Recipient Organization
SISTEMA UNIVERSITARIO ANA G. MENDEZ, INC.
ANA G MENDEZ AVE 8
SAN JUAN,PR 00928
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Universidad Ana G. Mendez (UAGM) in Puerto Rico presents Puerto Rico WAMS STEM-Ag Education and Career Pathways Program (PR-WAMS), a three-year standard project, to establish a STEM-Ag experiential learning community model. This project is geared to attract and encourage woman and minority 10th grade students from underrepresented rural communities in Puerto Rico, to enroll in college and pursue careers in the food and agricultural sciences. The purpose of this community is to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in STEM. The primary goal of PR-WAMS is to develop and enhance leadership skills, knowledge, and the necessary qualities to prepare woman and minorities for agricultural and related careers, in the private sector, government, and academia. Puerto Rico is facing economic and social distress that requires the preparation of an agricultural workforce, with the skills and abilities to face the related challenges.Project's target objectives objectives are: 1) Implement a STEM-Ag experiential learning community comprised by two (2) public high schools; the Science, Technology and Environmental Academic Division (STEAD) of UAGM; the Center for Development of Sustainable Studies and two NGOs- Women in Business (WB) and the Puerto Rico Integral Services Center (PRISC). 2) Develop and implement an Experiential Learning Immersion Program to recruit and retain 10 women and minority 10th grade students from two public schools, as an agricultural and science literacy strategy. 3) Provide mentoring/shadowing and financial support for 10 women and minority students, recruited in the experiential learning immersion program, to successfully transfer between secondary education and university, to ensure the success and readiness of women and minority students as the next STEM generation of agricultural workforce leaders.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The major goal of PR WAMS is created and implement a STEM-Ag experiential learning community model for attract and encourage woman and minority 10th grade students from underrepresented rural communities in Puerto Rico, to enroll in college and pursue careers in the food and agricultural sciences. The STEM-Ag experiential learning community is comprised of two (2) public high schools; the Science, Technology and Environmental Academic Division (STEAD) of UAGM; the Center for Development of Sustainable Studies (CEDES in Spanish) and two (2) NGOs- Women in Business (WB) and the Puerto Rico Integral Services Center (PRISC). The purpose of this community is to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in STEM. The primary goal of STEM-Ag experiential learning community is developed and enhance leadership skills, knowledge, and the necessary qualities to prepare woman and minorities for agricultural and related careers, in the private sector, government, and academia.WAMS STEM-Ag Education and Career Pathways Program objectives are: 1) Implement a STEM-Ag experiential learning community comprised by two (2) public high schools; the Science, Technology and Environmental Academic Division (STEAD) of UAGM; the Center for Development of Sustainable Studies (CEDES in Spanish) and two (2) NGOs- Women in Business (WB) and the Puerto Rico Integral Services Center (PRISC), to attract women and minority students, from underrepresented rural communities in PR, to pursue college and careers in the food and agricultural sciences. 2) Develop and implement an Experiential Learning Immersion Program to recruit and retain 10 women and minority 10th grade students from two public schools, as an agricultural and science literacy strategy to encourage women and minorities students to enroll in college and pursue careers in food and agriculture sciences. 3) Provide mentoring/shadowing and financial support for 10 women and minority students, recruited in the experiential learning immersion program, to successfully transfer between secondary education and university, to ensure the success and readiness of women and minority students as the next STEM generation of agricultural workforce leaders.
Project Methods
The project will have a network of partners. The implementation of the experiential component will be planned in detail with the partners, upon receipt of the award. This collaborative effort will be guided by each partner's availability and schedules and the project's goals. The partners will provide students opportunities for shadowing and experiential learning. This will allow students to prepare for the critical transition from high school to sub graduate STEM program and understand the importance of the soft skills required for success in the workplace. CEDES, will implement the project, in accordance with the UAGM STEAD.Recruitment activity-will be starting at the beginning of October 2022 in both participant schools. Outreach recruitment strategies will include school visit, program poster and brochure, school faculty meeting and workshop, among others. The two NGO's WB and PRISC, will develop the workshop Science Behind Agriculture. This workshop will serve as an outreach strategy to engage with school communities (students, faculty and parents/guardians). As part of this workshop, students and their parents will have the opportunity to visit one of CNARLN to interact with farmers and crops. The Co-PI and Project Coordinator (PC) will coordinate all site visits to CNARLN farms during project implementation. After the site visit, through the school director, participant students from 10th grade (and their parents) will receive a formal invitation from the UAGM STEAD to participate in the Experiential Learning Immersion Program. Upon receipt of the letter, students must develop a 500-word essay on their interest in agricultural science and STEM-related careers and complete their profile (application); while the parents/guardians must sign the authorization letter. These documents must be sent, in or before due date, to a determined email. PC will manage letters and communication during recruitment.Determination of eligibility- After the application deadline, PC will ensure all the require documentation was completed as required. PC will submit to the enrollment committee (PI, Co-PI and the Director of STEAD) the applications that met the requirements. The enrollment committee will evaluate the documents and select 10 women and minority participants according to the profile response and essay writing skill. If the enrollment committee does not select the determined number of participants, PC will contact students that sent incomplete documents to give them another opportunity. If there is still not enough students' response to achieve goal recruitment, PI will identify other schools in underrepresented communities near San Juan. All successful applicants will receive an eligibility determination letter by email. Selected students and their parents will be invited to a welcome meeting in UAGM Cupey campus, in December. The meeting's purpose is to discuss details of the project, complete documents, like insurance, waivers and responsibilities. The UAGM systemic Dean, the Director and faculty members of the STEAD will participate in the meeting.Experiential Learning Immersion Program will start at the middle of January with the enrollment of the 10 selected students in sub graduate courses of the STEAD program. Students will receive a scholarship for 16 credits, one course by semester (see timetable below). Courses will be ENST 401- Introduction to Environmental Science, SCGS 200- Science, Technology and Society, Biol 341- Introduction of Soil Science, Biology I, Biol 201+ Introduction of Geology and SOGS- Human and Social Awareness. The completed courses will be validated when enrolling in undergraduate programs at UAGM- STEAC in August 2025. Courses will be hybrid (online and presential) and the professors will be members of the regular or lecturing faculty of UAGM. Each course will have at least one hands-on experiential learning activity to apply theory in real world. Each professor will coordinate with the Co-PI the site visits, transportation and materials acquisition. The Co-PI and the Project Coordinator will manage the acquisition procedures in UAGM. At the time the students are enrolled in courses, PRIS and WB will develop monthly (virtual or presential) workshops/trainings, after school hours, related to leadership role, community responsibility and organizational capacity. These will be offered to all interested school community. Every summer, (June 2020 - July 2025), students will participate in workshops and training in at least one CNARLN site. The PI and the IE will evaluate the process from the beginning to the end.The financial support will start in the recruitment process in October 2022 and will include the farm visits. Starting in January, the project will offer scholarships for 16 credits until May 2025. Students will receive support for travel and educational materials for the hands-on activities developed in courses and in the summer workshops and training.