ILLUMINATING AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AND EDUCATION CAREER OPPORTUNITIES FOR STEM AND LIBERAL ARTS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1026061
• Grant No.: 2021-67037-34635
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $498,424.00
• Proposal No.: 2020-09437
• Project Start Date: Apr 1, 2021
• Project End Date: Mar 31, 2026
• Grant Year: 2021
• Program Code: [A7401]- Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates

Recipient Organization
VIRGINIA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION, VA POLYTECH INST.
(N/A)
BLACKBURG,VA 24061

Performing Department
Agricultural & Extension Ed

Non Technical Summary
Illuminating Agricultural Extension and Education Career Opportunities for STEM and Liberal Arts Undergraduate StudentsProject AbstractThe United States is facing historical shortages of agriculture extension agents and teachers. With fewer undergraduates exposed to these career opportunities, this shortage will likely continue and magnify. This project aims to illuminate career opportunities for STEM and liberal arts majors at two land-grant universities in the Appalachian region of the United States. Mentoring for the students will come from university faculty, county extension agents and peers in the program.Focusing on food safety, health and nutrition will address a need in Appalachia and internationally in Senegal, a Feed the Future nation in West Africa. The undergraduates from Virginia Tech and Tennessee State University will be trained in safe food handling, food preparation, and food preservation. Each of the four cohorts of students will provide extension programming in food safety, food preparation, and food preservation to household members responsible for the health and nutrition needs in the household in Appalachia and in Senegal.The participating undergraduates will receive leadership training for problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution, decision making, and cultural competence. The students will present extension leadership programming to youth in Appalachia and in Senegal. The youth training will build on positive youth development and include a module on preparing for post-secondary education.The undergraduates will prepare, present and evaluate the food safety, food preparation, food preservation and leadership extension programs both domestically and internationally to illuminate potential careers in extension education, agricultural education, and food safety.

Animal Health Component

80%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

80%

Developmental

20%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
903	6099	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

extension

careers

food safety

Goals / Objectives
Description of the objectives Prepare four diverse cohorts of ten Fellows at Virginia Tech and Tennessee State University for careers in agriculture, specifically in food safety, food preparation, home food preservation, and agricultural and extension education.Prepare four diverse cohorts of ten Fellows at Virginia Tech and Tennessee State University by providing career readiness skills in agriculture.Prepare four diverse cohorts of ten Fellows at Virginia Tech and Tennessee State University to develop and deliver agricultural education programs.Fellows will develop and deliver Extension food safety, food preparation, and home food preservation programs for adults and youth in Appalachia.Fellows will develop and deliver Extension food safety, food preparation, and home food preservation programs for adults and youth in Senegal.

