Progress 09/01/19 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience:The population targeted during the duration of this award were freshman and sophomore full-time STEAM students who hadselected a major that aligns with careers of NIFA and USDA including agriculture, nutrition, and natural sciences. Additionally, part of the eligibility requirements was that students were to also maintain a 2.75 GPA and be in good academic standing. One of the goals for the Providing Resources and Opportunities for Minorities in STEAM Education Grant were to recruit (and retain) qualified Hispanic and other underrepresented students in food, agriculture, natural resources and human studies (FANH) in the United States. This project recognized the need of recruiting students to enter FANH fields as the Texas-Mexico border region ranks among one of the highest in the nation in: poverty rate, obesity and diabetes rate, percentage of impoverished children, number of persons without a high school or college degree, and medically underserved rate. Laredo College also presented a unique research opportunity as a Hispanic Serving Institution in whichclose to 95% of the student population is Hispanic and 72% are economically disadvantaged. The scholarships awarded to students in this grant provided the financial support needed for students to pursue their FANH careers and complete their respective degrees.Through the duration of this project (2019-2024), a total of 13 students were supported through the efforts of this scholarship in which 9 of the 13 have received their associates degree. We increased our pool size from 2 students selected in 2020-2021 to 11 students 2023-2024. 6 students have also received a post-secondary scholarship in which these students will be supported from the funds of this project to continue their degrees in agriculture, animal science, nutrition, and natural sciences at a 4-year institution. Additionally, 12 students were invited to attend the HACU leadership conference through the office of student life to support the leadership initiatives in this project.Recruiting efforts such as flyers were created to distribute across multiple stakeholders to recruit students including science faculty (e.g., biology and chemistry), scholarship coordinators (e.g., advisors), student success services, and the STEM LEAPS Title III program which works exclusively with students majoring in a STEM discipline. Additionally, students who identified as having an interest in FANH were sent out a scholarship application via email as a way to recruit students in the program. High school students from local high schools have also been targeted to provide information on possible opportunities in FANH. Students who were awarded the scholarship were also recognized through the college's social media account to increase awareness of the program. Communication among transfer universities (UTRGV, UTEP, TAMUK, TAMU, TAMIU, and TX STATE) also assisted in recruitment effort in helping to align curriculum in these fields to allow for a seamless transfer process. Changes/Problems:This project was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in senior personnel which caused major problems in the approach, especially regarding recruitment efforts. The pandemic caused all courses at LC to go completely to an online platform and all travel requests halted from 2019-2021. This was one major problem as we were unable to take students to conferences, seminars, or do campus visits, which prevented the spending of travel funds forboth students and the project director (PD). The next challenge was the change in PDand Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR)which occurred in December 2022 which was 8 months before the original end date of the PROMISE Scholars Grant. Due to the accelerated timeframe, recruitment efforts became the focus of this project in addition to awarding student scholarships. The delays due to the pandemic and the changes to senior personnel, caused the project to deviate in terms of outcomes and awarding of scholarships. The major changes included the movement of left over funds to award post-secondary scholarships from 1 student to 6 and to recruit students pursuing a biology degree but with an emphasis in animal science or health as some students were transferring to universities in which biology was the only degree being offered. These changes were necessary to meet the final outcomes of the project. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The information for this project has been disseminated through LC's social media accounts (e.g., Facebook) to notify stakeholders in the community. Additionally, presentations and information were distributed during new student orientation events. The project director has also made presentations to other STEM organizations including the STEM LEAPS Title III grant during their summer bridge program.The students who attended the HACU conference also presented a PowerPoint presentation explaining their overall experience and session they attended to student organizations (i.e., Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In 2019, the Texas-Mexico border region ranked one of the highest in the nation in poverty rate, obesity and diabetes rate, percentage of impoverished children, number of persons without a high school or college degree, and medically underserved rate. To address the rise in health issues found on the border, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the "Healthy Border 2020: A prevention & Health Promotion Initiative" report to promote health in these areas. Further,according to an overview report conducted by Dr. Allison Banicki from the Texas Department of State Health Services in 2023, the percentage of adults from 18-64 years old with no health coverage is significantly higher (42%) in border countiesthan compared to non-border counties(21.4%). In the overview report by Dr. Banicki, it was also noted that the prevalence of diabetes was also significantly higher in border counties (15.5%) compared to non-border counties (10.8%). Laredo College (LC)presents a unique research opportunity as it is located within a border county in Texas and serves a 95% Hispanic population. Therefore, the impact and goals of the PROMISE