Recipient Organization
ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ALCORN STATE,MS 39096
Performing Department
Agriculture
Non Technical Summary
Potential for Building the Food and Agricultural WorkforceAlcorn State University (Alcorn) is the first Historically Black Land-Grant College/University in the nation and from its inception has embraced its unique responsibility to train minority students in agriculture and related sciences. Since Alcorn's founding, the institution has helped advance the state and region's agricultural economy while improving the nutrition, health and standard of living of its citizens. In addition to educating generations of students in agriculture and related sciences, Alcorn has also provided research and outreach services to the citizens of the state and region. Alcorn is ranked third highest for Most Affordable Online Bachelor's Degree for a Historical Black College/University (HBCU); 13thhighest for Most Affordable Bachelor's for an HBCU (affordableschools.net, accessed 2019); and 23rd Best HBCU by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges report (usnews.com/best-colleges, accessed 2019).Although HBCUs make up only about three percent of the nation's institutions of higher learning, they graduate over 14% of African Americans with bachelor's degrees. Alcorn State University is located in an underserved region, with the majority of the university's students being recruited from surrounding communities. Alcorn State University is therefore well positioned to assist underrepresented students earndegrees and make advancements within agriculture and related sciences.The overall goal of Alcorn State University's 1890 Scholarships Program Proposal is aligned with the Federal 1890 Scholarships Program's authorizing legislative mandate to increase and "to support recruiting, engaging, retaining, mentoring, and training of undergraduate students at the 1890 land-grant institutions." This will result in the awarding of increased numbers of baccalaureate degrees in the agricultural and related sciences.Both the mission and the vision of the School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences emphasize the importance of holistically developing students to their fullest potential. The mission states, "Through vibrant teaching, research and outreach activities, the School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences empowers students and citizens educationally and socio-economically to enrich the quality of life for themselves and their communities." The vision states, "the School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences is a premier land-grant program that promotes excellence by providing teaching, research and outreach activities, delivered by cutting edge technology, to its students and the communities it serves." It is critically important that we are prepared to meet the future agricultural challenges facing our society. As world population increases to 10 billion in 2050, more innovative approaches to address issues associated with population growth will be needed. Challenges such as food shortages, land retention, climate change, are all factors in which current students will have to address and solve. They will have to employ innovative increases in technology, productivity and conservation to meet these future challenges.The School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences' mission is an integral part of Alcorn State University and "fulfills its 1890 land-grant mission through cutting edge teaching, research, extension and public service programs." These programs improve the quality of life for the people of the region and the Nation. Training students with the skills necessary to live and work effectively and successfully in the fields of food and agricultural sciences in our ever-changing society is key to both our student's and our Nation's success.A high priority has been given to the development and implementation of the 1890 Scholarship Program. This proposal is fully supported by the President of the University, the interim Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Dean of the School of Agriculture and Advanced Technologies (see Institutional Letters; Part V, section 4.2). Both private industry and governmental agencies will be served by the development and implementation of the 1890 Scholarship Program. The development and implementation of the Program is also in full agreement with the mission and vision of the University, to develop diverse students into globally competitive leaders and apply scientific research, through collaborative partnerships that benefit the surrounding communities, states, nation, and world." The 1890 Scholarship Program at Alcorn would primarily serve underrepresented and economically depressed communities in Southwest Mississippi and in the Lower Mississippi River Delta Region. Both traditional and non-traditional full-time under graduate students from the region who are high achievers have been identified as our target audience. However, efforts will be made to attract students from throughout the U.S.Need for the 1890 Scholarship ProgramThe need for food and agriculture and related science graduates from Alcorn State University's undergraduate program is exemplified by the scarcity of diversity in the agricultural sciences. Likewise, according to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture (MDAC), "Agriculture is Mississippi's number one industry, employing approximately 29% of the state's workforce either directly or indirectly. According to the Purdue University Study (2015), food, agricultural sciences, natural resources, human sciences employment opportunities will grow more than 5% between 2015-2020 for baccalaureate degree holders and 35,400 new food and agricultural science graduates will fill 61% of the 57,600 average annual job openings. This would mean that the remaining 39% jobs will be filled by graduates from non-agriculture and related sciences fields. Further, this study noted that "Plant science graduates at all degree levels will find excellent career opportunities." They will find many opportunities for plant geneticists, plant pathologists, and insect biologists to develop higher-yielding crops adapted to less-than-optimal growing conditions. Accordingly, investing in an 1890 Scholarship Program at Alcorn State University will positively impact the number of graduates that will be employed in agriculture and related sciences areas.The state of Mississippi generally follows the national trends in employment opportunities in agricultural and natural sciences. Based on information coming from the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 30, 2018 the "Overall employment of agricultural and food scientists isprojected to grow seven percent from 2016 to 2026, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Employment of agricultural and food scientists is projected to grow as research into agricultural production methods and techniques continues.Upon reviewing the report from the National Science Foundation on Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering: 2017, "black men and women make up only five percent of the population working in science and engineering, whereas white men and women make up approximately 70 percent." The 1890 Scholarship program will increase the number of minority graduates in the agricultural sciences, thereby increasing the opportunities for minorities to work in this sector.