Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24
Outputs
Target Audience: Combined AgBOND Cohorts (146) - For combined participants, drop, fail and withdrawal rates for participants in the second, third, and fourth semester were lower by as much as 8% in semesters post-AgBOND course experience, and the mean GPA difference of 0.21 for AgBOND students versus non-AgBOND students by their seventh semester. In a demonstration of the ability of AgBOND students to succeed towards graduation, by their seventh semester, AgBOND students maintained a higher university retention rate in the semesters following the AgBOND FYE versus non-AgBond students by up to 13%. It is clear the AgBOND experience is promoting student development in usage of university services. AgBOND students used the career development center at an increased rate of 56% more students. Advising services were used at a higher rate by 1.5% than non AgBOND students, library usage was used at a 12% higher rate, and study abroad opportunities were used by 1% more of students. Four AgBOND students learners have gone on to serve as an ISA (instructional student assistant) for the AgBOND courses, and 2 students began ongoing roles as community-based research fellows. Notable Students: 1 Animal Science and 1 Plant Science student completed agroforestry-related internships with the USDA during their third year. The Plant Science student also was awarded one of the two highly competitive scholarships awarded by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). 1 Animal Science student completed an agroforestry-related internship with the USDA during their fourth year. Graduate Students (4) - Animal science masters students have integrated knowledge on exploring and communicating agriculture-related science topics and personal experience in transition from undergraduate to graduate work into CSM 10 coursework. One animal science masters students has graduated and has been hired on as a faculty member of the Animal Sciences department; Geology masters student, continues her second-year thesis-work with the USFS studying post-fire meadow restoration; and Alumni (2) - Plant Science student in the Ag-BOND 20-21 has transferred AY 22-23 to CSU Humbolt's Forestry with an emphasis on Forest Restoration One student who served as anISA to the Ag-BOND 20-21 cohort has since earned her Plant Science masters degree and is working as a research assistant at ORO AGRI. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? A robust ISA training and assessment program was developed by co_PI Weinman. This program posts weekly prep and review sessions for ISA's, networking and professional development experiences for this ISA, and performance reviews. Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21): Students created an AET (Agriculture Experience Tracker) account and tracked professional development activities within the Ag-BOND CSM 10 and CSM 15 courses in order to track professional development experiences as a springboard for resume development and completing the ACRS21 Soft Skill Certificate. Students Received one on one training with ACRS21 staff three times throughout the course of CSM 10. Utilizing the training, students completed professional development opportunities throughout the semester, and populated their AETS account with opportunity details and reflections to count towards completion of the ACRS21 soft skill training certificate. Students submitted evidence of their progress of their AETS account within CSM10/15. Summer Experience: In partnership with the BOND program, the AgBOND students participated in a 2 day team building and freshman preparation workshop. Students received peer mentoring, were afforded early access to in-person meetings with JCAST advising staff, and were provided tours of campus including the school farm. Student Professional Skills: AgBOND students were introduced to detailed modules on plagiarism, note taking, and citations. We intend for this module to be presented at the beginning of the CSM 10 semester, so that students are well-versed in these critical skills for all courses for which they are enrolled. As a means of aiding in time management skill development, students were guided to develop calendaring skills using the block scheduling method. College/Career Opportunities: A series of guest speakers from across campus were invited to the classroom. From these lectures, students were trained in scholarship opportunities from the AgOne development office, provided detailed information on internship opportunities presented by the Jordan College Advising Center, introduced to the Jordan College Honors program expectations and application, and were given insight on choosing a career, key professional development considerations and networking opportunities by an alumni working for California Dairies. Career Development: Over the course of CSM 10 and 15, students were guided in a series of in-class professional development activities, including developing and revising a resume, writing a cover letter for an internship application, and filling out scholarship applications. Students were also trained in creating graphs using Excel - a critical skillset needed in many career paths. Career Center: The University has a very experienced Career Center that is able to assist the students. First year students don't always see the value of visiting the center early on in their university life. Career Center staff members spoke in the AgBOND classes on how to prepare a resume for internship opportunities, creating a good Linkedin profile as well as key items to look for when researching internship opportunities. Internship Coordination: The JCAST has an Internship Coordinator dedicated to helping students such as those enrolled in AgBOND to identify internship opportunities. In an effort to be efficient, support students, learn the associated tracking software, and minimize confusion between opportunities for the students, AgBOND and ACRS21 grant staff have held several coordination and professional development meetings. ACRS21 (Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century: The ACRS21 program is funded through another USDA NIFA HSI Collaborative and its soft skills modules have begun to be integrated into the AgBOND FYE (first year experience) to promote student involvement in the career readiness training offered through certificate program, and as a method for students to track soft skill development throughout their academic career. Student Professional Development Assignments: Students in AgBOND are encouraged to explore activities and behaviors that promote their development as professionals and lifelong learners. Students submit 4 professional development assignments each semester. These assignments, which account for 20% of their overall course grade, show "artifacts" (i.e., picture evidence) of engagement along with brief reflections related to the activities. Examples of professional developments include but are not limited to meeting with peer mentors, attending Career Development Center workshops, engaging in community service and volunteer activities, and attending research seminars. Peer Mentoring: CSM and JCAST academic advising staff provide Peer Mentor trainings to interested AgBOND students. This provides a professional development opportunity as students learn how to best mentor their peers. Typically students would progress from being Peer Mentors to becoming ISAs (Instructional Support Assistants) ISA Weekly Trainings: ISA's are typically sophomore and junior level students who have previously been through the AgBOND FYE program and who are interested in helping fellow students improve. ISA students meet weekly with the BOND faculty coordinator. ISA training focuses on developing strategies for facilitating in-class instruction and how to assess and provide helpful formative and summative feedback to the students they are serving. ISAs also undergo FERPA training, crisis-intervention training, mandated reporter training, growth-mindset training along with learning a variety of pedagogical tools. Badging: We are electing to use the Badgr Canvas micro-badging in the next grant year period, which has the benefit of integration into student LinkedIn accounts developed within the career content in CSM10/15 ("Professional Development" assignments). Co-PI Weinman has met monthly with the Dean of Graduate Studies, the CSM Advising Center Director, the Department of Finance and Business Law Director & Faculty, Career Center Director, and the CSU STEM Vista to develop sequential badging to better support 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year high impact co-curricula engagement and tracking. Faculty Development: Key personnel participated in professional development opportunities throughout the year, which contributed to the current project, and future goals. Co-PIs Weinman and Tarrant participated in the Canvas Credentials / Digital Badging Webinar. Knowledge learned from this event helps guide the practice of using badges in the AgBOND program. Participation in this project contributed in Co-PI Weiman's promotion to full professor. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presentations Valadez, A and B. Weinman, 2024. Developing a Biochar System: creating the building blocks for healthy living and community. SoCalGas Student Research Fellowship Virtual Research Cafe. CSU STEM-NET, virtual cafe. ARI Presentation with Katy CSU Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) NEXTGEN Science and Leadership Conference in Sacramento, Oct 2023. Mehta, R., A. Hansen, M. Brady, A. Mine, B. Weinman*, and R. Yerrick, 2023. Overcoming Barriers to Change in Higher Education. Science Educators for Equity, Diversity, & Social Justice, Summer Institute without Walls, La Fortuna, Costa Rica. Weinman, B.*, M. Tongson-Fernandez, 2023. End-of-Semester Student Symposia to Assess and Scale High-Impact Practices. CV-RISER 2023, Fresno, California. Weinman, B.*, 2023. Creative Environmental Education for K-12 Teachers, US Embassy Grant, Azerbaijan. Katy - Presentation to JCAST 101 (audience included Dean of Grad Studies and Research) Castillo, C, M. Franco, and K. J. Tarrant. 2024. Impact of environmental enrichments in a tunnel ventilated broiler house on wind speed. Poultry Science Association Annual Conference. 16 July 2024, Louisville, KY Tarrant, K. J., B,. Hernandez, and L. Huisinga. 