Source: ARKANSAS AGRIC EXTENSION SERVICE submitted to
EXPERIENTIAL SCHOLARS PROGRAM (ESP) TO PROMOTE AND DEVELOP EXTENSION EDUCATORS AND SPECIALIST
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1030137
Grant No.
2023-68018-40315
Cumulative Award Amt.
$749,638.00
Proposal No.
2022-09082
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 1, 2023
Project End Date
Jul 31, 2028
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[A7401]- Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates
Project Director
Robinson, J.
Recipient Organization
ARKANSAS AGRIC EXTENSION SERVICE
(N/A)
LITTLE ROCK,AR 72203
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Current Issue: Agriculture is Arkansas' largest industry, adding around $16 billion to the state's economy annually. In today's world, communicating mission and relevance, recruiting talent, and developing them for the job are key challenges faced by the Cooperative Extension System nationwide. National surveys conducted for the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities show that most young people are unaware of Extension in their state, even students at land-grant universities are often unfamiliar with the outreach and engagement mission of their schools.Methods & Approaches: The Experiential Scholars Program (ESP) project aims to introduce career opportunities for STEM and liberal arts majors from universities in Arkansas. The participating students, seven in each of the five cohorts, will be selected and educated through hands-on learning in one of the three NIFA and Extension focus areas: 1) agriculture and natural resources, 2) food safety, nutrition, and health, or 3) rural community development, and will receive leadership training to develop skills in problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution, and decision making. Mentoring for the students will come from faculty and specialists, county extension agents, and peers in the program.With Extension's access to cutting-edge scientific knowledge at land-grant universities and Extension's connections with local communities, opportunities for undergraduate experiential learning opportunities are significant. Building on these strengths, the UADA ESP brings together Extension personnel to help address the problem of workforce development in the focus areas of agriculture, food, and rural development education. Extension internships have the potential to help students understand their coursework on a deeper level and to apply their knowledge in a real-world work environment. Successful strategies for recruiting young people to Extension include one-on-one interactions with Extension educators and specialists. Each intern will be paired with a mentor and receive an experience tailored to his or her interests, skills, experiences, and career aspirations.Ultimate Goal: Our ESP program will increase student awareness of the mission of Extension and the role that the organization plays in delivering science-based knowledge to citizens, with the aim to recruit qualified and effective Extension personnel.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
90360103020100%
Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
6010 - Individuals;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
At the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (UADA), the ExperientialScholars Program (ESP) will promote and develop Extension educators and specialists and seektoincrease opportunities for historically under-represented populations and other students byoffering undergraduate internships in three focus areas: 1) agriculture and natural resources;2)food safety, nutrition, and health;and 3) rural community development. UADA anticipates thatthis engagement will ultimately result in numerous benefits for the students, the mentors, and forExtension as an organization. Benefits include increasing understanding of the land-grantmission among students, creating relevant and meaningful job opportunities for students, andbuilding a more diverse pool of future Extension.Objectives:Target audience: Five culturally and economically diverse cohorts of seven Scholars fromArkansas-based universities.• Prepare Scholars to enter professional workplace with real-world experience andexpertise in agriculture and natural resources, food preparation and safety, or ruralcommunity development.• Develop area specific technical skills through hands-on experiential learning.• Provide career readiness and leadership skills.• Prepare Scholars to develop and deliver agricultural education programs for adults and/oryouth in Arkansas.
Project Methods
Methods: ESP will enhance undergraduate experiences and prepare interested students in service-basedagricultural and rural community careers to improve recruitment and retention of qualified andeffective personnel by accomplishing the following tasks:1. Hire seven interns for each of the five years of the grant (Total of 35) to work inExtension focus areas of agriculture and natural resources, food preparation and safety,or rural community development.2. Work specifically with the 1890 Land grant, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff(UAPB) and other institutions to recruit two students per year to represent historicallyunderserved Extension clientele, and to increase diversity among Extension personnel.3. Develop a Scholar leadership training program that includes conducting their ownExtension programming project complete with written and oral reports.4. Develop an ESP Advisory Panel consisting of faculty, county government officials, andindustry personnel.5. Hold a Scholar graduation ceremony at the end of the program where interns will providean oral presentation on their extension programming report as well as a written report.Efforts:Mentoring Plan:Scholars will be matched with a mentor after their acceptance into the program. ESP will offermentors for each student from the project team based on student interests and professional goals.At the initial meeting, students and mentors will develop a mentoring plan for the program andbeyond. This plan will be flexible and allow changes and modifications as appropriate for thementees. The student and mentor will establish meeting times and discuss expectations ofmentors and mentees.The project team will utilize the peer, on-sight, distance (POD) model for mentoring thatincludes content and interaction skills for a career area.Professional Development:Scholars will select the intellectual focus of their projects to include Natural ResourcesManagement, Food Science, or Rural Community Development. Leadership training, along withthe hands-on technical training, will help the interns to 1) determine a need for Extensionprogramming;2) develop a work plan including an evaluation plan using a logic model andspecifies methodology, approach, etc.;3) Develop an oral and written report of the Extensionprogramming event;and 4) Develop an Impact Statement of the effort.Scholars will meet face-to-face three times at the State Extension Office or the Arkansas 