Progress 01/15/21 to 01/14/25
Outputs
Target Audience:The project aimed to provide financial and mentoring support to 10 transfer students from diverse backgrounds. We worked closely with academic advisors at state and community colleges to promote the Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) and identify students who had completed their A.A. degrees or equivalent course work. We also worked with advisors in other colleges outside of the College of Agricultural and Life Science at the University of Florida to promote the MSP to students who were considering changing majors or who had not yet declared their major.We also sought opportunities to share our successes and challenges in designing and implementing the program through conference presentations and a peer-reviewed publication. Changes/Problems:While the intention was to award all ten scholarships in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022, only six scholarships were awarded. We requested and were granted permission to make awards beyond the first period of the grant. As a result, requested a no cost extension to extend the grant period to cover two years after these additional awards were made. Wefoundrecruitment of non-traditional and minority students and students from lower-income households was particularly difficult as competing on-line programs allow these students more flexibility in balancing their studies with other responsibilities. Often on-line programs are more affordable compared to residential programs such as FRE'sas students can forego the cost of room and board associated with on-campus programs. Recruitment of underserved students has become more difficult in recent years as many competing intuitions expanded their on-line programing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic presented additional challenges as on-campus recruiting events were cancelled. Further, many potential students' preconceptions of the agricultural industry, as well as economics as a major, has hindered our recruitment efforts. While FRE has a diverse faculty and staff, the current relative lack of diversity in agricultural fields as well as business negatively impacts potential students' interest in our program. FRE has hired several new international faculty, weleveragedto highlight the diversity in our department and the increasing diversity in the field. To increase the pool of potential applicants, we lowered the GPA requirement for the scholarship from 3.0 to 2.5. In addition, we are partnering with advisors at state and community colleges that have large populations of minority students (Valencia, Miami-Dade, Florida State College of Jacksonville) as well as targeting students in program pre-requisite courses such as statistics, economics, calculus, and accounting. We also sharedinformation about the career outcomes of FRE alumni toaid in the recruitment of potential candidates. Despite efforts to identify high caliber students and provide support, we had one scholar who struggled with the transition to UF and was dismissed from the MSP due to academic standing as well as one scholar who changed majors. We also made adjustments to the mentoring aspects of the program based on the feedback we received from the scholars. Some mentors did not meet with their mentees as often as required (at least once a month).To ensure meaningful experiences for the mentees, we started requiring mentors and mentees to report their peer-mentoring activities each month via a Qualtric survey so that we can intervene and possibly pair mentees with a new mentor if the responsibilities of the mentor are not being fulfilled or the relationship is not working. Given the MSP purpose is to provide support for the multicultural students rather than burden them with additional responsibilities, we reduced the number of mentoring meetings with the coaches to twice per month for scholars in their first semester and once a month for the continuing scholars; this adjustment reflectedfeeback we received from the scholars. The scholars indicated that group mentoring activities such as attending the career fair and study aboard fair were particularly valuable; thus, we added additional group mentoring activities. Throughout the program, wecontinueally soughtboth formal and informal feedback from the MSP scholars to improve their experiences in FRE and the MSP. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We worked closely with each scholarship recipient to provide mentorship. At the begining of the program, MSP recipients receive weekly mentorship from the MSP coaching team consisting of the project directors and departmental advising staff and through the departmental peer mentoring program (Agricultural Mentoring Program). The weekly mentoring meetings with the coaches covered a variety of topics essential to the students' long-term success and student development, including goal setting; time management; development of healthy study habits; discussion of available resources in the department, on campus, and in the community; resume writing; stress management; and internship identification. At the request of the scholars, weekly mentoring meetings were reduced to monthly meetings as the scholars found the weekly meetings to be too demanding with their busy schedules. The Agricultural Mentoring Program (AMP) is a peer-to-peer mentoring program that pairs incoming Food and Resource Economics (FRE) students with continuing FRE students, which was developed as part of the grant. Mentee-mentor pairs are asked to meet at least once a month and are encouraged to participate in monthly group activities organized by AMP advisors such as bowling, study breaks,and game nights. MSP scholars on their second year of the program servedas mentors for new MSP scholars. Although this grant has concluded, we are continuing AMP. As a result of AMP, we are observing increased engagement in high impact activities such as involvement in Ag Econ Club, student competitions (National Agricultural Marketing Association competition and Academic Quizbowl at regional and national conferences); internships; and attending professional conferences. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As summaries in the outputs section, we have shared our successes and challenges with individuals at peer-instutitions through conference presentations and a peer-reviewed publication. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: We worked closely with academic advisors at state and community colleges and advisors in other colleges outside of the College of Agricultural and Life Science at the University of Florida to recruit students who were considering changing their major. As a result, we made11awards to scholars (including one re-award). Of these 11 scholars, 1 was dismissed from the MSPdue toacademic standing (we re-awarded their funds to a another scholar who completed the program) and 1 changed majors to another program with in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Seven scholars have graudated and two are currently completing their final semester at UF. Of the 7 who graduated, 3 are currently enrolled in graduate programs and 4 are currently employed in industry. Prior to makeing awards, all scholarship applications were reviewed by a panel of FRE faculty and applicants were interviewed by the PI and Co-PI prior to awards being made. Since we worked closely with advisors to target students who would be good fits for the program, we had an acceptance rate of 67% -75%, depending on the semester of admission. As discussed in more details in the challenges section of the annual reports, scholars were admitted in cohorts due to recruiting issues resulting from the formal notice of award announcement occuring only weeks before the admissions deadline and the COVID-19 pandemic limiting in-person recruiting events. Goal 2: All ten scholars completed at least one SEL. Four scholars chose to participate in study aboard programs and the remaining 6 had internships. Three of the scholars participated in two SEL activities.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Kropp, J.D. and D. Shu. 2023. Implementing Theory-based Mentoring and Experiential Learning to Ease Undergraduate Multicultural Scholarship Recipients Transition from Community Colleges to a Large Research Institution. Applied Economics Teaching Resources, 5(1): 30 42.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Kropp, J. D., D. Shu, and M. Sharp. Theory-Based Mentoring for Multicultural Scholarship Recipients. Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shu, D., J. D. Kropp, and M. Sharp. Increasing Diversity - A Method of Support and Recruitment. NACADA Region 4 Conference, Atlanta, GA (April 10-12, 2022).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shu, D., J. D. Kropp, and M. Sharp. Increasing Diversity - A Method of Support and Recruitment. UAC Professional Development Conference, Gainesville, FL (February 18, 2022).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shu, D. and M. Sharp. Increasing Diversity - A Method of Support and Recruitment. Teaching Enhancement Symposium, Gainesville, FL (August 16, 2022).
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Progress 01/15/23 to 01/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:We continued to financial and mentoring support to the scholarship recipients in the program. We also sought opportunities to share our successes and challenges in designing and implementing the program through conference presentations and a peer-reviewed publication. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We worked closely with each scholarship recipient to provide mentorship. MSP recipients receive weekly mentorship from the MSP coaching team consisting of the project directors and departmental advising staff and through the departmental peer mentoring program (Agricultural Mentoring Program). The weekly mentoring meetings with the coaches cover a variety of topics essential to the students' long-term success and student development, including goal setting; time management; development of healthy study habits; discussion of available resources in the department, on campus, and in the community; resume writing; stress management; and internship identification. The Agricultural Mentoring Program (AMP) is a peer-to-peer mentoring program that pairs incoming Food and Resource Economics (FRE) students with continuing FRE students. Mentee-mentor pairs are asked to meet at least once a month and are encouraged to participate in monthly groupactivities organized by AMP advisors such as bowling and game nights. MSP scholars on their second year of the programservedas mentors for new MSP scholars. We are observing increased engagement in high impact activities such as involvement in Ag Econ Club, student competitions (National Agricultural Marketing Association competition and Academic Quizbowl at regional and national conferences); internships; and attending professional conferences. One scholar is enrolled in the 4+1 program combining undergraduate with the MS program, one scholar continued her work in the honors program, and several others are applying for graduate school. Four of the scholars completed internships. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As summaries in the outputs section, we have shared our successes and challenges with individuals at peer-institutions through conference presentations and a peer-reviewed publication. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue the AMP program and continue mentorship in this next reporting periods. In addition, we will encourage the scholars to complete participation in at least one SEL of the scholar's choice. Our several scholars will graduate in the next reporting period; we will help them secure jobs or pursue further studies.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: We supported 10 scholarship receiptents with both financial support and mentoring. Participants received mentoring from the project directors as well as through a peer-to-peer mentoring program. Goal 2: Three of the scholars participated in internships to fullfill the SEL.