2024. Industry partnerships as catalysts for fostering inclusive growth in broiler welfare education. Poultry Science Association Annual Conference. 16 July 2024, Louisville, KY. Tarrant, K. J. Establishing high impact practice opportunities outside of the classroom through Less Leaking and COOP USDA grants. Finish in Five: STEAM Grants Team, Fresno, CA. Tarrant, K. J. Establishing high impact practice opportunities outside of the classroom through Less Leaking and COOP USDA grants. Jordan College 101 (including Dean of Grad Studies and Research), Fresno, CA. Awards Name of Student: Alexis Valadez Type of Scholarship: Award-Mentorship Title, Date and other relevant info: ECCLPS Graduate Student Mentor Appointment, 24-25 Description: One of a handful of graduate students chosen to mentor California's ECCLPS undergraduate student researchers in the Bridging UC-CSU Communities for Change program. Name of Student: Alexis Valadez Type of Scholarship: Award Title, Date and other relevant info: F3 Graduate Education Sponsorship, 2024-2025 Description: Additional support for connecting Alexis's carbon-sequestration research with innovative entrepreneurship opportunities for students to engage with small farmers and address economic, agricultural, and climate challenges to help Central Valley's ag-based industries be more competitive, resilient, and sustainable. Name of Student: Alexis Valadez Type of Scholarship: Award Title, Date and other relevant info: Agricultural Research Institute NextGen Graduate Fellowship, 2024-2025 Description: Continued recognition and support for carbon-sequestration research, involving biochar that benefits the campus (Campus as Living Lab opportunities for course-based research in CSM 10, CSM 15, and EES 115S, as well as independent research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students) and community-based organizations (i.e., Sierra Resource Conservation District, USGBC, CIT-WET Center, Agricultural Farm Laboratory, and California Climate Action Corps). Name of Student: Alexis Valadez Type of Scholarship: Award Title, Date and other relevant info: Central Valley College Corps, "Community Pioneer of Tomorrow," May 2024 Description: Support and recognition for developing carbon-sequestration research that benefits the campus (Campus as Living Lab opportunities for course-based research in CSM 10, CSM 15, and EES 115S, as well as independent research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students) and community-based organizations (i.e., Sierra Resource Conservation District, USGBC, CIT-WET Center). Social media Social media publications/tweets orchestrated by Communications Specialist for Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and assisted by PI and CO-PI's. https://x.com/FSJordanCollege/status/1823385789679423962 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fsjordancollege_agbond-tuesdaytalk-activity-7229537345799143424-yKq5/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop https://www.facebook.com/JCASTFresnoState/posts/pfbid0Spu2Xy2y3Qvs3pshP3Lb9KmyCVcJPS1XxzGHgG6geDDKoVYwwcsX5BVEbo41wURDl https://www.instagram.com/p/C-ncXe1sZKB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D Websites The website analytics report for the period from September 30, 2023, to August 31, 2024, highlights several key insights. Organic search emerged as the leading source of traffic, driving 113 sessions, followed by direct traffic with 51 sessions. The site welcomed 28 new users from diverse locations, including the United States, India, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea. Mobile devices were the preferred choice for 90.4% of visitors, with Chrome being the most popular browser at 79.1%. The Jordan College Advising and Career Development Center page was the most viewed, reflecting strong interest in its resources. Despite some declines, these insights provide valuable direction for future growth and engagement strategies. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The Jordan College of Agriculture and Technology (JCAST) Dean and Associate Dean were hired over the last reporting year. The new leadership team is working to create an updated vision and mission for the college, which will include focuses on retention and recruitment. We intend to use AgBOND, the only first year experience for JCAST majors, as a vessel for increasing retention and recruitment opportunities, beyond what we have been able to accomplish thus far. The draft mission envision has not become available as of this reporting year therefore, this major goal will be acted upon next reporting year. Approaching the end of the reporting year, Fresno State released the 2023-2029 Strategic Plan in a town hall meeting on campus. A draft of the plan held several strategies which should be leveraged to advance upon the Ag-BOND work for consideration in the next reporting year: (1) Goal 1, Strategy 2, which seeks to improve student retention and graduation through the expansion of first-year experience programs and on campus employment. The co-PIs are reaching out to the new Vice President of Student Affairs to follow up and make him aware of the joint CSM-JCAST first year program. (2) Goal 1, Strategy 4, which promotes more of the comprehensive advising (which Ag-BOND strives to do), to incorporate academic, career, vocational, and internship support. ACRS21 Certificate/AETS: For academic pathway sequencing, the online AETS proved to have technological barriers that prevented student mastery of the program during the course of the CSM10/15 semesters. The AETS interface is not user friendly for students and it was determined that the number of class hours that would have to be dedicated to mastering the program exceeds a reasonable number of classes that could be used to learn the platform. The co-PIs agree that the ACRS21 certificate is still valuable, and every effort should be made to ensure soft skill education and records and reflection of professional development opportunities is apart of the AgBOND program. In consultation with the ACRS21 PI, we have agreed on an alternative approach in recording student activities, that will still allow students to pursue the certificate. This updated methodology will be implemented in the next reporting period. Co-PI Weinman noted that there is a redesign needed for career-relevant assignment sequencing next Fall and Spring - the current CSM 15 curricula has personal/research statements content too late in the semester (late April and early May) to take advantage of the current early March university-wide scholarship deadline. We recommend redesigning the CSM10-CSM15 content so that career relevant personal statements are introduced with scaffolded assignments earlier and aligned with Spring scholarship and undergraduate research application deadlines. These changes were acted within CSM 15. We feel that the timing for the new schedule created meets this need. Faculty Engagement Based on reported data from the Fresno State Office of Institutional Effectiveness, student outcomes for AgBOND students have demonstrated enrollees are better set for meeting graduation expectations than their non-AgBOND counterparts; thus demonstrating an excellent investment in first-year undergraduate student careers. A promotion campaign will be done to highlight the pathway the program provides to students and to the campus community at large. This will ensure that other faculty will learn from the effort. New faculty recruited to teach the introductory courses associated with AgBOND to represent additional departments within JCAST. As of now, the JCAST instructional faculty brought in this year (Dr. Tarrant) resides in the Animal Science department and AgBOND enrolled students are from the Animal Science and Plant Science departments. We intend to engage faculty from departments reflecting enrolled students. Outline the requirements for adding Food Science majors to the AgBOND FYE , and seek feedback from the Food Science department for implementation. Metrics Evaluate degree progress and academic standing of AgBOND ISA students using data generated from the Fresno State Office of Institutional Effectiveness as a method to evaluate the impact of upper level ag students serving as peer mentors and course assistants on retention and academic success. Measuring student "pathway" progress in partnership with the Office of Instructional Effectiveness. Continue the dissemination of student success, opportunities as well as accomplishment of the program via the website and social media. Changes/Problems Challenges In the Spring 2024, California Assembly Bill 928 created Cal-GETC as a single general education (GE) pattern for all UC, CSU, and CCC, to help eliminate inconsistent and unnecessarily complex transfer processes for our students. For Fresno State, this common GE adoption would remove two of our current campus GE required courses: the removal of GE Area E, Lifelong Learning and removal of one of the currently three required GE Area C courses. Given that CSM 15 and now AGRI 15 BOND courses are both GE Area E, the new university pattern would make the second semester of our students' first year no longer count towards their degree requirements. BOND faculty leads have been meeting with Ag and CSM Deans and attending informational meetings since last spring to plan for course proposal changes in case Area E was removed as a requirement (i.e., make the course a major requirement or revise the course to a different GE Area). Currently, the faculty senate proposed keeping Area E and the third Area C as university requirements, so for now, programmatic revisions to the first year experiences are not as much of a concern. While students participating in the AgBOND courses realize that integrating science and ag offers a better approach to developing well-rounded agricultural scientists; however, the university infrastructure is still siloed. This negatively impacts both the hiring of ISAs (instructional support assistant) and the hiring of faculty to accommodate increased demand for CSM 10 and CSM We have more student demand for the AgBOND class sessions than teachers available. Integration of in-class data collection to develop unique datasets for research projects into the AgBOND program is a priority, but has not been able to be accomplished due to the time constraints of the semester. Faculty are interested in building activities for students to collect their own data from research that uses "Campus as a Living Lab" and Co-PI Weinman is working on finding funding to support faculty development over the summer. Moving Forward in Year 4 efforts will focus on addressing the following: building a professional LinkedIn page which will enable students to link co-curricular badges/certificate profiles. Pages will be tracked as a method to track success in future careers; create current and alumni AgBOND student surveys to monitor outcomes of AgBOND students beyond institutionally collected data; promote campus scholarship application submissions to increase student financial security, and thus, retention increase JCAST Honors Program exposure to encourage participation in undergraduate research opportunities and skill acquisition for future FANHS careers To further student scientific skill sets students will work with a subject area librarian to learn scientific database navigation and correct citation formatting. Increase research opportunities provided through AgBOND The new campus strategic plan includes the improving of student retention and graduation through the expansion of first-year experience programs, supplemental instruction and on-campus employment opportunities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