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Measurable ObjectivesThe Alcorn State University School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences has a goal to increase student enrollment by 15-20 percent while increasing diversity by one-to-two percent by the year 2025. The school's goal is consistent with the objectives of this proposal listed below:Increase the number of students who attain B.S. degrees in agriculture and related sciences at Alcorn State University.Increase the diversity pool of B.S. degree, entry level employees who graduate from Alcorn State University which are available to agriculture and related sciences employers.The School of Agriculture and Applied Sciences currently has a total enrollment of 738 students spread across three departments and a center (Agriculture Department, Human Sciences Department, Advanced Technologies Department and the Center for Biotechnology). First-time freshmen retention rate for the School is 72 percent with a range of 504 to 619 students graduating from 2015 to 2018 representing approximately 21 percent of the students graduating from the university.The 1890 Scholarship Program at Alcorn State University would address both of the above objectives by providing scholarship awards of up-to $10,000 for eligible undergraduate students. We are continually renewing our effort to innovatively teach students and transform our academic institutional practices, programs, policies and our campus culture, all with an eye towards cultivating student success.As agricultural and related sciences educators, we must redouble our help our students develop technical competence. We can accomplish this by providing students with access and training on pertinent technological advances in agriculture and related science fields. It is incumbent upon professors to insure that our students have full access to current technologies such as sensors that monitor the air, water and soil, drone technology, agricultural robots, agriculture automation, vertical farming, in vitro meat/genetically designed food, plant based meat substitutes, CRISPR and GIS/precision agriculture. Exposing prospective and current students to new and exciting technologies has the potential to attract a more representative sample of our society, such as women and minority groups who have traditionally been unable to access the technology and resources to improve quality of life for themselves and communities in which they live.Lack of financial resource is a major problem that many African American and minority students face, particularly in rural areas with depressed economies such as southwest Mississippi. Financing a college degree can be a major barrier for African American and other minorities pursuing a four-year college degree. Minority undergraduate students throughout the country are less likely to be retained than other racial/ethnic groups, and African American males in particular lag behind on almost every indicator of academic achievement (Esters and Mosby 2007; Adelman, 2005; Dulabaum 2016). Professors at Alcorn State University are constantly working to break this chain of low academic achievement and build up both the student's skill set and self-esteem. Gaining access to scholarship assistance in agricultural and related sciences will allow the opportunity for students to more fully prepare themselves for agriculture and related sciences job market. African American and minority students must be placed on a level playing field, which includes access to scholarships and cutting edge training in agriculture and related sciences which in turn places the student on a path to technical competence and will help reduce low self-esteem.At the institutional level, Alcorn State University is employing innovative institutional practices and tools to continually improve student competency and success. These efforts include the use of Canvas which is a cloud-native learning management system. The Go.Alcorn online platform allows our students and advisors to monitor academic progress and manage their academic matriculation throughout their tenure as an undergraduate student. The last example, LiveText allows faculty to collect critical assessments for student cohorts and make sure that students are developing prescribed competencies at the appropriate time.
Project Methods
Analysis ProceduresThe 1890s Alcorn State University 1890 Scholarship Proposal will utilize evaluation methodologies that establish baseline data regarding academic performance, retention, graduation and transfer rates and track increases or decreases in each of these areas. Using this baseline data and developing a comparison group will assist in the evaluation of the success of the program. Baseline data will be aggregated and disaggregated to learn as much as possible about the impact of project services on students. Baseline data will be presented in trend lines showing changes over time, including annual reports of mid-year and end of year benchmarks and objective measures. The data analysis will focus on three areas. 1) Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from implementation measures to provide feedback and determine fidelity of implementation. 2) Quantitative data will be analyzed using simple descriptive statistics. Results will provide evidence for coding levels of implementation on the FOI Index. 3) Benchmark analysis will compare outcome measures with benchmarks that have been set for all outcome goals. The analysis will use a simple descriptive comparison of mean performance levels using a 95% confidence interval estimate, to the benchmark value.