Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:High school juniors and seniors,junior college students, high school teachers and parents. While primary focus was on students interested in pursuing careers in the agricultural industry, the project alsoattracted students who were yet to make up their minds on the careers to pursue. In addition, the project attended to students who simply wanted to explore career prospect and opportunities in the food and agriculture industry. High school teachers were also targeted in the project by providing training and instructional support and materials to enhance their teaching and better connect with their various students and school districts. Changes/Problems:The major problem faced during the project was COVID-19, which affected the first two years of the project. Consequently, it was impossible to carry out any project work in the first year and project activities were carried out online in the second year. Conducting the recruitment and camp activities in the second year of the project greatly limited project outreach efforts, recruitment for summer LEADS camp and students engagement and participation in project activities. In addition, the train-the-trainer workshop on Soil Chemistry was only conducted in 2023. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Program activities and results were disseminated widely through outreach events in high schools, junior colleges, local and international events (World Ag Expo, Tulare), and through the program webpage on the university website: https://www.csustan.edu/agriculture/summer-leads-program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Objective 2 was already completed. Activities during this period were on objectives 1, 3and 4. Objective 1 and 4- (2021& 2022) Outreach activities were conducted at the World Ag Expo (Feb 2021 andFeb 2022 and Feb 2023) wherepromotional materials on CSU Stanislaus Agriculture were shared with over 1900 guests (students, parents and industry professionals) both onilne (2021) and in person (2022). Also, three(3) local schools and junior college were visited as part of the annual recruitment drive and to promote agricultureto high school and junior college students. Over 800 students were reached through the school visits. LEADS camp: Thirty-five (35)students applied for the 2023summer LEADS camp, while 15participated in the camp. Participants included nine (9)high school students and six (6) junior college students. Camp activities covered included informational sessions on USDA Career opportunities, scholarships and jobs, mock interviews, hands-on activities on rainfall simulation and soil analysis, presentations on introduction to commodity futures, leadership and team building exercises, tours of local agribusinesses (Clauss Dairy Farm, E&J Gallo, Garton Tractors, Hilmar Cheese factory, Farmers Warehouse and Duarte Nursery Inc.), field activities such asdata collection and analysis with GIS and drones. Others include, GIS mapping and 3D Printing-AgExperience. Over 90 percentof camp participants reported that enjoyed all camp activities and improved their understanding and interests in pursuing careers in the food and agriculture industry. STAR program: During the review period (One year), three students were hired into the program as student research assistants, under the mentorship of faculty and worked on various research projects. The student research assistants also participated in the summer LEADS program. Scholarships: Over the course of the project, sixteen (16) students were awarded $1,000 scholarships to defray part of the tuition. Objective 3: Two educational opportunities were provided, though due to logistic issues, only one was actually conducted. A train-the-trainer Soil Chemistry workshop was conducted for ten (10) high school teachers with primary goal of providing the teachers with instruction resources (hands-on activity modules, instruction modules and materilas) to enhance their instruction in soil science. The workshop covered three modules: Module 1: Electrical Conductivity and Temperature. Module 2: Acidity and Alkalinity (pH). Module 3: Soil Major Nutrients (NPK). Ten (10) teachers participated and reported improving their understanding and acquired resources and instructional materials on activities they can use to improve their classes. Participants were provided with instructional supplies for use in their classes.
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:High school juniors and seniors, community college students and teachers in these schools. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the lingeringpublic health safety protocols in the project area continue to limit the project activities and impact even with the relaxed restrictions at this time. Changes/Problems:The lingering effects of the public health crisis of COVID-19 continue to impact program activities. Participation in camp activities was low due to low attendance in the Summer camp by high school and junior college students. Also,we were still unable to carry out objectives #3 & #4 during this review period. Specific changes during the review period include: 1) Two co-PIs were hired to temporarily replacetwo other co-PIs that were not available, andto carry out project activities for the 2022 summer LEADS camp. 2) A No Cost Extension (NCE) was secured for another year to allow for the completion of project activities and objectives. This extended project expiration from August 31,2022 to August 31, 2023 What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Program results were disseminated through: 1) Trips to local high schools 2) Program website 3) Booth at World Ag Expo in Tulare, CA. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1) Train-the -Trainer workshop for high school teachers tooffer instructional and pedagogical support and for recruitment and admission of underrepresented/first generation students into agriculture and alsostrengthen pipeline of students recruited into careers in the Food and Agriculture Industry. 2) Summer LEADS camp for high school (June 12-16, 2023) students and Junior College students (June 5-9, 2023) 3) Award scholarships to students pursuing major in Agriculture and careers in the Agriculture industry. 4) Professional Development opportunity for Agriculture Majors in March 2023. 5) Conduct assessment of project strategies, activities and develop best practices for model implementation by other Agriculture program
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In spite of the lingering effects of the COVID-19 public issues and health mandates, the project team was still able to carry out some of the project activities and meet some of theobjectives.Listed below are accomplishments under project objectives #1 and #2, during the review period: Objective #1. a) Two(2) students were each awareded $1,000 scholarship for the 2022/2023academic year to pursue their BS in Agriculture degree at CSU Stanislaus. b) First in-personSummer LEADS camp was conducted for high schoolers (June 6-10, 2022) and Junior college students on June 13-17, 2022. c) CSU Stanislaus Agriculture participated in the 2022 World Ag Expo at Tulare. Objective #2). Final approval was obtained from the CSU Chancellor's Office for changing the three existing concentrations for the change to take effect in Fall 2022.The new and old concentration titles: i) New - Agricultural Business Concentration: (Formerly Agricultural Economics) ii) New - Agricultural Education Concentration: (Formerly General Agriculture) iii) New - Horticulture Concentration: (Formerly Agricultural Biology)