AgBOND Testimonials were compiled from student participants. These testimonials are not only indicating the impact of the AgBOND program, but will be used for marketing purposes targeting future recruitment. The strengths that I have come across during my AG Bond program experience is critical thinking and collaboration is a must for any work in the future. Always being open to others opinions and thoughts. In this course I have gained more knowledge of thinking outside the box when working with charts and demographics. I appreciate my professor and the ISA's for being so patient with us and getting our work done. I believe the AgBond program could be good for someone who is really considering going into research or even has never seriously considered it as the class introduces these topics lightly. The program also helps to force a student to attend campus events and learn more about relevant industries. Some strengths of the Ag bond program is that it is an excellent class to get started on research such as learning how to obtain data and use it on a spreadsheet and it is also good for public speaking. AgBond has taught me a lot about getting more involved on campus and with students and getting more hands on with a lot of assignments. Learning new things such as a research project and all these opportunities available has opened my eyes and has made me feel okay with being able to open up with faculty and not be scared. I believe the most positive aspects of the AgBond program are how it connects students to different opportunities both on and off campus and helps students gain beginning experience in the field of research. I think the most positive aspect of the Ag Bond program is getting us to do things like Professional Developments as it gives us a chance to get involved on campus. The agBond program is different in the way that it is very helpful. It helps connect with others and improve academics. The biggest strength of this course would be the hands-on learning and having one on one connections with the ISA and teacher. It was a very open and welcoming environment where I was comfortable asking questions and discussing with the class. In AgBond I learned many different things like how to get involved by doing professional development. I did things that I would usually do: I would go to club meetings and other activities that are going on on campus. University approval received for cross-listing of the CSM10/15 courses to appear as AGRI 10/15 courses. The change will go into effect for students in Fall 2025. Established the first cross-college "first year experience" (FYE) at Fresno State for incoming students enrolling in the Jordan College (Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology) and CSM (College of Science and Math) majors. At the start of the grant, we initially recruited plant science majors into the program and in the previous reporting period we scaled up to include both plant and animal science majors. This reporting period represents the second AgBOND sections to include both plant and animal science majors which is instructed by Jordan College faculty members, Co-PI Tarrant and Mr. Cirenio Hisasaga. Enrollment in the CSM 10/15 cohort inImproved academic standing metrics were achieved. In the first two years of the project, AgBOND student participants demonstrated a decrease in drop, fail, and withdrawals (DFW) rates compared to their non-AgBOND counterparts. Additionally, data shows that animal science majors enrolled in AgBOND and the plant science majors enrolled in AgBOND passed their introductory major courses, Introduction to Animal Science (ASCI 1) and Introduction to Plant Science (PLANT 1) at higher rates compared to their non-AgBOND cohort. Further, AgBOND participants demonstrated a higher pass rate in a number of introductory GE courses university-wide, including: ENGL 10, BIOL 11, HIST 11, MATH 11, COMM 3, CHEM 3A, and DRAMA 62. Provided opportunities for undergraduate research to be conducted, and attendance to scientific conferences for students to present scientific research findings. Recruited cross-college CSM and JCAST students to FANHS-relevant undergraduate and graduate research, internships, and mentoring experiences. Highlighted alternate pathways in food and agriculture professions for biology majors who realize they won't become doctors and nurses and provided alternative career pathways in ag and food utilizing similar skill sets (e.g. pre-vet students adapting laboratory and critical thinking skills to food safety). Offered and integrated available AgBOND First Year Experience (FYE) courses in CSM 10 and CSM 15 and students embrace the integration. Students understand the breaking down of barriers and silos following the motto "not about yours but rather it is about ours." Integrated FANHS career relevance into curriculum modules. While we are too early in the project to have students ready for a culminating Ag-BOND career experience, the first year students are doing Focus2Career assessments as homework for class activities whereby they explore FANHS-related careers (e.g., Veterinarian, Zoo Veterinarian, Veterinarian Technician, Plant Sciences and Animal Science Professors, Animal Husbandry Worker Supervisor, Agronomist, Pest Control Adviser, Animal Breeder, Environmental Science Professor, Field Advisor, Farm and Ranch Manager, Botanist, Field Health Officer, Agricultural Engineer, Horticulturist, Marine and Aquatic Biologist, Forestry and Conservation Science Professor, etc.) Maintained the partnership with U.C. Davis PhD candidate and Jordan College alumni, Cirenio Hisasaga as the second JCAST faculty instructor to be onboarded into the AgBOND program. Mr. Hisaga brought ample experience and professional development insight into the classroom where he lectured on his first hand knowledge of opportunities within the Jordan College. His experience as a student on Fresno State's campus includes: recipient of the Jordan College Undergraduate Dean's Medalist, peer mentor in the LSAMP and Bride to Doctorate program, undergraduate research, campus employment on the school farm, and application and acceptance into the master's program in Agricultural Science. Moving forward, we intend to increase the number of JCAST faculty participating in instruction of the AgBOBD program. Student Activity: AgBOND students were actively engaged on campus, in events such as the High Impact Practices Symposium offered in the fall and spring semesters, multiple Fresno State Campus Tree Planting events hosted with Tree Fresno, FEMA webinar Advancing Rural and Agricultural Community Resilience, and the Future of Agriculture in California Summit.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/22 to 08/31/23
Outputs
Target Audience: Combined AgBOND Cohorts (105) - For combined participants, drop, fail and withdrawal rates for participants in the second, third, and fourth semester were lower by as much as 8% in semesters post-AgBOND course experience, and the mean GPA difference of up to 0.31 for AgBOND students versus non-AgBOND students. In a demonstration of the ability of AgBOND students to succeed towards graduation, by their fourth semester, AgBOND students had earned 110 cumulative units, versus non-AgBOND peers having earned 93 units. This difference was accentuated in first generation students, who earned an average of 114 units by the fourth semester, versus 93 units earned by first generation non-AgBOND students. Two AgBOND students learners have gone on to serve as an ISA (instructional student assistant) for the AgBOND courses, and 2 students began ongoing roles as community-based research fellows. Notable Students: 1 Animal Science and 1 Plant Science student completed agroforestry-related internships with the USDA during their third year. The Plant Science student also was awarded one of the two highly competitive scholarships awarded by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). 