Project Methods
Training will begin in February each year. Training will be available on-line, and Fellows will have a Microsoft Teams site for communication with each other and the project team. Students will travel to Blacksburg for seven days in May in the year of their experience, be housed in a local hotel with all meals and local transportation provided. Should COVID 19 still be an issue, the team will deliver all training remotely.Food safety, food preparation, food preservation training (12 hours). Fellows will learn to utilize the abundance of resources available to them, such as home-grown foods, local farmers' markets, roadside stands, community gardens, food pantries, and food recovery organizations. Additionally, Fellows will learn to demonstrate how to work with equipment and utensils to prepare and preserve food. To ensure the safety of the food, and more importantly, extend the shelf life of their food, Fellows will learn to deliver Extension programs in basic food safety principles, including understanding which microorganisms cause foodborne illness.Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator (4 hours, individual coaching). Applying psychological type, leader and follower preferences is a significant skill-set for professional development. In addition, Fellows will apply personality preferences to enhance conflict resolution, communication, decision-making, and change management.Kirton Adaption Innovation Inventory (4 hours). All people are problem solvers and everyone is creative. These premises are the foundation for the Kirton Adaption / Innovation inventory or KAI. This psychometric instrument determines individual preferences for problem-solving.Cultural Intelligence (4 hours). The cultural intelligence (CQ) assessment will provide Fellows with the opportunity to learn where they are in the development of their familiarity with other cultures. The assessment provides individuals with guidance regarding their strengths and potential challenges in collaborating with others in teams or other contexts.Non-formal / Extension instructional methods (4 hours). All the knowledge in the world is useless if not transferred to learners in a way that they can apply it. Non-formal / extension instructional methods will give participants the teaching tools they need to relate to learners and provide relevant instruction that will be applicable and potentially life-saving.Program development and evaluation (4 hours). Fellows will learn what evaluation is, why it's important, and how it can impact their work as professionals using systems thinking. The students will work through building an evaluation plan for their training using gamification as the mode of instruction to illustrate the various constraints an evaluation happens within.Agricultural careers (4 hours). Fellows will learn about careers in extension, education, and food science. Agricultural careers emphasizing STEM and Liberal Arts will be highlighted.Leadership theory and application (4 hours). Students will receive leadership training specifically in cultural competence, problem-solving, decision making, conflict resolution, working in teams, communication, and conflict resolution.Senegal history and culture (4 hours). Before embarking on an international experience, it is critical for the Fellows to know about the culture in the country being visited. Senegal has a rich history from the slave trade to colonization by the French to its rich history and strong people.Survival French (2 hours). Students will be given a survival French course along with resources to continue honing their language skills.Food deserts and food insecurity in Appalachia (4 hours). Before embarking on this engaged research experience focused on food insecurity in Appalachia, it is paramount that undergraduate students understand the systemic social, economic, and environmental pressures that many Appalachian communities face.Appalachian Regional Extension ProgramThe target audiences for food safety, food preparation, food preservation programs in the Appalachian region are adults and youth in communities located in food deserts. Each cohort will work in groups of two-three. Fellows will deliver eight programs per year with approximately 10 adults and five youth in each program. A total of 40 adults and 20 youth will be reached each year with 160 adults and 80 youth reached over the duration of the project.Senegal ProgramThe programs in Senegal will be at the village level in cooperation with the University of Bambey. The audience for the food safety, preparation and preservation workshops will be adults and youth who prepare the family food, secure food for meals, and are in charge of the family health and wellbeing. Each cohort will deliver four programs per year with approximately 20 adults and 10 youth in each program. A total of 80 adults and 40 youth will be reached each year with a total of 320 adults and 160 youth reached over the duration of the project.Mentoring PlanThe project team will utilize the peer, on-sight, distance (POD) model for mentoring that includes content and interaction skills for a career area. (Lewellen-Williams, Charlotte, MPH; Johnson, Virginia A., EdD; Deloney, Linda A., EdD; Thomas, Billy R., MD, MPH; Goyol, Apollos, PhD; Henry-Tillman, Ronda, MD, (2006)). We will utilize peer mentors, distance mentors (project team), and on-site mentors (extension agents and project team).The mentor pool consists of men and women in universities and Cooperative Extension systems in two states with a wealth of experience in agriculture and undergraduate mentoring. The team consists of first-generation college students, African American faculty members, an Asian faculty member, and a Senegalese faculty member.The project will require frequent communication between the mentors and mentees. We will utilize formal (Microsoft Teams, Zoom meetings, email, etc.) and informal (social media, telephone calls, face-time, conversation, etc.) tools as conduits for mentoring. Mentors and mentees are expected to meet virtually or in person bi-monthly throughout the program. Graduate students can serve as temporary substitute mentors if necessary.The mentors will continue relationships with the students beyond the confines of their experience and to continue to offer mentorship to the Fellows. Zoom meetings for all program completers will continue the mentoring process after the project as a part of the long-term program.Student mentorsAfter the first cohort of Fellows completes the experience, program completers will serve as mentors for the remaining cohorts. Utilizing program completers provides a level of mentorship that will be valuable in institutionalizing the program and establishing a sustained effort after the project ends. Senior level / graduate students will serve in this role for the first cohort.Mentoring activities for studentsFellows will be matched with a mentor after their acceptance into the program. We will offer a one-on-one mentor for each student from the project team based on student interests and professional goals.Fellows will receive an on-line module to maximize the mentoring relationship ( mentors will complete this training as well). At the initial meeting students and mentors will discuss the module and develop a mentoring plan for the program and beyond. This plan will be flexible and allow changes and modifications as appropriate for the mentees. The student and mentor will establish meeting times, and discuss expectations of mentors and mentees.?