Scholars Project was to create opportunities for leadership development and support for eligible underrepresented students to complete the associate's degree and transfer to complete their degree in FANH at any partner universities. The PROMISE Scholars Project also focused on attracting new students through recruitment efforts designed to provide resources to prepare themto enter the workforce as qualified professionals that would address the food safety, food security, agribusiness, and health issues of the 21st Century. The first goal addressed in this project was to attract and support undergraduate students from underrepresented groups with the education and leadership skills to prepare them for careers related to food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences in the United States. A total of 13 students were recruited as part of this project and received financial support of upto $5,000.00 each to pursue their associate's degree with an emphasis on biology, agriculture, health, or animal science. Of those 13 students, 9 have graduated with their associate's degree and have pursued degrees in agriculture and animal science with an emphasis in veterinarian medicine. The other 4 students are in the process of finishing up their associate's degree at Laredo College before transferring to a 4-year institution. Additionally,6 studentswere awarded funding for a post-secondary scholarship of $25,000.00 each. Of those 6 students 3 will attendTexas A&M University-Kingsville, 2 will attend Texas A&M International University, and 1 will attendTexas A&M University. Further, 1 out of the 6 students will be pursuing a degree in bioenvironmental science, 3 will be pursuing a degree in animal science or biology with an emphasis on animal care or pre-vet, 1 in agriculture, and 1 in biology with a focus in medicine. Recruitment efforts to attract our intended audience of undergraduate students from underrepresented groups interested in pursuing a degree in FANH subjects included: 1) creating a flyer that was distributed to different stakeholders (science faculty, scholarship coordinators, and the STEM LEAPS Title III Program); 2) an application in both English and Spanish; 3) working alongside scholarship coordinators to distribute information through the scholarship universe platform at Laredo College; and 4) making presentation during new student orientations or through STEM summer bridge workshops. The second goal addressed in this project was to enhance the quality of postsecondary instruction with the FANH areas to increase retention, content mastery, and commitment to community improvement. Students in this project would conduct undergraduate projects with dedicated LC STEM faculty to increase content mastery in their field of study. Dedicated advising and tutoring was also provided to students to help them maintain their GPA and remain on their degree plan. LC STEM faculty also provided tutoring services in addition to peer tutors to help retain students in the program through the Center forLearning, Academic, and Student Success (CLASS). Further, this project worked closely with the department of student success to organize a trip to the annual meeting for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU). Through the funds of this project, 12 students were taken from Laredo College to learn aboutdesired characteristics of positive leadership and careers in the workforce. The third goal addressed in this project was to provide opportunities and access to FANH careers. To accomplish this goal, collaboration efforts were done with LC workforce center to disseminate resources to students and identify relevant programs that would allow students to apply for internships. Additionally, LC has built an alliance with other Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) as part of theArizona State University "Accelerating Latino Representation in STEM Education (ALRISE) NSF INCLUDES Alliance (NSF 20-569) project. As part of this alliance ALRISE has created a repository that includes resources and internship opportunities for students interested in FANH careers. These opportunities are then shared with students through the workforce center and STEM faculty. Additionally, one of the PROMISE Scholars participated as an LC student representative in the ALRISE program providing advice and student point of view in developing initiatives that would increase interest among underrepresented groups in STEM. The fourth goal of this project addressed the alignment efforts of HSIs and other non-profit organizations to support academic development and career attainment of underrepresented groups. As of 2024, LC has developed formal articulation programs including but not limited to:Texas State University, University of Texas--San Antonio, Texas Tech University, University of Texas--Rio Grande Valley, Texas A&M International University, and Texas A&M--San Antonio. LC continues to meet with other partnering universities to develop additional articulation agreements. In additionto developing official articulation agreements, the natural sciences department has worked with agriculture departmental programs at Texas A&M Kingsville, Texas A&M International University and Texas State University to develop a degree plan for students to follow that would create a pathway for students to follow from the community college to the university with an emphasis in biology, animal science, or agriculture. Further, in recognizing the need to promote careers in agriculture and animal science, the LC natural sciences department added AGRI 1319: Introductory Animal Science and AGRI 1119: Introduction Animal Science Lab to the curriculum effective Fall 2024. This would now include a pathway in agriculture from high school to community college, to a 4-year institution. The accomplishments done within each of these goals has demonstrated the impact this project has had on recruiting students in pursuing careers in FANH and incontinuing this project into the future with the development of degree plans that span from high school to 4-year institutions. The importance of this project cannot be understated as it has impacted students' lives as they continue their degree in FANH to address the health concerns seen on the Texas-Mexico border.