Publications
- Type:
Other Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Kropp, J.D. and D. Shu. 2023. Implementing Theory-based Mentoring and Experiential Learning to Ease Undergraduate Multicultural Scholarship Recipients Transition from Community Colleges to a Large Research Institution. Applied Economics Teaching Resources, 5(1): 30 42.
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Progress 01/15/22 to 01/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:During the second year of our grant, we continued recruitment efforts to grant five additional scholarships. We worked closely with advisors at state and community colleges to promote the Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) to identify students who had completed their A.A. degrees or equivalent course work. We also worked with advisors in other colleges outside of the College of Agricultural and Life Science at the University of Florida to promote the MSP to students who were considering changing majors or who had not yet declared their major. In addition, we provide support to all ten scholars in the program through mentorship. We also sought opportunities to share our successes and challenges in designing and implementing the program through conference presentations and a peer-reviewed publication. Changes/Problems:We also made adjustments to the mentoring aspects of the program based on the feedback we received from the scholars. Some mentors did not meet with their mentees as often as required (at least once a month), and one mentor never met with their mentee.To ensure meaningful experiences for the mentees, we are requiring mentors and mentees to report their peer-mentoring activities each month so that we can intervene and possibly pair mentees with a new mentor if the responsibilities of the mentor are not being fulfilled or the relationship is not working. Given the MSP purpose is to provide support for the multicultural students rather than burden them with additional responsibilities, we reduced the number of mentoring meetings with the coaches to twice per month for scholars in their first semester and once a month for the continuing scholars; this adjustment reflects feeback we received from the scholars. The scholars indicated that group mentoring activities such as attending the career fair and study aboard fair were particularly valuable; thus, we added additional group mentoring activities. We will continue to seek both formal and informal feedback from the MSP scholars to improve their experiences in FRE and the MSP. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We worked closely with each scholarship recipient to provide mentorship. MSP recipients receive weekly mentorship from the MSP coaching team consisting of the project directors and departmental advising staff and through the departmental peer-mentoring program (Agricultural Mentoring Program). The weekly mentoring meetings with the coaches cover a variety of topics essential to the students' long-term success and student development, including goal setting; time management; development of healthy study habits; discussion of available resources in the department, on campus, and in the community; resume writing; stress management; and internship identification. The Agricultural Mentoring Program (AMP) is a peer-to-peer mentoring program that pairs incoming Food and Resource Economics (FRE) students with continuing FRE students. Mentee-mentor pairs are asked to meet at least once a month and are encouraged to participate in group activities organized by AMP advisors such as bowling and game nights. MSP scholars on their second year of the program are now serving as mentors for new MSP scholars. We are observing increased engagement in high impact activities such as involvement in Ag Econ Club, student competitions (National Agricultural Marketing Association competition and Academic Quizbowl at regional and national conferences); internships; and attending professional conferences. One scholar is enrolled in the 4+1 program combining undergraduate with graduate studies (two others currently applying) and several scholars are currently enrolled in or applying for the honors program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?As summaries in the outputs section, we have sharedour successes and challenges with individuals at peer-instutitions through conference presentations and a peer-reviewed publication. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to continue the AMP program and continue mentorship in this next reporting periods. In addition, we will encourage the scholars to complete participation in at least one SEL of the scholar's choice. Our first cohort of scholars will graduate in the next reporting period; we will help them secure jobs or pursue further studies.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: During the second year, we were able to make five awards including re-awarding funds associated with one of the previous scholars who was dismissed for academic standing. We worked closely with advisors at state and community colleges and advisors in other colleges outside of the College of Agricultural and Life Science at the University of Florida to recruit students who were considering changing their major. This resulted in five MSP awards being made: three awards to students matriculating in fall of 2022 and two awards to students matriculating in the spring of 2023. All scholarship applications were reviewed by a panel of FRE faculty and applicants were interviewed by the PI and Co-PI prior to awards being made. Since we worked closely with advisors to target students who would be good fits for the program, we only had four students apply for the MSP in the fall (acceptance rate of 75%) and three in the spring (acceptance rate of 67%). Goal 2: Three scholars completed their SEL in the summer of 2022.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Kropp, J.D. and D. Shu. 2023. Implementing Theory-based Mentoring and Experiential Learning to Ease Undergraduate Multicultural Scholarship Recipients Transition from Community Colleges to a Large Research Institution. Applied Economics Teaching Resources, 5(1): 30 42.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shu, D., J. D. Kropp, and M. Sharp. Increasing Diversity - A Method of Support and Recruitment. NACADA Region 4 Conference, Atlanta, Georgia (April 10-12, 2022).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shu, D. and M. Sharp. Increasing Diversity - A Method of Support and Recruitment. Teaching Enhancement Symposium, Gainesville, FL (August 16, 2022).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Shu, D., J. D. Kropp, and M. Sharp. Increasing Diversity - A Method of Support and Recruitment. UAC Professional Development Conference, Gainesville, FL (February 18, 2022).