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:High school juniors and seniors, community college students and teachers in these schools. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting public health safety protocols in the project area limited the project activities and impact during thisreporting period. Changes/Problems:The major change to the project has been necessitated by the current COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant public health mandates thatlimited public gathering and other safety protocols. Specifically, instead of the face-to-face on-camp Summer LEADS camp, project team pivoted to a Virtual Summer LEADS camp. All promotional camp activities were conducted via zoom. Also, with the limited on-campus in-person activities that adversely limited project activities, more efforts were devoted to revising and improving the program curriculum. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
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?Efforts are underway to continue to carry out the project goals and activities to completion. These include: Goal 1. Recruit and prepare underrepresented Hispanic students for college education and careers in agriculture through experiential learning programs(Recruitment, Experiential Learning & Retention). Goal 2. Revise/develop recruitment programs, curricula and non-curricula courses to enhance recruitment of underrepresented Hispanic students into agriculture program using evidence-based strategies and activities for addressing low enrollment of Hispanic students in agriculture program (Curriculum design). Goal 3.Conduct teacher workshops to offer instructional and pedagogical support and for recruitment and admission of underrepresented/first generation students into agriculture.(Professional development & Recruitment). Goal 4.Conduct assessment of project strategies, activities and develop best practices for model implementation by other Agriculture program(Research)
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
While the COVID-19 public health mandates and directives have limited project activities under project goals 3 and 4,listed below are accomplishments under project objectives #1 and #2, during the review period: #1. a) Six (6) students were each awareded$1,000 scholarshipfor the 2021/2022 academic year to pursue their BS in Agriculture degree at CSU Stanislaus. b) Virtual Summer camp was conducted for high schoolers and Junior college students on June 15 & 16, 2021. Two separate campswere originally planned for High school juniors and seniors (June 8&9), Junior college (June 15&16) students. However, because of low enrollments due to the pandemic, both groups of students were combined for the June 15 & 16 camp. 2. a) Sixnew courses were develop and ready for offering in Fall 2021. These are: i) AGST1500 - Introduction to Agriculture ii) AGEC2400 - Agricultural Accounting iii) AGEC3250 - Quantitative Methods in Agriculture (Originally proposed as Quantitative Techniques in Agricultural Science in our grant proposal) iv) AGST4960 - Seminar in Agriculture (This course was developed as an alternative course for students who already have full-time employment in the Food and Agriculture industry and are not able to participate in the mandatory internship course necessary for the fulfilment of their degree program). v) AGST3500 - Weed Biology and Management vi) AGST4100 - Agroecology AGST1500 and AGEC2400 are lower division courses while AGEC3250, AGST3500, AGST4100 and AGST4960 are upper division courses for juniors and seniors. b) The program Bachelor of Science (BS) in Agriculture curriculum was revised to incorporate the new courses. This enabled us to address some noted gaps in, and strengthen the curriculum, changethe titles of three (3) of the existing concentrations and align them with industry convention and the career paths in the food and agriculture industry. Listed below are the new and old concentration titles: i) New - Agricultural BusinessConcentration:(Formerly Agricultural Economics) ii) New - Agricultural Education Concentration: (Formerly General Agriculture) iii) New - Horticulture Concentration:(FormerlyAgricultural Biology) The proposed/new concentration titlechanges are currently going through the university approval process and expected to be effective by the 2022.
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Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic and several stringent safety restrictions put in place greatly impeded project activities during this review period. Due to social distancing and closure of all non-essential activities (including all academic institutions at all levels across the state),project activites scheduled for 2020 were not able to be carried out, thereby bringing project progress to a temporary stop. Project team plans to continue to monitor the pandemic situation and come up with creative ways to carry out project activities within limit of stipulated university safety protocols and guidelines in the coming project year. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
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 plan to continue on the progress made on the project (#2 & 4)objectives and implement the remaining two (#1 and 3) with appropriate modification allowable under the COVID-19 restriction guidelines to get project back on track, for timely completion before grant expiration.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The project started work on the following objectives before the activites were suspended due to COVID-19: #2. Revise/develop recruitment programs, curricula and non-curricula courses to enhance recruitment of underrepresented Hispanic students into agriculture program using evidence-based strategies and activities for addressing low enrollment of Hispanic students in agriculture program,(Curriculum design): Current program, curricula and non-curricular materials reviewed and areas of development/revisions were identified,including new courses (Quantitative Methods in Agriculture, Introduction to Agrculture, Agrcultural Accounting and Seminars in Agriculture)and coursesrequiring modifications (Example: Agricultural Studies Internship). #4. Conduct assessment of project strategies, activities and develop best practices for model implementation by other Agriculture program(Research): Survey and assessment instruments were developed and approved by the university IRB (Approval #1920-012)and ready for use on project activities.
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