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target population for this reporting period arefreshman or sophomore,full time Latinx students entering into the college who have identified as a STEM major with a focus in agriculture, nutrition, and natural sciences that align with the careers of NIFA and USDA and having at least a 2.75 GPA. For the year 2022-2023, the college serveda population that is 96% Hispanic, 36% academically disadvantage, and 40% economically disadvantage and is also our target demographic. Recruiting efforts such as flyers were created to distribute across multiple stakeholders to recruit students including: science faculty (e.g., biology and chemistry), scholarship coordinators (e.g., advisors), and the STEM LEAPS Title III program which works exclusively with students majoring in a STEM discipline. Additionally, students who identified as having an interest in FANH were sent out a scholarship applications via email as a way to recruit students into the program.High school student from local high schools have also been targeted to provide information on possible opportunities in FANH. Changes/Problems:In the previous reporting period, one of the challenges we face and still continue to face is in recruiting students into the program. As a result, we changed the requirement of having only first year students and have expanded it to first and second year students. For this reporting period, we are hoping to do more recruiting events to address this problem. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The information for this projecthas been disseminated through social media accounts (e.g., facebook) and by participating in recruitment events (e.g., resource fairs). The project director has also met with advisors from the workforce center to promote the scholarship to students interested in careers in USDA and FANH. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?In the next reporting period, we will continue to utilize social media accounts to promote events and scholarship opportunities. We will also continue to collaborate with other institutions to plan on-site visits and have a representative from those campuses do presentations here at Laredo College. Other collaboration efforts will also be done to bring in presenters to discuss career options in USDA including possible internship opportunities. We are also planning on focusing on experiential learning in these fields to promote interest and engage students within STEM.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
G1)Attract and support undergraduate students (Increase the number) from underrepresented groups with the education and leadership skills to prepare them for careers related to food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences (FANH) in the United States to address problems and to increase rural business and rural quality of life. Action steps taken: 1) Recruitment efforts have been ongoing to promote awareness in FANH fields by creating a flyer that has been distributed to different stakeholders including the following: Science faculty(biology and chemistry), Scholarship coordinators, and the STEM LEAPS Title III Program. The flyer and applications were announced in general chemistry I and II, organic chemistry, botany, zoology, and introductorybiology courses. Scholarship coordinators assisted in recruitment efforts by emailing 336 students, identified as STEM majors interested in FANH fields, a scholarship application. Lastly, the director of the STEM LEAPS Title III grant program assisted in the recruitment effort by allowing the project director to make presentations at their annual summer bridge event. Advisors in the LEAPS program, have also assisted in this project by notifying students of possible assistance if pursuing a degree in agriculture, animal science, animal health, or FANH disciplines. 2) Dedicated advising has been provided to students through the department, college, and LEAPS. Advising has also assisted in supporting undergraduate students to remain on their degree plan and complete their associate's degree. They have also assisted in providing resources and opportunities for students to transfer to a 4-year institution. 3) Two students were awarded a scholarship to continue their degree in animal science G2) Enhance the quality of postsecondary instruction within the FANH areas in order to increase retention, content mastery and commitment to community improvement Action Steps Taken: 1) Meeting with 4-year institutions (e.g., Texas A&M Kingsville and Texas State University) to develop a transfer plan that would align the curriculum being taught at Laredo College to their programs specifically targeting FANH careers. 2) Plan a university trip for students to learn more about careers in USDA 3) Carry out experiential learning opportunitiesfor students by working closely with non-profit organizations in the community and in working closely with the Lamar Bruni Environmental Center currently housed at the Laredo College campus to carry out undergraduate research. 