Progress 04/01/24 to 03/31/25

Outputs
Target Audience:We had 13 US undergraduate studetns participate this year (8 from Virginia Tech and 5 from TSU). The studetns were from several undergraduate majors including psycholoy, neuroscience, community develoment and agriculture. Studetns were trained at VT in food safety and preservation, leadership, cultural inteligence and personality preferences. Studetns were also instructed in extension methods and working in groups and teams. Students worked with extension agents in the US to deliver food preservation programs in Virginia and Tennessee to 23 rural residetns. In Senegal, our project reached 87 women nd 35 youth in the Diourbel area. The participantsreceived training in food safety and preservation. We partnered with Bambey University to deliver the Senegal extension training. Village women from farmer groups were trained in hot-water-bath canning methods with mango and tomato. Students led the training. The training took place at an education center in Diourbel. TheUniversity of Bambey coordinated the training with local villages. Dr. Ousmane Kane was our program contact and lead in country. In addition the studentss worked with local youth (22) on college preparation and college success. Changes/Problems:Expenses have risen over the course of the project and we are trying to complete the porject with a keen eye on the remaining budget. Fortunately, Senegal is still a friendly African nation and we expect things to run smoothly. Our extension faculty in the US continue to provide strong support for our program. Our relationships in-country are verystrong. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students in the program learn a specific skill in food preservation with hot water bath canning. In addition, they receive training in problem solving, decision making, communication, conflict resolution, cultural competence, and managing change. They also learned program development, delivery and evaluation skills in two very different situations. The skills were applied in Appalachia and Senegal. Both settings gave students the opportunity to work with food insecure populations as an extension educator. The students training and experience led three student participants to either change to an agriculture major or to enter a graduate agriculture extension educationprogram. One studentparticipant from TSU entered the food science graduate program at Virginia Tech. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?One woman from our first cohort trained in Senegal came to our training program to share her progress since learning hot water bath canning. She has started a business around food preservation, selling products in the community. She shared her gratitude to learn the technique and is also working with the university to continue training efforts with women farmers in the area. A master's thesis is underway and will be included in the final report next year. We are working on publications to communicate the program to our peers. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We are changing the timing of the training and Appalachian experience to be closer to the actual internatioanl travel and experience. We believe this change will result in better retention of information for the students and also be reflected inmore quality training conducted by them in Senegal. Journaling by the students has given us a lot to think about with the in-country experience. We are uilding more reflection time into each day and allowing studetns time to journal and reflect in formal daily programming. We ahve added training on Wolof language (this is the language spoken by the women in Senegal) to give the students more opportunity to connect with people they are training.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Students were trained by the team on agricultural careers, food safety and preservation, safe food handling, and extension education methods. Training was conducted by faculty in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech. The training took place inVT Food Science laboratories. Instruction included food handling, food safety, laboratory procedures, canning methods andfood storage. 2. Studentswere trained in leadership, working in groups and teams, working with people differing in personality preferences, and culturalintelligence. Students received training in the Meyers Briggs Type indicator and theCultural Intelligence Quotient from certified practitioners in each field. Students received training in group and team leadership from leadership faculty at Virginia Tech. They VT and TSU faculty. Students were able to apply this learning in training programs and additionally in groups and teams working in Appalachia and Senegal. 3. Students were prepared to teach food safety and preservation. In addition, they delivered programs in Appalachia and Senegal both individually and as a part of a team. Students taught both tomato and mango preservation with different womenfarmers groups in Senegal as well as rural Appalachian residents in Tennessee and Virginia. 4. Students were mentored by extension agents in Virginia and Tennessee at local offices. This training and experience let students see the local impact of extension in Appalachian communities. Under the direction of extension professionals, students delivered food safety and preservation programs in both Appalachia and Senegal. By the end of the experience in Senegal, students were very competent in leading the training programs with little to no help from the extension professionals present. 5.Students learned a great deal from delivering food preservation programs to rural communities in the U.S. and abroad. They were able to see the impact of their programs in helping families have nutritious food available long after the harvest ends.

