Progress 07/15/22 to 07/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this reporting period included 32 undergraduate students who were Passport to Careers in Agriculture (PCA) scholarship recipients within the College. These students were targeted and selected in order that we might accomplish the project objectives which include increasing the number of individuals entering the food and agricultural workforce from the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences. Of the scholarship recipients, 15 scholars received full academic scholarships, and 17 scholars received partial academic scholarships. Three of the students are pursuing a focus in Agribusiness, 28 students are pursuing a focus in general agriculture (Animal, Plant, Veterinary Science focus), and 1 student is pursuing a focus in food and nutrition related sciences. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?In addition to participation in high-impact experiences, program scholars were required to be active members of the awardwinning PVAMU Chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS), a national professional organization that promotes and implements initiatives to foster inclusion and advancement of members of ethnic/cultural groups underrepresented in agricultural and natural resource sciences and related career fields. All scholars are expected to particpate in or more organizations within the college - MANRRS, AgBusiness Club, SANDS, Student Led Graden Club, etc. Each of these organizations provides various training and professional development opportunities designed to increase students' marketability. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, activities primarily were limited to a virtual setting. As we merge from COVID-19 restrictions,active particiaption in these organizations is expected to increase.Scholars had the opportunity to participate in the Virtual 36th National MANRRS Conference March 23-26, 2023. ThreePCA Scholar attended the event. The project director maintains a listserv of PCA Scholars to share training and professional development opportunities conducted during the reporting period. As appropriate, specific scholars may be targeted for participation in the respective activities in order to assist them in registering or participating. 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?With the University returning to face-to-face instruction and general mode of operation in the fall 2022semester, we anticipated an enhanced opportunity to engage with students and to enhance our opportunities to achieve the stated objectives of the project. We believed that more scholars wouldhave the opportunity to apply for and participate in high-impact practices as well due to the increased availability of these opportunities and due to less COVID-19 restrictions. We continued to conduct various mentoring activities, including the bi-monthly meetings, individualized meetings with scholars and mentors and provide continued exposure for scholars to professional development opportunities.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The number of scholars supported during this reporting period was 41. Full scholarships available, depending on the student, and covered all tuition and fees, and partial scholarships ranged from $5000 (N=5) to $10,961 (N=12). Total amount of scholarship dollars spent for this reporting period was $661,000. The College of Agriculture and Human Sciences increased freshman enrollment by 13% (comparing fall 2021 and fall 2022)and 3% (comparing spring 2021 and spring 2022) per data from the Prairie View A&M University Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. This scholarship program contributed to increasing the number of students overall enrolled within the College for the 2022-2023 academic year. The College experienced an 12.0% in undergraduate student enrollment in Fall 2022 compared to Fall 2021, and the college experienced an 8.8% (N=+30) in undergraduate student enrollment in spring 2023 compared to spring 2022. We partnered with the Career and Outreach Services Department at Prairie View A&M University to assess the professional competencies of our scholarship cohort. We used FOCUS-2, an online career and education planning system, to collect baseline data on their professional competencies such as leadership, teamwork, and critical thinking. Results of the baseline data will not be included in this report. All scholars were assisted in identifying and applying for high-impact student experiences during the reporting period. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the number and types of opportunities offered and available to scholars. However, some of the surveyed reported having already or were planning to participate in high-impact student experiences as of June 2023. Two scholars reported that they had been selected for participation in a summer 2023 high-impact practice (research internship). Since study abroad was not a viable option during the pandemic, most of the high-impact experiences involved internships or employment. One scholar took advantage of the virtual learning environment created by the pandemic and lived in Dubai during the school year. While there, the scholar had experiences with irrigation systems. One scholar spend 12 weeks working on projects that support U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) conservation