994 Land-Grant Tribal College located on the Tohono O'odham Nation and was chartered in 1998 by the Tohono O'odham Legislative Council. TOCC has a student body of approximately 300 students of which 85% are Native Americans, mainly Tohono O'odham (TOCC Annual Report 2016). TOCC currently has three campus sites: Main Campus, Central Campus, and West Campus, all located along Arizona Highway 86, which transects the Tohono O'odham Nation (TON). The Land Grant Office for Sustainability is TOCC's local Extension office, supported by Equity, Extension. Research and Endowment funding. The target audience of the Equity grant are the students at TOCC but also students from the high schools that feed into the college and community members. Changes/Problems:The 2018-19 year offered many opportunities for meeting these goals, and the Equity program is on target for reaching all of its milestones, as described above. We did have a delay in hiring the Video Intern, but we have been to continue to employ her and so we consider that part of the project on target as well. Similarly, we had a slight delay with the development of the Sustainable Agriculture course, but the hurdles have been cleared to handle that in the spring of 2020. In short, this project is doing well and generally serving to increase the skills of TOCC students and other Tohono O'odham community members and youth in growing healthy, culturally appropriate food for their own consumption and for potential sale. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The Agriculture Instructor had the opportunity to attend conferences, most notably the FALCON conference held for tribal colleges and universities every fall. She also had the chance to network with colleagues at the Arizona Cooperative Extension Annual meeting in August. In addition, the project has provided professional development opportunities for the Student Video Intern. The intern had learned some video-producing skills through her coursework at TOCC, but this internship provided her the time and guidance to hone her skills and produce professional work. Finally, the students in the courses had a chance to be trained in gardening, which will be especially useful professionally for those who incorporate gardening activities into their Head Start programs or for potential farmers who will use their skills to grow healthy food that can be sold. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As described above, we have disseminated information in classroom settings and in informal educational settings, such as workshops and community events. We have shared information at health fairs, Youth Agriculture Days, the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Forum and a variety of other venues. Beyond that, we have used newsletters and fliers, mainly to share the information on our activities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the upcoming reporting period, we plan to host an event to share videos, how-to publications and traditional food during a community event to be hosted at the college. We have funding to continue employing the Video Intern, who will make additional videos as time permits. We also plan to develop the Sustainable Agriculture course, which has been approved as ANR 112N. We are seeking to develop this course in a way that would allow it to be useful to both TOCC students and to community members who are not necessarily seeking credit for a science course. We have been talking with the Farm and Food Working Group about developing more of a web presence, including with social media, so we hope to expand our efforts to disseminate information more through social media as well as our newsletter and flyers.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Our Equity project will utilize the LGOS to support projects such as education about and the development of local food systems, and curricula design and materials developed for agriculture, nutritional science, natural resources, and water resources. Specific goals for this four-year grant-funding period are listed below in bold, with the accompanying text providing more detail on where this goal is at after the first year of the funding cycle. Building strength in agriculture with '1 + 1 + 2' curricula design The concept guiding curriculum for this Equity grant cycle involves an adaptation of the "1 + 1 + 2" approach, with the first "1" relating to gaining employable skills from one course after taking the necessary prerequisites and remedial courses, the second "1" involving the opportunity to earn a certificate, and the final "2" representing the associate degree. During the 2018-19 funding year, we had nine students in the spring 2019 offering of the keystone "1" course, Agroecology and Tohono O'odham Crops Development (ANR 111N). This course provides students with the basic skills they need to start a garden or small farm, whether for themselves and their family or in a community setting. This is a fairly large class for TOCC, and being able to offer this course regularly has been a real boon for building community engagement in agriculture. We also met the goal of designing and approving an Associate of Applied Science in Business Management with a concentration in Agricultural Entrepreneurship. We will also work to make sure the certificate and business option is listed in an upcoming catalog so students will be able to consider these options as part of their programs. Gaining professional and business skills We've made some progress in this goal to help students gain professional skills in agriculture. About half of the students in the keystone course of Agroecology and Tohono O'odham Crops Development (ANR 111N) were associated with the Head Start programs, but we