1 Animal Science student completed an agroforestry-related internship with the USDA during their fourth year. Graduate Students (4) - Animal science masters students have integrated knowledge on exploring and communicating agriculture-related science topics and personal experience in transition from undergraduate to graduate work into CSM 10 coursework. One animal science masters students has graduated and has been hired on as a faculty member of the Animal Sciences department; Geology masters student, continues her second-year thesis-work with the USFS studying post-fire meadow restoration; and Alumni (2) - Plant Science student in the Ag-BOND 20-21 has transferred AY 22-23 to CSU Humbolt's Forestry with an emphasis on Forest Restoration One student who served as anISA to the Ag-BOND 20-21 cohort has since earned her Plant Science masters degree and is working as a research assistant at ORO AGRI. Changes/Problems:Challenges While students participating in the AgBOND courses realize that integrating science and ag offers a better approach to developing well-rounded agricultural scientists; however, the university infrastructure is still siloed. This negatively impacts both the hiring of ISAs (instructional support assistant) and the hiring of faculty to accommodate increased demand for CSM 10 and CSM We have more student demand for the AgBOND class sessions than teachers available. Integration of in-class data collection to develop unique datasets for research projects into the AgBOND program is a priority, but has not been able to be accomplished due to the time constraints of the semester. Faculty are interested in building activities for students to collect their own data from research that uses "Campus as a Living Lab" and Co-PI Weinman is working on finding funding to support faculty development over the summer. The AET (Agriculture Experience Tracker) web interface proved to be a challenge for students to navigate, but a collaborative effort between Less Leaky and ACRS21 personnel has resulted in an updated plan for the next reporting period described above. With this Fall 23's first "true" combined effort of faculty coordinating efforts across the two colleges (CSM and JCAST) and the 9 CSM-10 sections, faculty trialed combining course content for all sections within one Canvas course for all faculty, teaching assistants, college advisors, and students. While this enabled access for college advisors for early alerting and connecting students with helpful resources in a "one stop" fashion, the seven faculty teaching the course were limited in customizing the needs for their own teaching styles and courses. Future courses will revert back to independent course sections in Canvas, with advisors given access to help monitor and provide assistance in each individual course section. Moving Forward in Year 4 efforts will focus on addressing the following: Pursuing the alternative partnership with the ACRS21 program staff previously outlined. building a professional LinkedIn page which will enable students to link co-curricular badges/certificate profiles. Pages will be tracked as a method to track success in future careers; create current and alumni AgBOND student surveys to monitor outcomes of AgBOND students beyond institutionally collected data; promote campus scholarship application submissions to increase student financial security, and thus, retention increase JCAST Honors Program exposure to encourage participation in undergraduate research opportunities and skill acquisition for future FANHS careers To further student scientific skill sets students will work with a subject area librarian to learn scientific database navigation and correct citation formatting. The new campus strategic plan includes the improving of student retention and graduation through the expansion of first-year experience programs, supplemental instruction and on-campus employment opportunities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21): Students created an AET (Agriculture Experience Tracker) account and tracked professional development activities within the Ag-BOND CSM 10 and CSM 15 courses in order to track professional development experiences as a springboard for resume development and completing the ACRS21 Soft Skill Certificate. Students Received one on one training with ACRS21 staff three times throughout the course of CSM 10. Utilizing the training, students completed professional development opportunities throughout the semester, and populated their AETS account with opportunity details and reflections to count towards completion of the ACRS21 soft skill training certificate. Students submitted evidence of their progress of their AETS account within CSM10/15. Summer Experience: In partnership with the BOND program, the AgBOND students participated in a 2 day team building and freshman preparation workshop. Students received peer mentoring, were afforded early access to in-person meetings with JCAST advising staff, and were provided tours of campus including the school farm. Student Professional Skills: AgBOND students were introduced to detailed modules on plagiarism, note taking, and citations. We intend for this module to be presented at the beginning of the CSM 10 semester, so that students are well-versed in these critical skills for all courses for which they are enrolled. As a means of aiding in time management skill development, students were guided to develop calendaring skills using the block scheduling method. College/Career Opportunities: A series of guest speakers from across campus were invited to the classroom. From these lectures, students were trained in scholarship opportunities from the AgOne development office, provided detailed information on internship opportunities presented by the Jordan College Advising Center, introduced to the Jordan College Honors program expectations and application, and were given insight on choosing a career, key professional development considerations and networking opportunities by an alumni working for California Dairies. Career Development: Over the course of CSM 10 and 15, students were guided in a series of in-class professional development activities, including developing and revising a resume, writing a cover letter for an internship application, and filling out scholarship applications. Students were also trained in creating graphs using Excel - a critical skillset needed in many career paths. Career Center: The University has a very experienced Career Center that is able to assist the students. First year students don't always see the value of visiting the center early on in their university life. Career Center staff members spoke in the AgBOND classes on how to prepare a resume for internship opportunities, creating a good Linkedin profile as well as key items to look for when researching internship opportunities. Internship Coordination: The JCAST has an Internship Coordinator dedicated to helping students such as those enrolled in AgBOND to identify internship opportunities. In an effort to be efficient, support students, learn the associated tracking software, and minimize confusion between opportunities for the students, AgBOND and ACRS21 grant staff have held several coordination and professional development meetings. ACRS21 (Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century: The ACRS21 program is funded through another USDA NIFA HSI Collaborative and its soft skills modules have begun to be integrated into the AgBOND FYE (first year experience) to promote student involvement in the career readiness training offered through certificate program, and as a method for students to track soft skill development throughout their academic career. Student Professional Development Assignments: Students in AgBOND are encouraged to explore activities and behaviors that promote their development as professionals and lifelong learners. Students submit 4 professional development assignments each semester. These assignments, which account for 20% of their overall course grade, show "artifacts" (i.e., picture evidence) of engagement along with brief reflections related to the activities. Examples of professional developments include but are not limited to meeting with peer mentors, attending Career Development Center workshops, engaging in community service and volunteer activities, and attending research seminars. Peer Mentoring: CSM and JCAST academic advising staff provide Peer Mentor trainings to interested AgBOND students. This provides a professional development opportunity as students learn how to best mentor their peers. Typically students would progress from being Peer Mentors to becoming ISAs (Instructional Support Assistants) ISA Weekly Trainings: ISA's are typically sophomore and junior level students who have previously been through the AgBOND FYE program and who are interested in helping fellow students improve. ISA students meet weekly with the BOND faculty coordinator. ISA training focuses on developing strategies for facilitating in-class instruction and how to assess and provide helpful formative and summative feedback to the students they are serving. ISAs also undergo FERPA training, crisis-intervention training, mandated reporter training, growth-mindset training along with learning a variety of pedagogical tools. Badging: We are electing to use the Badgr Canvas micro-badging in the next grant year period, which has the benefit of integration into student LinkedIn accounts developed within the career content in CSM10/15 ("Professional Development" assignments). Co-PI Weinman has met monthly with the Dean of Graduate Studies, the CSM Advising Center Director, the Department of Finance and Business Law Director & Faculty, Career Center Director, and the CSU STEM Vista to develop sequential badging to better support 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year high impact co-curricula engagement and tracking. Faculty Development: Key personnel participated in professional development opportunities throughout the year, which contributed to the current project, and future goals. Co-PIs Weinman and Tarrant participated in the Canvas Credentials / Digital Badging Webinar. Knowledge learned from this event helps guide the practice of using badges in the AgBOND program. Participation in this project contributed in Co-PI Weiman's promotion to full professor. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Social media Social media publications/tweets orchestrated by Communications Specialist for Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and assisted by PI and CO-PI's. Social Media - Twitter and Facebook with designated hashtag #AgBOND https://twitter.com/FSJordanCollege/status/1653050431407357952?s=20 https://twitter.com/FSJordanCollege/status/1684214773045403650?s=20 https://twitter.com/FSJordanCollege/status/1653412056513622021?s=20 https://www.facebook.com/JCASTFresnoState/posts/pfbid02KMBtGLmk1W7N1FRpYYo1Pm6AVcGzSKEgyS6t9crRkWgQ1i5CJXRSWezY6zXbFDTGl?mibextid=YxdKMJ https://www.facebook.com/100063492521968/posts/pfbid0CZmAMJaYz9RNn5GHnHa5ZQVFJQfMrVyKYR5VuSHbJyF5cRFzb5azWUW3H7x6kPHJl/?mibextid=K8Wfd2 Websites AgBOND Project Website - The website was updated during the 22-23 year and has become more accessible including updated photos and testimonials for those students that would like to see the information in a visual form and would like to see some of the activities that the current students are participating in. Additionally, information regarding the High Impact Practices Symposium (HIPS) information was included. Home page https://jcast.fresnostate.edu/student-success/agbond/index.html Photo gallery https://jcast.fresnostate.edu/student-success/agbond/gallery.html Student Testimonials ( Bi-weekley student quotes added to the website) https://jcast.fresnostate.edu/student-success/agbond/testimonials.html HIPS info https://jcast.fresnostate.edu/student-success/agbond/hips.html BOND website https://csm.fresnostate.edu/fye/index.html Google Analytics report of visit shows that key pages of the program are visited by new and recurring visitors. A total of 357 page views were recorded from 178 unique users Promotional material Two flyers were updated to assist in recruiting students. Both high school students as well as currently enrolled students. The two flyers were disseminated at Fresno State Dog Days New Student Orientation as well as to prospective students who have expressed interest in Animal Science, Plant Science, JCAST and/or CSM. Copies of the most recent flyers can be found on the program website https://jcast.fresnostate.edu/student-success/agbond/untitled.html What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? A new Jordan College of Agriculture and Technology (JCAST) Dean and Associate Dean were hired over the reporting year. The new leadership team is working to create an updated vision and mission for the college, which will include focuses on retention and recruitment. We intend to use AgBOND, the only first year experience for JCAST majors, as a vessel for increasing retention and recruitment opportunities, beyond what we have been able to accomplish thus far. Approaching the end of the reporting year, Fresno State released the 2023-2029 Strategic Plan in a town hall meeting on campus. A draft of the plan held several strategies which should be leveraged to advance upon the Ag-BOND work for consideration in the next reporting year: (1) Goal 1, Strategy 2, which seeks to improve student retention and graduation through the expansion of first-year experience programs and on campus employment. The co-PIs are reaching out to the new Vice President of Student Affairs to follow up and make him aware of the joint CSM-JCAST first year program. (2) Goal 1, Strategy 4, which promotes more of the comprehensive advising (which Ag-BOND strives to do), to incorporate academic, career, vocational, and internship support. ACRS21 Certificate/AETS: For academic pathway sequencing, the online AETS proved to have technological barriers that prevented student mastery of the program during the course of the CSM10/15 semesters. The AETS interface is not user friendly for students and it was determined that the number of class hours that would have to be dedicated to mastering the program exceeds a reasonable number of classes that could be used to learn the platform. The co-PIs agree that the ACRS21 certificate is still valuable, and every effort should be made to ensure soft skill education and records and reflection of professional development opportunities is apart of the AgBOND program. In consultation with the ACRS21 PI, we have agreed on an alternative approach in recording student activities, that will still allow students to pursue the certificate. This updated methodology will be implemented in the next reporting period. Co-PI Weinman noted that there is a redesign needed for career-relevant assignment sequencing next Fall and Spring - the current CSM 15 curricula has personal/research statements content too late in the semester (late April and early May) to take advantage of the current early March university-wide scholarship deadline. We recommend redesigning the CSM10-CSM15 content so that career relevant personal statements are introduced with scaffolded assignments earlier and aligned with Spring scholarship and undergraduate research application deadlines. Faculty Engagement Based on reported data from the Fresno State Office of Institutional Effectiveness, student outcomes for AgBOND students have demonstrated enrollees are better set for meeting graduation expectations than their non-AgBOND counterparts; thus demonstrating an excellent investment in first-year undergraduate student careers. A promotion campaign will be done to highlight the pathway the program provides to students and to the campus community at large. This will ensure that other faculty will learn from the effort. New faculty recruited to teach the introductory courses associated with AgBOND to represent additional departments within JCAST. As of now, the JCAST instructional faculty brought in this year (Dr. Tarrant) resides in the Animal Science department and AgBOND enrolled students are from the Animal Science and Plant Science departments. We intend to engage faculty from departments reflecting enrolled students. Outline the requirements for adding Food Science majors to the AgBOND FYE , and seek feedback from the Food Science department for implementation. Metrics Evaluate degree progress and academic standing of AgBOND ISA students using data generated from the Fresno State Office of Institutional Effectiveness as a method to evaluate the impact of upper level ag students serving as peer mentors and course assistants on retention and academic success. Measuring student "pathway" progress in partnership with the Office of Instructional Effectiveness. As of this reporting year, the AgBOND courses are coded listed in the course catalog as CSM 10 and CSM 15 as an artifact of the development of the program originating from CSM's BOND program. To increase visibility to Jordan College students, we will be pursuing a cross-listing for the course ID of AGRI 10 and 15. This change will make the course selection recognizable to Jordan College students, and we believe that it will increase enrollment in the course as students are more likely to associate these courses with their own major, rather than taking GE courses from a different college. Continue the dissemination of student success, opportunities as well as accomplishment of the program via the website and social media.?
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Established the first cross-college "first year experience" (FYE) at Fresno State for incoming students enrolling in the Jordan College (Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology) and CSM (College of Science and Math) majors. At the start of the grant, we initially recruited plant science majors into the program and in the previous reporting period we scaled up to include both plant and animal science majors (increase from zero (0) JCAST student pre-AgBOND, to 14 plant science in '20-21, and 63 plant and animal science in '21-22). This reporting period represents the first AgBOND sections to include both plant and animal science majors which is instructed by Jordan College faculty members, Co-PI Tarrant and Mr. Cirenio Hisasaga. Enrollment in the CSM 10/15 cohort inImproved academic standing metrics were achieved. In the first two years of the project, AgBOND student participants demonstrated a decrease in drop, fail, and withdrawals (DFW) rates compared to their non-AgBOND counterparts. Additionally, data shows that animal science majors enrolled in AgBOND and the plant science majors enrolled in AgBOND passed their introductory major courses, Introduction to Animal Science (ASCI 1) and Introduction to Plant Science (PLANT 1) at higher rates compared to their non-AgBOND cohort. Further, AgBOND participants demonstrated a higher pass rate in a number of introductory GE courses university-wide, including: ENGL 10, BIOL 11, HIST 11, MATH 11, COMM 3, CHEM 3A, and DRAMA 62. Increased by over 100% between fall and spring semesters during the 22/23 AY. Enrollment for the Fall 23 semester met the cap of 35 students, with additional students on the waitlist. With plans to create a new course ID relevant to Jordan College majors, and increased efforts to enroll students by the advising center, we anticipate increased interest and enrollment in the course. Recruited cross-college CSM and JCAST students to FANHS-relevant undergraduate and graduate research, internships, and mentoring experiences. Highlighted alternate pathways in food and agriculture professions for biology majors who realize they won't become doctors and nurses and provided alternative career pathways in ag and food utilizing similar skill sets (e.g. pre-vet students adapting laboratory and critical thinking skills to food safety). Offered and integrated available AgBOND First Year Experience (FYE) courses in CSM 10 and CSM 15 and students embrace the integration. Students understand the breaking down of barriers and silos following the motto "not about yours but rather it is about ours." Integrated FANHS career relevance into curriculum modules. While we are too early in the project to have students ready for a culminating Ag-BOND career experience, the first year students are doing Focus2Career assessments as homework for class activities whereby they explore FANHS-related careers (e.g., Veterinarian, Zoo Veterinarian, Veterinarian Technician, Plant Sciences and Animal Science Professors, Animal Husbandry Worker Supervisor, Agronomist, Pest Control Adviser, Animal Breeder, Environmental Science Professor, Field Advisor, Farm and Ranch Manager, Botanist, Field Health Officer, Agricultural Engineer, Horticulturist, Marine and Aquatic Biologist, Forestry and Conservation Science Professor, etc.) Recruited U.C. Davis PhD candidate and Jordan College alumni, Cirenio Hisasaga as the second JCAST faculty instructor to be onboarded into the AgBOND program. Mr. Hisaga brought ample experience and professional development insight into the classroom where he lectured on his first hand knowledge of opportunities within the Jordan College. His experience as a student on Fresno State's campus includes: recipient of the Jordan College Undergraduate Dean's Medalist, peer mentor in the LSAMP and Bride to Doctorate program, undergraduate research, campus employment on the school farm, and application and acceptance into the master's program in Agricultural Science. Moving forward, we intend to increase the number of JCAST faculty participating in instruction of the AgBOBD program. Student Activity: AgBOND students were actively engaged on campus, in events such as the High Impact Practices Symposium offered in the fall and spring semesters, multiple Fresno State Campus Tree Planting events hosted with Tree Fresno, FEMA webinar Advancing Rural and Agricultural Community Resilience, and the Future of Agriculture in California Summit.