priorities in the Directorate Resource Assistant Fellows Program (DFP). One scholar is involved with Genesys Works, an organization that expands career pathways and opportunities for youth from underserved communities while filling critical talent gaps by providing training, support, and internships to trailblazing young people who have big career aspirations, but little to no access to the networks needed to help them achieve their dreams. One scholar will participate in a 10-week internship with the National Crop Insurance Services. Other scholars worked on a farm with aquaponics and feeding families and at multiple veterinarian clinics. The three Project PI's served as designated mentors for the scholars and met with the scholars at least once bi monthly. Mentors supported the scholars while they matriculated, and mentors served as a sounding board to share insights regarding academic studies and careers. The three faculty and staff mentors for the 2022-2023 academic year represented the three service areas within the College: Dr. Alfred Parks (Regents Professor/Research Scientist).Dr. Wash A. Jones (Academics/Associate Professor), and Dr. Rukeia Draw-Hood (Extension/Program Leader, 4-H Youth Development). We scheduled four monthly scholars meetings between September 2022 and May 2023. Seventy percent of the scholars reported attending 3 to 4 meetings, 30% reported attending 3 to 4 meetings and 10% reported attending 1 to 2 meetings. Participant feedback indicated that the meetings helped students learn about resources, become aware of opportunities, as well as build relationships and social-emotional skills. Scholars learned about access to university resources such as the tutoring center as well as the purpose and benefits of student organizations. The meetings assisted scholars with staying on track with grades, important upcoming events, and mental health check-ins. The meetings helped scholars to build relationships with teachers, make friends and connect with other students with the same major or career path. Scholars increased their awareness of other scholarship opportunities. One scholar remarked, "It gave me a better insight on time management and being able to participate in all my clubs and still turn in my work on time." In terms of scholars' retention, of the 41 scholars, 37 scholars met all required criteria for scholarship continuation in fall 2023. Four students were given the opportunity to enroll in summer school at PVAMU in order to meet required criteria by the end of the summer 2023 in order to continue as a scholarship recipient. Three scholars forfeited the scholarship either due to not meeting the required academic criteria or choosing to discontinue their enrollment within the College.
Publications
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Progress 07/15/21 to 07/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Although we extended 22 scholarship awards for 2021-2022 reporting period, only 9 students accepted their respective scholarship award. Therefore, the target/served audience was only 9 Scholars for this reporting period from this specific award. This target audience was added to the 22 Scholars who continued from an initial scholarship award in 2020-2021, making a total of 31 Scholars benefiting from this project in 2021-2022. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a negative impact on the number of opportunities available to students during the reporting period. Also, the anticipated expenditures related to tuition and fees were not actualized because mostof the students who were offered scholarships selected not to attend Prairie View A&M University. Of the 22 scholarships offered for the 2021-2022 academic period, only 9 of the recipients selected to enroll in fall 2021. Most of the students who selected not to attend were out of state students who expressed concerns about the out of state tuition costs. This impacted our ability to dispense the available funding as planned. We will consider alternatives to award additional scholarships and to help increase/ensure the scholarship acceptance rate. Beginning June 1, 2022, Dr. Alfred L. Parks (who previously served as a Co-PI) will become the Principal Investigator as Dr. Wash A. Jones will be transitioning to a different role outside of the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We scheduled six monthly scholars meetings between September 2021 and May 2022. Topics covered during the meetings included two student presentations about their internship experiences from summer 2021, academic success strategies and student wellness discussions. Scholars learned about access to university resources such as the tutoring center as well as the purpose and benefits of student organizations. The meetings assisted scholars with staying on track with grades, important upcoming events, and mental health check-ins. The meetings helped scholars to build relationships with teachers, make friends and connect with other students with the same major or career path. Scholars increased their awareness of other scholarship opportunities. In addition to participation in high-impact experiences, program scholars were required to be active members in at least one student organization designed to build professionalism and career readiness within the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences. All (100%) of the 29 Scholars completing the year-end survey reported being involved in at least one student organization within the College. Membership in the various clubs were as follows. Some Scholars participated in multiple organizations: Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS): 15 Scholars Pre-Vet Club: 16 Scholars Student Association of Nutrition and Dietetics (SAND): 2 Scholars CAHS Garden Club: 3 Scholars The Agri-business Club: 5 Scholars PVAMU Livestock Show Team: 4 Scholars The Rodeo Club: 1 student Each of these organizations provides various training and professional development opportunities designed to increase students' professionalism and marketability. Due to the on-going COVID-19 restrictions, activities primarily were limited to a virtual setting. 