did have three students who are interested in agriculture in some form as their main career. Even the Early Childhood Education students will be employing agriculture as part of their professional life, as the program is encouraging to use gardens in their teachings of the students. Courses designed to teach farming skills In addition to the continuing success of teaching farming skills in the Agroecology and Tohono O'odham Crops Development (ANR 111N) course, we have adapted the Water Resources (ANR 186N) course taught by the Agriculture Instructor to emphasize water harvesting techniques that can be used to improve the growth of crops and "edible" trees. As mentioned below, we are in the process of developing another course. As described in our Special Emphasis grant, the college also hosted a Produce Safety Training event in the summer of 2019 aimed at farmers seeking to expand their marketing options. Sustainable Agriculture course to be developed As we noted in the narrative for the four-year project, "the addition of a course planned for development in the upcoming funding cycle - Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture (ANR 110N) - will provide additional support to beginning farmers by focusing on topics currently only touched upon in ANR 111N. These include topics that will help them set up and maintain successful gardens and farms, such as water harvesting, irrigation systems, and use of cover crops and compost to improve soil." The course described above has been approved by the Curriculum Committee and administrators at the college as Sustainable Agriculture (ANR 112N). Plans to develop the course did not occur in the first year of the cycle. However, approval has been granted for the use of designated Equity funds to hire an adjunct professor to teach one of the courses usually taught by the Agriculture Instructor in the spring of 2020. 'How-to' articles and videos to emphasize hands-on approach A student intern started work on a series of how-to videos under the heading "Oidag: Gardening with TOCC." Much of the ground has been laid for this effort in the template of the first video, which features how to make potting soil to plants seeds for transplanting. A traditional singer who gave a guest lecture to the Agroecology class in the spring provided an introduction by singing a planting song. Other videos are underway, and we expect to have at least three videos. This event will also provide a platform for sharing related "how-to" articles on gardening that have been under development and are in the final stages leading up to publication. Students in the spring 2019 course of Agroecology contributed additional articles and layout assistance on existing articles, and the Agriculture Instructor will be working to finish these off during the college's fall 2019 break as part of her professional development work. Experiential learning to continue with hands-on projects Many of the college's Agriculture and Natural Resources courses continue to use experiential learning in hands-on projects and problem-based learning (PBL). The gardening labs in the Agroecology course and the water-harvesting training in the Water Resources course are two examples. The overnight field trip provided to Environmental Biology students, and supported by NIFA Endowment funds, are another example featuring an opportunity for hands-on learning out into the field. Even the General Biology course features a PBL, as students consider how to prevent diabetes or cancer and/or change habits to reduce the threat. So this goal was met in the 2018-19 funding year. Gaining, retaining and training students and community members As mentioned in Goal #3, we did carry out our goal to offer ANR 111N as a dual-enrollment course at the local high school. Students from the course, many of them active in the Future Farmers of America (FFA), now have a further incentive to begin their higher education path at the culturally relevant tribal college -- perhaps even in the Agriculture program. In another example of improving the connection between TOCC and the local high school, the Agriculture Instructor and Extension Agent continued the practice begun the previous year of attending Baboquivari High School's FFA Awards Dinner, held on May 9 of 2019. This offers a great opportunity to remind the dozens of students who attended and their parents that TOCC offers a scholarship to local high schoolers. These connections appear to be making a difference. While the cause has not been fully identified, TOCC had its largest entering class this year, with 45 students attending the recruitment orientation. This is about double of the typical year. Other recruitment opportunities occurred with the workshop to One Stop participants described above as well as talks to studentgroups including about 50 students as part of a College Preview Day hosted by the college on Feb. 8, and 35 students in a Native American Science and Engineering Program on June 13. Another activity involved engaging with hundreds of people about TOCC programs at an Employee Health Expo on May 29. All in all, the support for the Agriculture Instructor has facilitated the teaching of 34 students across five classes as well as interactions with an estimated 633 community members, high school students and college students outside of her classes. It has also supported the production of two videos so far with more to come, an effort that potentially will support thousands of people.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Metaphor matters: Interdependence through a western lens as applied to teaching biology at TCUs. Presentation by Melanie Lenart at FALCON conference, Nov. 5, 2018.
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