Recipient Organization
UNIV OF ARKANSAS
(N/A)
PINE BLUFF,AR 71601
Performing Department
School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences
Non Technical Summary
Thirty-seven more scholars will be added to the scholarship program based on our current budget. To be more competitive with otherinstitutions in the region and to attract the caliber of students desired to meet the goals of the 1890 Scholarships, the 1890Scholarships committee deemed it necessary to increase scholarship amounts, reduce the number of scholarship recipients,start recruiting early, and being more intentional about marketing the 1890 Scholarships. In the beginning of fall 2021, the 1890Scholarships program offered new scholarships in the amounts of $20,000.00 annually to top recruits who have a minimum 3.2GPA, 980 SAT or equivalent 21 ACT score(later reduced to 19), and$10, 000.00 annually for students with 3.0 and 980 SAT orequivalent 19 ACT score.Other scholarships will be offered to students with a GPA of 2.8or higher with no ACT score in the following categories $8,000.00, $6,000.00, and $4,000.00. First year scholarswere awarded an increase in the new categories based on their previous criteria. The total award over the remaining ofsemesters (class of 2024 & 2025) will be valued at a minimum of $16,000 to a maximum of $80,000 per scholar. Thescholarship will be posted to the student's account by UAPB office of financial Aid. Those students with partial 1890scholarships is expected to complement with other financial sources such as Pell grants, federally-backed student loans,foundational scholarships, churches, and other similar financial resources. In-state students also may be eligible for ArkansasLottery Scholarships and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) Conservation Scholarships. As for systems andmechanisms to collect program data, awards are tracked with a simple spreadsheet that contains each award recipient (i.e.,scholar) on a single row, with columns representing different benchmarks achieved (e.g., credits completed through a certainyear, cumulative GPA attained by that year, list of courses not passed, etc.). Should any scholars lose their scholarship for anyreason funds committed to that scholar will be reconstituted into another award for a scholar in the next cohort.Strategies for evaluating program successAnnual retention and graduation rates of scholars will be tracked and compared to UAPB averages, and when possible, regionaland national averages (e.g., Food and Agricultural Education and Information System [FAEIS]). Within NIFA, it should bepossible to compare retention and graduation rates of these scholarship programs across the different 1890 institutions.Strategies for incorporating feedback into the programScholars will provide comments about their experience each year while in school, which will be used to make improvements in afeedback fashion. However, given the relatively brief duration of this grant, longer-term feedback loops will probably not bepossible. These types of feedback loops take many years and much data to be developed, by which time this grant will haveended.Defined approach for longitudinal tracking of scholars post-graduationAs for the number of scholars that gain employment relevant to their degrees following graduation, these can be compiled asscholars graduate and compared to other UAPB majors, provided those data are available. Special emphasis will be placed onthe numbers and percentage of B.S. graduates that work "in the field" immediately post-graduation and 10 years later. Thesefigures will provide some indication of the overall effectiveness of the scholars program as well as retention of graduates in thefield. Graduate follow-up will be overseen by the Program Coordinator mentioned above.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
0%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
Major goals of the projectThe objectives of this proposal are to increase student enrollment, improve retention, and support degree completion in Food,Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Science (FANH) degree programs in the School of Agriculture, Fisheries & HumanSciences (SAFHS) at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB). Over the next several years, a remarkable number ofprofessionals will retire from the food and agricultural sciences industries. Highly skilled young professionals will be needed to fillthese vacant positions. Food and agriculture professionals rely on research-based knowledge to develop and extend innovativesolutions to serious problems facing our nation's agriculture markets. A long-term goal of UAPB is to develop and contribute tothe next generation of scientists trained in FANH fields. One approach to accomplishing this goal is by introducing students tothe FANH sciences early in their collegiate careers to address this critical workforce deficiency. Specifically, the 1890Scholarships Program proposed herein seeks to address critical workforce needs by expanding opportunities to universitystudents across multiple academic disciplines for career development in the FANH industries. Between 2015 and 2020, it isexpected that there will be an average of 57,900 openings in these areas annually. However, only 35,400 students withagriculture-related degrees are expected to graduate during this period, leaving a 39% gap of jobs unfilled (Goecker et al. 2015).The lack of a trained workforce in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources, environmental, and human sciences willgreatly limit the industry's ability to feed 9.8 billion people worldwide by 2050. Therefore, a concerted effort should be made tointroduce high school graduates and college freshmen to degrees, careers, and opportunities in the FANH and related sciences.To achieve this end, 1890 Land Grant institutions will play a vital role in preparing the next generation of FANH scientists,especially with those students from underrepresented groups. The 1890 institutions offer a broad array of agriculture and foodindustry majors and have the opportunity to introduce students to the many opportunities available in these fields.