|
Progress 01/15/21 to 01/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:During this first year, our efforts focused primarily on recruitment of potential scholars. We worked closely with advisors at state and community colleges to promote the Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) as we proposed supporting 10 transfer students who had completed their A.A. degrees or equivalent course work. We also worked with advisors in other colleges outside of the College of Agricultural and Life Science at the University of Florida to promote MSP to students who were considering changing majors or who had not yet declared their major. Changes/Problems:While the intention was to award all ten scholarships in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022, only six scholarships have been awarded. We requested and were granted permission to make awards beyond the first period of the grant. As a result, we plan to seek a no cost extension to extend the grant period to cover two years have these additional awards are made. We have found that recruitment of non-traditional and minority students and students from lower-income households is particularly difficult as competing on-line programs allow these students more flexibility in balancing their studies with other responsibilities. Often on-line programs are more affordable as students can forego the cost of room and board associated with on-campus programs such as ours. Recruitment of underserved students has become more difficult in recent years as many competing intuitions expanded their on-line programing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic presented additional challenges as on-campus recruiting events were cancelled. Further, many potential students' preconceptions of the agricultural industry, as well as economics as a major, has hindered our recruitment efforts. While FRE has a diverse faculty and staff, the current relative lack of diversity in agricultural fields as well as business negatively impacts potential students' interest in our program. FRE has hired several new international faculty starting in the fall; we plan to leverage this to highlight the diversity in our department and the increasing diversity in the field. To increase the pool of potential applicants, we lowered the GPA requirement for the scholarship from 3.0 to 2.5. In addition, we are partnering with advisors at state and community colleges that have large populations of minority students (Valencia, Miami-Dade, Florida State College of Jacksonville) as well as targeting students in program pre-requisite courses such as statistics, economics, calculus, and accounting. Sharing information about the career outcomes of FRE alumni will also hopefully aid in the recruitment of potential candidates. Despite efforts to identify high caliber students and provide support, we had one scholar who struggled with the transition to UF and was dismissed from the MSP due to academic standing. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?During the fall term, we worked closely with each scholarship recipient to provide mentorship. MSP recipients receive mentorship from the MSP coaching team consisting of the project directors and departmental advising staff and through the newly implemented departmental peer-mentoring program (Agricultural Mentoring Program). Scholarship recipients are required to attend weekly mentoring meetings with the coaches. Each meeting covers a unique topic that is essential to the students' long-term success and student development. The Agricultural Mentoring Program (AMP) is a peer-to-peer mentoring program that pairs incoming juniors with seniors in FRE. Mentee-mentor pairs are asked to meet at least once a month and are encouraged to participate in group activities organized by AMP advisors such as bowling and game nights. MSP recipients will serve as AMP mentors in their senior years. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We plan to make the remaining awards, continue the AMP program, and expand mentorship in this next reporting periods. In addition, we will encourage the scholars to completeparticipation in at least one SEL of the scholars choice.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: During this first year, our efforts focused primarily on recruitment. We worked closely with advisors at state and community colleges to promote the Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) as we proposed supporting 10 transfer students who had completed their A.A. degrees or equivalent course work. We also worked with advisors in other colleges outside of the College of Agricultural and Life Science at the University of Florida to promote MSP to students who were considering changing majors or who had not yet declared their major. This resulted in six MSP awards being made: three awards to students matriculating in fall of 2021 and three awards to students matriculating in the spring of 2022. All scholarship applications were reviewed by a panel of FRE faculty and applicants were interviewed by the PI and Co-PI prior to awards being made. Since we worked closely with state college and community college advisors to target students who would be good fits for the program, we only had four students apply for the MSP in the fall (acceptance rate of 75%) and three in the spring (acceptance rate of 100%). Goal 2: Two of the scholars matriculating in the fall and one matriculating in the spring will be participating in study aboard programs during the summer of 2022.
Publications
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