Publications

Progress 04/01/23 to 03/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:This year was a challenge... While we had a good number on undergraduateparticipants (10) we had to be evacuated from Senegal due to political unrest so we could only compete four workshops. Our studetns were amazing and resilient. All were very dissapointed to leave. In our workshops we had 73 women participatte from villages around Bambey University. The undergraduates also worked with 7 undergraduates from Bambey. We recruited one M. S. studentthat will be supported on VT funds for 2025 from Bambey University. One unexpected outcome of this project is the development of a food science program at Bambey university resulting from our work there. Facultyare continuing to teach food preservation and food safety during the year. We are facing a financial challenge for the final year of the project. Costs have exploded sincethe proposal was approved in 2020. For example, we budgeted $1200 for flights and now they average about $2000. Hotel expenses, food andtransportation have also increased. We will examine our situation and move forward withthe project as best as we can. Changes/Problems:We were evcuated this year due to political unrest. The expenses of the project are exceeding our projected budget. We have a full cohort this year but the final year may be a challenge to fund given increased expenses. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Studetnsreceived training in food preservation and food security from VT and TSU faculty. Studetns also received training in cultural competence, personalty preference, teamowrk and leadership from the rogram faculty. Ont TSU studetn has enrolled in the VT M.S. program in Food Science. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Our work continues to be disseminated by Bambey UNiversity to surrounding communityes through a newly develoed food science program. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We continue to work with our partner in Bambey to build their capacity and knowledge of food preservation.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Ten fellows participated (6 VT and 4 TSU). 2. Fellows were training in food preservation and security at VT in January. 3. Fellows developed nd delivered extension rograms in Appalachia. 4. Fellows developed and delivered food preservation training in Senegal. 5. Fellows worked with 17 youth in Senegal in food preparation.

Publications

Progress 04/01/22 to 03/31/23

Outputs
Target Audience:We had 10 students in the program this year. We reached 156 extension clients in Appalachia with food safety and preservation programming. We reached faculty and students at Bambey University (27) and women in six villages (128). Changes/Problems:COVID and other global eventshave significantlyimacted costs of the program. Our expenses are far beyond the budget we submitted for approval in the application process. For example, we budgeted $1600 for qairfare and the average flight this year was over $2,000. Hotels, in-country traveland food have also increased. We will not have sufficient funds to complete four cohorts as planned. Your guidance is appreciated. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Food preservation training in Tennessee and Virginia (four extension offices). 2. Food preservation training in Senegal. 3. Student proficiency in extension teaching methods were developed and enhanced. 4. Professional development as described above... How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. Disseminated to Virginia Tech and Ennessee State communities through seminars, presentations, and recruitment materials for subsequent cohorts. 2. Presented to studetss in the Leadership and Social Change Residential College at VT. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Cohort two is in place and has recieved training and resources to complete the Senegal experience this summer. We will continue the program by recruiting cohort three and providing similar training and educational opportunities as have been provided for other cohorts.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. We had 10 fellows in the program this year. 2. The Fellows were trained in food safety, food preparation, home food preservation, and extension methods. 3. The Fellows received training in career readiness in agriculture. 4. The fellows delivered food safety and preservation programs in four counties in Virginia and Tennessee. 5. The students delivered Extension food safety and preservation programs in Senegal with Bambey University students and faculty and in six different villages

Publications

Progress 04/01/21 to 03/31/22

Outputs
Target Audience:We havenine studetns in the program this year. One withdrew because of COVID vaccination requirements in Senegal. We have reached 156 extension clients in Appalachia with food safety and preservation programming. The remainder of the programming in Appalachia and in Senegal will occur this spring and summer Changes/Problems:COVID has been a challenge as we had to offer the initial training virtually. We also had a participant withdraw because they refused to be vaccinated. Otherwise the program has proceeded as planned. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Culltural intellegence training 2. MBTI Step II training in communication, decision making, conflict resolution, and change management 3. KAI training on problem solving 4. Career training and mentoring in Extension How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The project is in the first cohort. We will report to communities of interest after the first cohort completes the porgram in June. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will submit articles, papers, and presentation proposals to resaerch and extension outlets.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. We have nine fellows in the program this year (one withdrew). 2. The Fellows have been trained in food safety, food preparation, home food preservaion, and extension methods. 3. The Fellowshave recieved training in career readiness in agriulture. 4. The fellows are currently delivering foor safety and preservation programs in Appalachia. 5. The studetns have prepared to deliver Extension fod safety and preservation programs in Senegal.

Publications