Project Methods
The scholarship program will have an overall Program Coordinator. Each semester, the Program Coordinator will schedule twomeetings with the mentors and two with the mentees (one at the beginning and another at the end of each semester). At thebeginning of each academic year, a meet and greet social (Mixer) will be hosted for program mentors and mentees.Mentees (scholars) will be required to utilize all of the University's academic resources for students, including the StudentSuccess Center (SSC) and career services. The SSC provides tutoring, math, and writing support services as well as organizingvarious workshops dedicated to strategies for student success.Mentoring plan for scholarsSelected scholars will be assigned mentors with closely aligned interests as much as possible. This will occur immediately afterthey are accepted into the program. These duties will include but not be limited to course selection/sequencing/scheduling;guidance in networking, pursuing internships, attending conferences, and other such professional development activities; andassistance with pursuing an eventual FANH career (e.g., writing of recommendation letters, serving as reference, etc.). Inaddition, scholars will be required to utilize all of the University's academic resources for new students, including the StudentSuccess Center (SSC). The SSC provides tutoring, math, and writing support services as well as organizing various workshopsdedicated to strategies for student success. In addition, program mentors and relevant UAPB administrators will meet annuallyat the beginning of each school year for a general briefing of the program's structure and expectations. This meeting will beorganized as a small social event so that new and continuing scholars, and mentors can all meet each other.Additionally, external mentors will inspire the collegiate experience and foster professional connections in their areas of interest.Specifically, external mentors will provide the following:• Host seminars to convey the importance of HBCU 1890 land-grant institutions.• Promote community engagement and linkages.• Promote an understanding about the uniqueness of the Arkansas region.• Promote a general understanding about the various schools of SAFHS, including agriculture, fisheries, and humansciences.• Connect scholars to resources, such as food and farm service agencies.• Support students with interpersonal and leadership development• Integrate scholars into fields of interest• Link scholars with internships/ assistantshipListed below are some of the various types of external mentors: Types of External MentorsLocal Community Agency ContactsUSDAUAPB AlumniNRCSInternship/ Assistantship CoordinatorsPublic/ Private AgenciesDissemination of existing career development activities that will provide scholars with broad exposure to the careers in thefood and agricultural sciences.All UAPB departments with FANH degree programs (Agriculture, Human Sciences, and Aquaculture and Fisheries) willdevelop an email list for distribution of announcements, including scholarships, internships, student work opportunities, andmany other such items to all scholars. Although sometimes considered an outdated form of communication, email is stillsuperior to textmessaging apps such as Instagram, Twitter for sending detailed information, concise instructions, and fileattachments. Scholars also will be encouraged to manage their email accounts so items are not lost or misfiled. Another careerdevelopment strategy will be to develop a seminar series where on-campus and off-campus guest speakers will overview FANHcareers andfuture job prospects.Mechanisms for monitoring scholar progress and performanceIt is expected that scholars and mentors will see each other regularly, and thus, communication should not be difficult. Scholarperformance will be constantly monitored using University resources such as Dashboard, Blackboard, and/or AVISO asappropriate. Mentors will provide brief mid-term and final reports on each scholar's performance to the SAFHS dean and otherprogram leaders. At the end of each semester, scholars will provide reports outlining their accomplishments and/orachievements for that semester.Dissemination of opportunities for professionalization, e.g., workshops, meetings, etc.The emails will be used to disseminate announcements concerning a wide variety of professionaldevelopment activities. First, scholars will be encouraged to become active in campus student clubs, particularly thoseassociated with FANH majors. Second, in addition to on-campus trainings and workshops (e.g., those organized by the SSC),scholars will be encouraged to attend events such as UAPB's annual Research Forum and SAFHS's Rural Life Conference.Finally, scholars will be assisted in pursuing student travel grants to attend off-campus scientific conferences. There are manyprofessional organizations that offer travel grants exclusively for students, examples of which include the American Associationof Family & Consumer Sciences, Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE), American Society of AnimalScience, Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, American Fisheries Society, and World Aquaculture Society.Dissemination of information, experiential learning, and/or other opportunities that will broaden the engagement andcommunication skills of scholars.Emails will be used to disseminate announcements concerning various internship andother experiential learning opportunities. With the assistance of mentors, scholars will be encouraged to secure summerinternship opportunities while in school on scholarship as opposed to simply returning home. Internships are valuableopportunities for undergraduate students that support many forms of professional development, including high levels ofexperiential learning. At a minimum, internships greatly increase engagement of scholars within their chosen career fields, withgood prospects of permanent, and sometimes non-competitive, employment following graduation. In addition, students engagedwith their career fields through internships often complete a significant amount of oral presenting and writing, both of whichenhance communication skills. Professional development in all of the above areas is essential to successful pursuit of graduatestudy following graduation.