Publications
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Progress 09/01/21 to 08/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience: Combined AgBOND Cohorts (82) - For combined participants, drop, fail and withdrawal rates for participants in the second, third, and fourth semester were lower by as much as 0.058 post AgBOND course experience, and the mean GPA exceeds 3.0 for semesters 3 and 4 for AgBOND students while the mean GPA for non-AgBOND students was below 3.0. In a demonstration of the ability of AgBOND students to succeed towards graduation, by their fourth semester, AgBOND students had earned 80 cumulative units, versus non-AgBOND peers having earned 64 units. This difference was accentuated in first generation students, who earned an average of 85 units by the fourth semester, versus 65 units earned by first generation non-AgBOND students. First Year Students (62) - A total of 62 incoming JCAST students enrolled in the Ag-BOND FYE Cohort 2 formed in the 2021-2022 AY, of which 20 initially were Plant Science (01.1101), 41 pre-professional Animal Science (01.0901), and 1 pre-Psychology (42.0101) majors. Second Year Students (74) - The original AgBOND Cohort 1 beginning the program in 2020-21 consisted of 73 mixed CSM-JCAST students. Of these, 77% were retained in the university. Of the 13 Plant Science majors from that year, 61% were retained in Plant Sciences through Spring 2022. Following their second year, 3 Plant Science students from Ag-BOND AY20-21 cohort and 1 Environmental Science student have completed FANHS-related internships after their second year: 2 students with the Natural Resource Conservation Service, 1 student completing 2 summer internships with the US Forest Service, and 1 student completing a summer internship with California's Climate Action Corp. In addition, 1 student served as an ISA (instructional student assistant) for the '21-22 Ag-BOND course and 2 students began ongoing roles as community-based research fellows in Spring 22 . (note: the 3 plant science students discussed here were among the 13 first year students reported in the table above, and they are continuing FANHS related work going into their third semesters) Third Year Students (2) - 1 Animal Science and 1 Plant Science student completed agroforestry-related internships with the USDA during their third year. The Plant Science student also was awarded one of the two highly competitive scholarships awarded by the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA). Fourth Year Students (1) - 1 Animal Science student completed an agroforestry-related internship with the USDA during their fourth year. Graduate Students (3) - Animal science masters student, beginning as an ISA to Ag-BOND as of 8/22, will integrate knowledge on exploring and communicating agriculture-related science topics and personal experience in transition from undergraduate in to graduate work into CSM 10 coursework; Geology masters student, continues her second-year thesis-work with the USFS studying post-fire meadow restoration; and A student who served as an ISA to the Ag-BOND 20-21 cohort, currently works full time at a regional vineyard and winery business, and is on track to graduate December 2022 with a masters degree in Plant Science. Alumni (2) - Plant Science student in the Ag-BOND 20-21 has transferred AY 22-23 to CSU Humbolt's Forestry with an emphasis on Forest Restoration One student who served as anISA to the Ag-BOND 20-21 cohort has since earned her Plant Science masters degree and is working as a research assistant at ORO AGRI. Changes/Problems:Major Changes Dr. Katy Tarrant, a JCAST faculty member in the Animal Science department, was recruited to teach the AgBOND CSM10 course for the fall 2022 semester. This is the first faculty member JCAST has assigned AgBOND instructional duties, as a reflection of the value JCAST has seen in the academic development and success of previous AgBOND students. Moving forward, it is anticipated JCAST will continue to take on additional supporting roles of promoting AgBOND. Dr. Tarrant is also taking on a Co-PI role for grant implementation. We are learning that having strong faculty leadership in not one but both colleges (CSM, JCAST) will be critical to project implementation as well as sustainability beyond the life of the grant funded project. Challenges While students participating in the AgBOND courses realize that integrating science and ag offers a better approach to developing well-rounded agricultural scientists; however, the university infrastructure is still siloed. This negatively impacts both the hiring of ISAs (instructional support assistant) and the hiring of faculty to accommodate increased demand for CSM 10 and CSM 15. Unexpected Outcome = More student demand for the introductory class sessions than teachers available for Fall Semester 2021 We ended up combining two course sections together into one section so CoPI Weinman taught a single class of 100 students instead of two sessions of 45-50 students. This allowed students to take the class as it was advertised in the official class schedule document. Integration of research into undergraduate courses. Increase scope and depth of recruiting student participants through increased utilization of Michelle Perez (JCAST) and Lynn Jaschke (CSM) in Admissions and Recruitment Office The BOND model extended to AgBOND through this grant. The positive results have extended itself to the creation of GeoBOND Faculty high fives - new website that is shared weekly with all Fresno state faculty and staff JCAST is bringing in a new Dean in Fall 2023. This will create new opportunities to encourage cross-college listing of classes Collaboration with ACRS21 (Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century (ACRS21) program), incorporating AET (Agriculture Experience Tracker) assignments into Ag-BOND CSM 10 and CSM 15 in order to track professional development experiences as a springboard for resume development. Assignments focusing on the AET tracker will be used as a tool to: 1. increase student participation in extracurricular activities 2. encourage campus community involvement 3. provide the student with evidence of acquiring soft and technical skills to be used in FAHNS career searching Moving Forward in Year 3 efforts will focus on addressing the following: We intend to increase professional development opportunities and reporting to include: 1. building a professional LinkedIn page which will enable students to link co-curricular badges/certificate profiles. Pages will be tracked as a method to track success in future careers; 2. promote AET usage in other classes throughout the major courses to increase student reporting; 3. create current and alumni AgBOND student surveys to monitor outcomes of AgBOND students beyond institutionally collected data; 4. promote campus scholarship application submissions to increase student financial security, and thus, retention 5. increase JCAST Honors Program exposure to encourage participation in undergraduate research opportunities and skill acquisition for future FANHS careers 6. to further student scientific skill sets students will work with a subject area librarian to learn scientific database navigation and correct citation formatting. To meet COVID fail rate impacts and first generation college student challenges, the course will include topics to advance college-related skill sets such as maintaining schedules and work/life balance, and will promote campus resources such as the clothing center, food bank, and counseling services. To better meet student needs for offering CSM10/15 as an online course, we will focus on course involvement/engagement to include promoting the AgBOND summer experience to student registrants well in advance of the event to increase participation and promote student interaction within the course. Survey students on learned content within the semester to better understand how course content has aligned with student learning outcomes will be included in course content. Students will be encouraged to participate in scholarship opportunities through partnering with AgOne's Director of Development Shannon Fast. Through the philanthropic generosity of donors and the work of Ag One staff, the Jordan College typically has <$850,000 available in student scholarships each year to support student retention, scholarship, and graduation. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Career Center: The University has a very experienced Career Center that is able to assist the students. First year students don't always see the value of visiting the center early on in their university life. AgBOND Students took a tour of the Career Center and interacted with staff. Career Center staff members also spoke in the AgBOND classes on how to prepare a resume for internship opportunities, creating a good Linkedin profile as well as key items to look for when researching internship opportunities. . Internship Coordination: The JCAST has an Internship Coordinator dedicated to helping students such as those enrolled in AgBOND to identify internship opportunities. In an effort to be efficient, support students, learn the associated tracking software, and minimize confusion between opportunities for the students, AgBOND and ACRS21 grant staff have held several coordination and professional development meetings. ACRS21 (Agriculture Career Readiness Certificate Pathway for the 21st Century: The ACRS21 program is funded through another USDA NIFA HSI Collaborative and its soft skills modules have begun to be integrated into the AgBOND FYE (first year experience) to promote student involvement in the career readiness training offered through certificate program, and as a method for students to track soft skill development throughout their academic career. Student Professional Development Assignments: Students in AgBOND FYE are encouraged to explore activities and behaviors that promote their development as professionals and lifelong learners. Students submit 4 professional development assignments each semester. These assignments, which account for 20% of their overall course grade, show "artifacts" (i.e., picture evidence) of engagement along with brief reflections related to the activities. Examples of professional developments include but are not limited to meeting with peer mentors, attending Career Development Center workshops, engaging in community service and volunteer activities, and attending research seminars. Peer Mentoring: CSM and JCAST academic advising staff provide Peer Mentor trainings to interested AgBOND students. This provides a professional development opportunity as students learn how to best mentor their peers. Typically students would progress from being Peer Mentors to becoming ISAs (Instructional Support Assistants) ISA Weekly Trainings: ISA's are typically sophomore and junior level students who have previously been through the AgBOND FYE program and who are interested in helping fellow students improve. ISA students meet weekly with the BOND faculty coordinator. ISA trainings focus on developing strategies for facilitating in-class instruction and how to assess and provide helpful formative and summative feedback to the students they are serving. ISAs also undergo FERPA training, crisis-intervention training, mandated reporter training, growth-mindset training along with learning a variety of pedagogical tools. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Social media Social media publications/tweets orchestrated by Communications Specialist for Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology and assisted by PI and CO-PI's. https://www.instagram.com/fsjordancollege/?hl=en https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn1deBR19OGRDpFPkEHXZzw https://www.facebook.com/JCASTFresnoState https://twitter.com/fsjordancollege/ Websites Project Website - The initial website was established in Y1 and revamped in Y2 to meet the University's new branding look and ensure accessibility. The website revamp included two new sections: one is student testimonials that will be updated regularly and the second is a photo gallery. For those students that are would like to see the information in a visual form and would like to see some of the activities that the current students are participating in. The updated site is https://www.fresnostate.edu/jcast/student-success/agbond/ JCAST Website - AgBOND Student in Fresno State Jordan College of Agriculture and Technology Spotlight which includes an ISA speaking on their positive experience being involved with AgBOND Campus Newsletter A key community of interest is faculty at Fresno State who are interested in activities that focus on first year experiences. An important communication venue to the campus community is their weekly newsletter. During the second year of AgBOND, two articles were submitted with the focus on thanking advisors and internship coordinators that have supported the students. This accomplishes two things: first, it gives those that support AgBOND students a public thank you as well as makes others on campus aware of AgBOND. Promotional material Two flyers were developed to assist in recruiting students. Both high school student as well as currently enrolled students. The two flyers were disseminated at Fresno State Dog Days New Student Orientation as well as to prospective students who have expressed interest in Animal Science, Plant Science, JCAST and/or CSM. Copies of the most recent flyers can be found on the program website https://jcast.fresnostate.edu/student-success/agbond/untitled.html On-Campus Presentations CoPI Weinman presenting during STEAM faculty training (i.e. academic/career guided pathways, training on Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURES)) JCAST Academic Counselor Tahler Caldera presented on campus mentorship programs and academic advising considerations specific to JCAST students during the summer experience program What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Outreach In order to continue growing the program and ensuring that current students are able to utilize all the benefits of the program, an outreach effort will take place during year three. The outreach effort will include flyers and an additional video. The flyers will be used at high-school recruitments events at Fresno State to encourage the students to join the program once they attend Fresno State. The video will be focused on providing existing students with a comprehensive menu of all the resources available to them while in the program. An effort will be made to work with the Ag Ambassadors to have AgBOND materials for recruitment at any events they attend (e.g. high schools, community colleges, World Ag Expo, etc.) Faculty Engagement Based on reported data from the Fresno State Office of Institutional Effectiveness, student outcomes for AgBOND students have demonstrated enrollees are better set for meeting graduation expectations than their non-AgBOND counterparts; thus demonstrating an excellent investment in first-year undergraduate student careers. A promotion campaign will be done to highlight the pathway the program provides to students and to the campus community at large. This will ensure that other faculty will learn from the effort. New faculty recruited to teach the introductory courses associated with AgBOND to represent additional departments within JCAST. As of now, the JCAST instructional faculty brought in this year (Dr. Tarrant) resides in the Animal Science department and AgBOND enrolled students are from the Animal Science and Plant Science departments. We intend to engage faculty from departments reflecting enrolled students. Outline the requirements for adding Food Science majors to the AgBOND FYE , and seek feedback from the Food Science department for implementation. Metrics Evaluate degree progress and academic standing of AgBOND ISA students using data generated from the Fresno State Office of Institutional Effectiveness as a method to evaluate the impact of upper level ag students serving as peer mentors and course assistants on retention and academic success. Measuring student "pathway" progress in partnership with the Office of Instructional Effectiveness. Curriculum Continued integration of JCAST-CSM interdisciplinary content into AgBOND and BOND courses (CSM 10 and CSM 15) to align science-focused content and cross-collaborations Pursue cross-listing of CSM10 and CSM15 with Agriculture nomenclatures such that to increase course recognition and student background alignment with JCAST students First Year Experience librarian conducted AgBOND class visits and presented student research website
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Improved academic standing metrics were achieved. In the first two years of the project, AgBOND student participants demonstrated an increase in GPA; a decrease in drop, fail, and withdrawals; and have improved academic standing to meet graduation credit requirements as compared to their non-AgBOND counterparts. Increased student persistence suggested from '20-21AY data: 86% of AgBOND Plant Science stayed in JCAST vs. 72% of non-AgBOND Plant Science majors after the initial AgBOND FYE Established the first cross-college "first year experience" (FYE) at Fresno State for incoming students enrolling in JCAST (Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology) and CSM (College of Science and Math) majors. At the start of the grant, we initially recruited plant science majors into the program and this year we scaled up to include both plant and animal science majors (increase from zero (0) JCAST student pre-AgBOND, to 14 plant science in '20-21, and 63 plant and animal science in '21-22). Recruited cross-college CSM and JCAST students to FANHS-relevant undergraduate and graduate research, internships, and mentoring experiences. Highlighted alternate pathways in food and agriculture professions for biology majors who realize they won't become doctors and nurses and provided alternative career pathways in ag and food utilizing similar skill sets (e.g. pre-vet students adapting laboratory and critical thinking skills to food safety). Offered and integrated available AgBOND First Year Experience (FYE) courses in CSM 10 and CSM 15 and students embrace the integration. Students understand the breaking down of barriers and silos following the motto "not about yours but rather it is about ours." Integrated FANHS career relevance into curriculum modules. While we are too early in the project to have students ready for a culminating Ag-BOND career experience, the first year students are doing Focus2Career assessments as homework for class activities whereby they explore FANHS-related careers (e.g., Veterinarian, Zoo Veterinarian, Veterinarian Technician, Plant Sciences and Animal Science Professors, Animal Husbandry Worker Supervisor, Agronomist, Pest Control Adviser, Animal Breeder, Environmental Science Professor, Field Advisor, Farm and Ranch Manager, Botanist, Field Health Officer, Agricultural Engineer, Horticulturist, Marine and Aquatic Biologist, Forestry and Conservation Science Professor, etc.) Recruited Dr. Kary Tarrant as the first JCAST faculty instructor to be onboarded into the AgBOND program. Moving forward, the agriculture-based JCAST faculty will be able to increase the effectiveness of instruction to JCAST students, and will be able to specifically address the needs of first year agriculture students.