4) Invite guest speakers from different institutions to help promote programs in helping students decide which career to pursue. G3) Provide opportunities and access to FANH careers in the public and private sector early in order to recruit professionals with the leaderships skills to serve in USDA positions locally, regionally, and nationally (workforce availability). Action Steps Taken: 1) Provide internship opportunities for students to learn more about FANH careers and gain experience. 2) Collaboration between students, faculty, and advisors from the workforce center to provide resources to help students identify programs to prepare them to enter into a FANH career. G4) Align the efforts of Hispanic Serving Institutions and other non-profit organizations to support academic development and career attainment of underrepresented groups (leveraging). Action Steps Taken 1) Meeting with representatives from Texas A&M Kingsville and Texas State University to set up a partnership between the institutions 2) Attend the annual Texas Hispanic Consortiumin May 2024 3) Building an alliance among other Hispanic Serving Institutions as part of the Arizona State University ALRISE program to share resources and opportunities for Hispanic STEM students.
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience of this grant will be entering first-year students majoring in a STEM field with a focus in agriculture, nutrition, and natural sciences which align to the goals of NIFA and USDA. This grant will also target Latinx communities as Laredo College is identified as an HSI having a 97% Hispanic enrollment. Students from local school districts will also be targeted to inform students of possible career opportunities in USDA as Latinx representation in these fields are limited. Changes/Problems:Recruitment has continued to be impacted due to COVID which has had an impact on the number of students being awarded scholarships. In the next reporting cycle, as recruiters will now be allowed back into the local high schools to begin promoting the program, the number of students receiving scholarships should increase. Further, there were also changes in leadership teamas the president (AOR) moved to another institution. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Any student awarded a scholarship was announced during the URO (Undergraduate Research Opportunities symposium as faculty, staff, and students are in attendance at this event. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Due to the impact of COVID, recruitment and events have been limited. Therefore, as we begin to transition back to campus and begin seeing students face to face, the goal for the next reporting period will be to begin once again recruiting at the high school to promote awareness of careers in NIFA USDA.We will also utilize more social media accounts to promote awareness about scholarship opportunities and events that would target student interest in these areas. Further, in the next reporting period, we will porvide more oportunites for students to attend conferences or webinars to learn more about possible careers in FANH.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In South Texas and among the Latinx communities, diabetes and heart disease continue to rise at an alarming rate due to limited educational, medical, and economic opportunities causing a lack of awareness about the impact of these diseases. The aim of this grant is to prepare Latinx students in these communities to be leaders in food safety, food security and FANH fields. This project will target and provide financial support to Latinx students in South Texas who are interested in nutrition, food science, health, and agricultural degrees. To achieve these goals, Laredo College will be working collaboratively with other colleges and universities in South Texas to provide scholarships to students who are interested in pursuing a career in NIFA and USDA and in continuing their education beyond an associate degree. The project director and staff have continued to recruit and inform students about career opportunities in NIFA and USDA by doing presentations at the local high schools as they learn about degree pathways at the college. High school students have also participated in a summer bridge program to interact with mentors, advisors, and faculty to learn more about possible career opportunities. Two students have been awarded this scholarship and have continued to pursue their degree in agriculture. During this recording period, we had difficulty in the recruitment process due to the impact of COVID as the recruiters were unable to go to the local high schools. Further, travel to other universities were also hindered as institutions and schools were shut down or went to a virtual platform. To overcome this difficulty, recruitment went to a more virtual platform and utilizing social media to make announcements.
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