4-HCenter. The first face-to-face meeting will take place after the Future Ag Leaders Tour. Thesecond will take place after four weeks for a mid-program check-up, and the third and final face-to-face meeting will take place at the conclusion of the program for the graduation event whereScholars will orally present their projects. Face-to-face and online seminars include thefollowing modules.Evaluation: An essential element of any internship training program is an appropriate program evaluationplan. Evaluation of various elements of the training program are required. This programevaluation format is thorough but can be added and amended as ESP develops and evolves.Outcome: Thirty-five undergraduate students, including at least 10 from underrepresenteddemographics, will participate in ESP and increase their knowledge of the land-grantmission.Methods and Tools:a) Number of participants.b) Demographic information collected.c) Pre- and post- assessments.Outcome: Create meaningful job opportunities for undergraduate students by increasingtheir competencies and leadership skills.Methods and Tools:a) Project Plan - Create a project plan with Extension mentor - within the first twoweeks of the internship program.b) Mid-program F2F - Assess overall experience, update progress of expectations, andreview timeline and progress to date - four weeks after internship begins.c) Report of project/program conducted - at graduation.d) Evaluation of project/program (share evaluation results from project/programconducted) - at the conclusion of the internship.e) Impact Statement (completed impact statement about project/program) - as late as oneweek after conclusion of the internship program.f) Provide written feedback on scholar competencies in key areas: questionnairescompleted by supervisors, interns, and other stakeholders.g) Assess program's success at addressing issues relevant to training.h) Professional competencies including in expertise, as an educator, and in Extensionknowledge and organizational structure will be evaluated.i) Leadership training will be evaluated by using an online survey to evaluate overallexperience and learner self-assessment of knowledge gain. Assignments will also begraded using established grading rubrics. Daily reflection will also be assessed.Outcome: Approximately 10% (3-4) participating undergraduate students will indicateinterest in becoming or will accept a position as an Extension employee.Methods and Tools:a) Exit Interviews - Follow up exit interview conducted a week after the conclusion ofthe internship.b) Document graduates' job placements and career paths.c) Human Resources data will assist in tracking any student employment at UADA after thecompletion of the program.d) Follow-up interviews to determine how many participants work for Extension long-term(3-4 years after participation).

Progress 08/01/23 to 07/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for the Year One progress report was eight undergraduate students to participate in Experiential Scholars Program (ESP) and increase their knowledge of the land-grant mission. The student demographics are four males and four females. From a voluntary demographic form, all indicated: Ethnicity-Not Hispanic or Latino. Five indicated Race as White. Two indicated Race as Asian and White. One indicated Race as Black or African American. Changes/Problems:No major changes in approach have been identified. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Scholars participated in numerous and various (depending on their focus areas) training and professional development opportunities throughout their ESP internship. All were engaged in one-on-one mentorships with Extension educators. All received leadership development programming through personality assessment and discussion, crucial conversations training, teambuilding, professionalism, etc. Professional development activities led to increased knowledge or skills in Scholar's focus area. Focus Area Specific Highlights: Water Conservation: Scholars attended rice field day, traveled to Discovery farms, and created a display flume and box to house water sampling equipment. Soil Conservation: Scholar worked in soil lab and conducted study to measure soil carbon and nitrogen change in the soil profile over one year on two rice-producing farms. She also attended the rice field dayand a national conference. Food Nutrition, Health, and Safety: Scholars complete Serv-Safe training, participated in food demos, manned a booth at the rice field day, and created their own healthy, nutritious recipes. Rural Community Development: All scholars in thisfocus area attended a national conference. Otherwise, each scholar participated in professional development related to their specific interests in asset-based community development, grant writing, broadband expansion, and/or program marketing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The ESP internships finished on July 19, 2024. No final results have been disseminated to communities yet. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The project director will seek opportunities to share results through blog posts, newsletters, and conference presentations. Project will also: Increase relationships with other organizations to recruit for the next cohort of ESP scholars. Work with mentors to identify training, professional development, and other opportunities for the next cohort. Prepare and distribute follow-up career surveys for first cohort. Update ESP website and recruiting materials. Schedule presence at university career fairs. Debrief with cohort 1 mentors for continuous improvement practice.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Experiential Scholars Program (ESP) at the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture (UADA), successfully provided eight undergraduate students with real-world experience and increased expertise in their chosen focus areas. The program enhanced technical skills through experiential learning and a culmination project. Evaluators gathered feedback from Scholars on their internship experiences and assessed their perceived readiness for the workplace. Results found that 100% of Scholars reported feeling better prepared for entering the professional workplace after completing the program; 50% of participants indicated an interest in a career in their focus area either within Extension or elsewhere, including one will pursue a master's degree with her mentor and one was hired to continue on for the remainder of the summer. Scholars also indicated they benefited from the leadership development programming. Scholars demonstrated their program development and delivery skills through an independent project and delivered final presentations showcasing their ability to translate learning into practical outcomes. Overall, ESP fostered career readiness, leadership skills, and the ability to deliver effective educational programs, thereby advancing the mission of Extension and benefiting both the Scholars and the broader Arkansas community.

Publications