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?Scholars reported an increased level of mental and emotional challenges during this reporting period. We will seek to be more proactive in addressing these challenges among our Scholars in order to enhance Scholars' academic and personal success. This could include more programmatic efforts to address these issues as well as more one-on-one interaction with Scholars. We will seek to enhance the number of Scholars participating in high-impact practices by continuing to assist them in identifying and applying for these opportunities. We will continue to conduct various mentoring activities, including the monthly meetings, individualized meetings with scholars and mentors and provide continued exposure for scholars to professional development opportunities. Thus far, the Project PI's have served as the primary mentors for the Scholars, but we continue to seek and encourage colleagues at PVAMU to serve as mentors to the Scholars as well. We plan to award additional scholarships for the 2022-2023 academic year to increase the number of individuals with the opportunity to benefit from the program and to catch up on spending the awarded funding as planned. Additionally, we will seek to market the scholarship more widely and earlier and to make the scholarship more enticing to future students so that the award acceptance rate might be increased. This could be accomplished by making awards sooner, by increasing the value of each scholarshipand by expanding the marketing of the scholarship. We have considered adjusting the required cumulative grade point average from 3.00 to 2.75 or 2.50 in order to align the scholarship requirements more with the minimum University scholarship requirements and to help with scholarship retention. No final decision has been made on this consideration.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The number of new scholars supported during this reporting period was 9 partial scholarship recipients. The dollar value per student of the partial scholarships were valued at $19,000 (N= 7 scholars) and $12,000 (N=2 scholars), and covered tuition andfees. *Following are the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences enrollment data for 2019 - 2021: First Year Retention Rate: 2019 = 75% 2020 = 79% 2021 = 78% Fall Undergraduate Enrollment Data: 2019 = 341 students 2020 = 384 students 2021 = 413 students (7.6% increase from 2020; 3.5% increase for undergraduate and graduate; University enrollment showed 2.3% increase from 2020) Spring Undergraduate Enrollment Data: 2020 = 340 students 2021 = 370 students 2022 = 385 students (4.1% increase from 2021; 0.0% increase for undergraduate and graduate; University enrollment showed 1.3% decrease from 2021) *Data from the Prairie View A&M University Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness. The PI's assisted all scholars in identifying and applying for high-impact practice student experiences during the reporting period. The COVID-19 pandemic continuesto impact the number and types of opportunities offered and available to scholars. However, scholars covered by the project reported that they have been offered and would be participating in the following high-impact practices during summer 2022 and spring 2023. These data include all scholars participating in this project regardless of the award number under which they are covered. Three of the scholars participating in high impact practices encompass the 2021-2022 cohort. Internships: Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates (Texas A&M University): 3 scholars Simplot Operations Support Military Base Research Facility Private Cattle Ranch Bridge Street Animal Clinic Kansas State University John Cross Mortgage Texas Coalition of Rural Homeowners V-care Animal Clinic Study Abroad: Study Abroad Vet Experience in South Africa (4 scholars) Study Abroad (Spring 2023) The three Project PI's served as designated mentors for the scholars and met with the scholars at least once monthly as a group. Mentors supported the scholars while they matriculated, and mentors served as a sounding board to share insights regarding academic studies and careers. The three faculty and staff mentors for the 2021-2022 academic year represented the three service areas within the College: Dr. Wash A. Jones (Academics/Associate Professor), Dr. Rukeia Draw-Hood (Extension/Program Leader, 4-H Youth Development), and Dr. Alfred L. Parks (Research/Interim Associate Director of Research).
Publications
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