Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Building the future agricultural workforce in the U.S. encounters significant changes including limited awareness of the range of agriculture-related career opportunities available across academia, public and private sectors; declining interest in agriculture and in government; an insufficient supply of highly skilled, technologically sophisticated professionals to meet the Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) workforce demands; and an important gap in diversity in higher education. The goal of this project is to enable the consortium to build and sustain the next generation of a diverse FANH workforce through domestic and international experiential learning, outreach and engagement programs. The specific objectives are to: 1) Develop and sustain resilient partnerships between the consortium universities and organizations with a vested interest in building the future workforce in FANH and allied disciplines; 2) Establish and sustain effective and responsive Outreach and Engagement Projects (OEPs) including student career development activities, and understanding of process and pathways to federal employment; 3) Develop innovative recruitment, training, and retention initiatives such as Student Scholarship Projects (SSPs) and leadership development activities to attract diverse students to FANH fields; and 4) Implement paid impactful domestic and international experiential learning projects (ELPs) for students to better understand the wide array of career opportunities across FANH. Each partner university has been assigned a number of responsibilities and adequate resources to effectively accomplish the project's objectives. Monitoring and evaluation tools will be used to ensure an efficient and effective management of resources and personnel following the project timeline.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Project Goal and Objectives: The goal of the proposed project is to enable the consortium members (UMES, FAMU, SU, and KSU) to build and sustain the next generation of a diverse FANH workforce including the future USDA workforce primarily through domestic and international experiential learning, outreach and engagement programs. The specific objectives for achieving this goal are to: 1) Develop and sustain resilient partnerships between the consortium universities and organizations with a vested interest in building the future workforce in FANH and allied disciplines [Lead: FAMU]; 2) Establish and sustain effective and responsive Outreach and Engagement Projects (OEPs) including student career development activities, and understanding of process and pathways to federal employment [Lead: KSU]; 3) Develop innovative recruitment, training, and retention initiatives including Student Scholarship Projects (SSPs) and leadership development activities to attract diverse students (minority and underserved) to FANH fields [Lead: SU]; and 4) Design and implement paid impactful domestic and international experiential learning projects (ELPs) for students to better understand the wide array of career opportunities across the FANH and allied disciplines while developing their professional skills and academic training [Lead: UMES].
Project Methods
Obj1. Develop and sustain resilient partnerships between the consortium universities and organizations with a vested interest in building the future workforce in FANH and allied disciplines: 1) Cultivating a diverse FANH workforce representative of the U.S. population is the focus of these partnerships; 2) This consortium has worked in the past on several other projects funded by NIFA through the EGFSD's activities. Hence partnerships will be done via signing MOUs and articulation agreements whereby the 1890 institutions and their partners draw from each other's experiencesObj2. Establish and sustain effective and responsive Outreach and Engagement Projects (OEP) including student career development activities, and understanding of process and pathways to federal employment: 1) Developed campaign materials (by the Co-PIs and students) will be utilized by the Consortium universities and partners to train FANH students and enhance their exposure and understanding of various employment opportunities. This will be accomplished by the faculty involved with the project; 2) Career Development activities will consist of conducting Washington, DC Study Summits for students, and a three-day career development conferences/workshops (ARD, MANRRS, etc.). The consortium universities have a track-record organizing these events in the past. Additionally, faculty involved in the program (see Key Personnel) at the consortium institutions will establish and sustain mentorship, shadowing, career exploration and students' services including tutoring, career counseling, and academic advising initiatives; 3) Organized webinars and seminars where current employees of various USDA agencies will be invited to speak to students on their activities and careers trajectories.Obj3.Develop innovative recruitment, training, and retention initiatives such as Student Scholarship Projects (SSP) and leadership development activities to attract diverse students (minority and underserved) to FANH fields: 1) SPPs programs will be established at each of the consortium universities to recruit target audience using innovative recruitment materials and recruitment campaigns at diverse venues including the consortium's partners, diverse organizations with vested interest in FANH workforce, and others such as ARD, AEA, MANRRS, etc.; 2) Undergraduate students will be awarded scholarships each annually for four years following a competitive selection (using pre-determined criteria such as a career pathway to USDA, etc.) by an ad hoc committee. It is anticipated that twenty (20) scholars will be selected. There will be a provision of alternate candidates in case those selected dropped out for any reasons; 3) Graduate students will be competitively selected and given the opportunity to receive graduate assistantships to pursue career at the federal agencies including USDA; 4) Appropriate retention and improved graduation rates will be achieved through a Leadership Development program. Three courses including Global Competence, and Soft Skills/Career Pathways; Introduction to Globalization; and Employability in the FANH Workforce, will be developed and team-taught across the consortium universities.Obj4. Design and Implement paid impactful domestic and international experiential learning projects (ELPs) for students to better understand the wide array of career opportunities across the FANH and allied disciplines while developing their professional skills and academic training: 1) Students will receive an allowance to participate in domestic and international ELPs; 2) A linkage Center will be established at partner institution(s) with resources to facilitate and sustain international student ELPs; 3) The consortium universities' faculty will train target students to gain an increased understanding of leadership roles including critical thinking, problem solving and communication skills; ethics and professionalism; interpersonal skills; working in teams; connecting the academic classroom experience with daily leadership roles and organizational activities.