Publications
- Type:
Websites
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
https://www.fresnostate.edu/jcast/student-success/agbond/
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Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience: First Year Students (73) - A total of 73 incoming College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) and Jordan College of Agriculture and Technology students enrolled in Ag-BOND's '20-21 first year experience (GoogleSheet), of which 14 initially were Plant Science (01.1101), 36 Biology (26.1307), 8 Biochemistry (26.1201), 6 Chemistry (40.0501), 5 Mathematics (27.0101), 2 Biomedical Physics (51.2205), 1 Environmental Science (03.0104), and 1 Physics (40.0801) majors. All CSM-JCAST 2020-21 Ag-BOND, n=73 Plant Science 2020-21 Ag-BOND, n=13 Characteristic Number Percent Number Percent Female 43 59% 5 38% Male 30 41% 8 62% Pell Eligible 33 45% 5 38% Not Pell Eligible 40 55% 8 62% African American 1 1% Asian 17 23% Hispanic 38 52% 8 62% Non-Resident Alien 1 1% 1 8% Pacific Islander 1 1% Two or More 1 1% Unknown 3 4% White 11 15% 4 31% First Generation 44 60% 8 62% Continuing Generation 29 40% 5 38% Second Year Students (4) - 2 Plant Science students completing Ag-BOND have agroforestry-related internships going into their second year: one with the US Forest Service and one with California's Climate Action Corp. In addition, a third student will return as an instructional student assistant for the '21-22 Ag-BOND courses with a fourth student returning as a volunteer peer-mentor. Double counting: note that these 4 students were among the 73 first year students reported above, and they are continuing Ag-BOND related work going into their second year. Third Year Students (2) - 2 summer internships: 1 Earth and Environmental Science and 1 Biology student doing undergraduate thesis-work with the USFS studying post-fire meadow restoration. Fourth Year Students (0) - This project progress report reflects the first year only and we have not yet focused on Fourth Year Students. Graduate Students (4) - A total of 4 graduate students so far have been supported through Ag-BOND: 2 Plant Science students as instructional student assistants (ISAs) in the Ag-BOND courses, 1 Biology student as a student assistant with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness for project evaluation and graduate thesis-work, and 1 Earth and Environmental Science student doing graduate thesis-work with the USFS studying post-fire meadow restoration. Changes/Problems:No major changes took place. The proposed plan, approach, methods, timeline, and objectives worked as intended. Year 2 efforts will focus on addressing the following: Unexpected Outcome = More student demand for the introductory class sessions than teachers available for Fall Semester 2021 We ended up combining two course sections together into one section so CoPI Weinman taught a single class of 100 students instead of two sessions of 45-50 students. This allowed students to take the class as it was advertised in the official class schedule document. Putting research into undergraduate courses Affiliated faculty unclear how to align course objectives with research objectives for CUREs Affiliated faculty may not realize the true capacity and potential of students to learn/read at the levels they are exhibiting in the introductory AgBond courses. This realization is obviously additionally challenged with teaching under pandemic conditions. Legacy of transfer of knowledge University set up for trade vs liberal arts .... Critical thinking, rhetoric, etc. (elite people) Transfer of knowledge base is obsolete from previous generations COVID was a hindrance .... Increase scope and depth of recruiting student participants through increased utilization of Michelle Perez (JCAST) and Lynn Jaschke (CSM) in Admissions and Recruitment Office Ag Ambassadors student outreach to high schools and community colleges World Ag Expo university booth GeoBOND andBOND Dog Days New/Transfer Student Orientation - BOND - ensure that academic advisors are talking about Ag BOND Intentional outreach on campus to increase awareness amongst faculty, staff, and management Faculty high fives - new website that is shared weekly with all Fresno state faculty and staff University Communications - typically monthly and quarterly publications along with social media Feature article(s) What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Career Center Visits, ACRS21 HSI COllaborative, Internship Coordinator Student Professional Development Assignments: Students in AgBOND FYE are encouraged to explore activities and behaviors that promote their development as a professional and lifelong learner. Students submit 4 professional development assignments each semester, accounting for 20% of their overall course grade, showing "artifacts" (i.e., picture evidence) of engagement, along with brief reflections related to the activities. Examples of professional developments are (but not limited to): meeting with peer mentors, attending Career Development Center workshops, community service and volunteer activities, and attending research seminars. ISA Weekly Trainings: ISAs meet weekly with the BOND faculty coordinator (currently Dr. Amber Reece). ISA's are typically students who have previously been through the BOND FYE program, and who are interested in helping fellow students do better than they did. ISA trainings also focus on helping more veteran students develop strategies for facilitating in-class instruction and to assess and provide helpful formative and summative feedback to the students they are serving. They also undergo FERPA training, crisis-intervention training, mandated reporter training, growth-mindset and other pedagogical tools. Mass and AgBOND Peer Mentor trainings with Dr. Jaime Arvizu and Tahler Caldera academic advisors associated with CSM and JCAST respectively. Review how to reach out to new students, arrange meetings, and how to review academic roadmaps and other check-ins. CoPI Beth Weinman - Racism in the Geosciences, Tree Equity Principal Investigators CoPIs Susan Pheasant, Beth Weinman and Laura Ramos participated in the Institutional Review Board (IRB) training. IRB's purpose is to assure, both in advance and by periodic review, that appropriate steps are taken to protect the rights and welfare of humans participating as subjects in the research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Social media publications/tweets orchestrated by Communications Specialist for Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Project Website Powerpoint shared with USDA Promotional material for Fresno State Dog Days New Student Orientation (and before) Promotional material for prospective students coming into Animal Science, Plant Science, JCAST or CSM CoPI Weinman presenting during STEAM faculty training (i.e. academic/career guided pathways, training on Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURES)) JCAST Academic Counselor - Tahler Caldera - presented mentorship program, summer experience program (i.e. their own in JCAST and not cross-cutting for entire university; college specific identity) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? In order to continue growing the program and ensuring that current students are able to utilize all the benefits of the program, an outreach effort will take place during year two. The outreach effort will include flyers and an additional video. The flyer will be used at high-school recruitments events to encourage the students to join the program once they attend Fresno State. The video will be focused on providing existing students with a comprehensive menu of all the resources available to them while in the program. An effort will be made to work with the Ag Ambassadors to have AgBond materials for recruitment at any events they attend (e.g. high schools, community colleges, World Ag Expo, etc.) The program has proven to be successful and very beneficial to enrolled students. A promotion campaign will be done to highlight the pathway the program provides to students and to the campus community at large. This will ensure that other faculty will learn from the effort. New faculty recruited to teach the introductory courses associated with Ag-BOND Continued integration of JCAST-CSM interdisciplinary content Discussing adding Food Science majors to FYE (first year experience) More capacity in measuring student "pathway" progress with Office of Instructional Effectiveness, Student Affairs, and Dean of Undergraduate Studies (testing EAB (Education Advisory Board) Navigate "roadmap" implementation)
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Establishment of the first cross-college "first year experience" at Fresno State for incoming students into JCAST and CSM. At the start of the grant, we initially recruited plant science majors into the program, with this year scaling-up to include plant and animal science majors (increase from zero (0) JCAST student pre-AgBOND, to 14 plant science in '20-21, and 63 plant and animal science in '21-22). Cross-college CSM and JCAST students recruited to FANHS-relevant undergraduate and graduate research, internships, and mentoring experiences: Highlight alternate pathways for biology majors who don't become doctors and nurses .. alternative careers in ag and food utilize similar skill sets Students participating in the AgBOND courses realize that integrating science and ag offesr a better approach yet the university infrastructure is still siloed. This negatively impacts both the hiring of ISAs and the hiring of faculty to accommodate increased demand for CSM 10 and CSM 15.Students want the integration offered via AgBOND FYE courses offered via CSM 10 and CSM 15 and they embrace the integration. They understand the breaking down of barriers and silos ... not about yours but rather it is about ours. Student AgBOND FYE Major Internship/Undergraduate Research Experience Student MA no Biology USDA Ag-BOND Student IG no Ag Business ACRS21 Student CG no Biology ACRS21 Student TL yes Plant Science CCAC Student SR no EES USDA Ag-BOND Student GV no Biology ACRS21 Student HW no Animal Science ACRS Student KW no EES USDA Ag-BOND Student SW yes Plant Science ACRS21 Integration of FANHS career relevance - while we are too early yet to have students ready for a culminating Ag-BOND career experience, the first year students are doing Focus2Career assessments as homework for class activities where they can explore FANHS-related careers, including (from their actual homework submissions): Veterinarian, Zoo Veterinarian, Veterinarian Technician, Plant Sciences and Animal Science Professors, Animal Husbandry Worker Supervisor, Agronomist, Pest Control Adviser, Animal Breeder, Environmental Science Professor, Field Advisor, Farm and Ranch Manager, Botanist, Field Health Officer, Agricultural Engineer, Horticulturalist, Marine and Aquatic Biologist, Forestry and Conservation Science Professor. Initial increase in student persistence suggested from '20-21AY data : 86% of AgBOND Plant Science stayed in JCAST vs. 72% of non-AgBOND Plant Science majors after the first AgBOND FYE.
Publications
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