Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
Food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH) disciplines play a crucial role in feeding the US population and maintaining important natural resources. With an increasing importance of current issues such as food safety and climate change, the challenges in these fields require innovative solutions. Additionally, the job outlook for FANH careers is strengthening as the current workforce is entering retirement.Diversifying the FANH workforce is crucial, but there are barriers, including a lack of awareness among diverse undergraduates and their families of the range of rewarding careers available, a lack of appropriate role models, financial strains, and the high visibility of health-related careers.The St. Edward's University (SEU) From Education and Experiential Learning to Employment: Cultivating the NEXTGEN of Natural Resources and Food Science Leaders(E3) project will increase the number, retention, and graduation of diverse students in FANH disciplines. This will be accomplished through 28 educational assistance awards (EAAs), raising the profile of FANH careers (via core classes, speakers, website, MANRRS chapter), mentoring, professional development, 80 paid summer internships, professional meetings, and learning to navigate the pathways to employment in the federal sector. E3 will make college more accessible for diverse students interested in FANH topics while providing experiences that expose them to USDA and FANH professionals and impart professional and leadership skills. This program will build infrastructure that transforms the undergraduate experience, making SEUmore effective at leading diverse groups of students to careers and leadership in FANH disciplines.
Animal Health Component
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Research Effort Categories
Basic
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Applied
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Developmental
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Goals / Objectives
The major goals of the project "From Education and Experiential Learning to Employment(E3): Cultivating the NEXTGEN of Natural Resources and Food Science Leaders, with the relevant objectives,are below. Please note that some objectives support multiple goals.I. Attract students tofood, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH) majors.1. Recruit applications and award 28 (4-year) Educational Assistance Awards (EAAs) to FANH majors.2.Create the E3 website including FANH data, human interest information, and role models.3.Enhance 4 core classes withculturally responsive FANH curriculafeaturing diverse role models.II.Retain FANH majors.1. Introduce a MANRRS chapter to raise the profile of FANH careers, give opportunities for leadership,networking, and honing presentation skills. This will be via chapter meetings as well as regional and national MANRRS Conferences each year.2. Create the E3 Office that includes support for student development and unexpected situations via the E3 fund (Enrichment, Emergency and Equity).3. Monitor students via surveys and faculty check-in to determine any unmet need (assistance with class, encouragement to seek leadership roles, etc.)III.Advance the careers of FANH majors.1.Provide 80 robust, paid, summer experiential learning experiences in FANH fields at SEU and Texas A&M University and with partners at USDA (ARS, USFS) and other partners.2. Develop two elective FANH Leadership electivesto impart crucial knowledge, skills, and leadership training, internship preparation, and career navigation.
Project Methods
The efforts undertaken in this project include: culturally responsive FANH curriculain both core and elective classes, 28 Educational Assistance Awards (EAA) to attract and retain students, student development through 80 paid FANH internships, and building FANH infrastructure at SEU. Those with an EAA/internship or internship alone are considered E3 scholars.At the base of the program is culturally responsive FANH curriculum. We will examine the impact of faculty development on changes in faculty attitudes, knowledge, and skills implementing culturally responsive curriculaand instruction. Several measures will gather this data, including faculty surveys at the end of workshops in the first and second years, naturalistic observations of the workshops as well as workshop materials, and student survey questions about culturalresponsiveness in class experiences and assignments. This study examines change as a result of the FANH courses and inclusion of students from groups historically underserved in STEM, such as students of color, LGBTQ+, first-generation college status, and low-income. Additionally, to better serve and retain students, each semester E3 scholars will be asked what campus resources they are using and for suggestions of additional resources they may need via a Google document. The E3 fund can be used for many unmet needs detected.Multiple experiences will immerse students in awareness of and preparation for FANH careers and federal employment. These experiences include internships in FANH fields at SEU and externships at USDA, UT medical branch and other sites, participation in the MANRRS chapter on campus and professional meetings as well as the FANH Summit and Seminar Series. Several measures assess student experiences and engagement with program activities, interests, knowledge of USDA opportunities, employable skills gained, sense of belonging, and potential to seek a FANH career at USDA and/or other employers. These measures include a pre-survey when students arrive on campus (those with an EAA as first-time freshmen or transfer students) or are accepted through an internship or internal EAA and annual post-survey in the spring. Additionally, students in the core and elective classes will receive pre and post surveys to evaluate the outcomes and possibly allow appropriate course modifications.The survey questions will draw from several extant instruments that align with the project vision laid out in the evaluation rubric. Sample instruments include the Sense of Belonging and Science Identity Scales (Trujillo & Tanner, 2014) and Mentoring Scales (Heager & Fresquez, 2016). Additional questions that are specific to attainment of skills necessary to seek federal jobs and the interest and intent to pursue these will also be included. We will monitor student academic success through the E3 Support Committee at each mid-semester and address resources that can assist the students in their development, whether this is tutoring, or encouragement to seek a position of leadership such as becoming a Teaching Assistant for a lab. In the first two years as the project is forming, focus groups with students will gather in-depth information about project processes. Students who participate in internships and externships will complete pre and post surveys in summer and also complete weekly reflections of their internship experience as it progresses.Project overall outcomes and impacts for students will be assessed through the annual spring surveys of E3 students and exit interviews upon graduation. We will also seek information regarding the students' next steps including possible graduate school and/or employment in FANH careers. The approach to evaluation is collaborative; the evaluators will meet quarterly with the leadership team to get an update on project progress, changes and planning. The review of project documents and other artifacts will provide information about different academic contexts and institutional policies.The evaluation design is mixed methods combining quantitative and qualitative sources. Descriptive statistics will be used to assess quantitative data. Open-ended responses will be analyzed thematically (Strauss & Corbin, 1990).The evaluation data will be reported to maximize its use as soon as data can be analyzed and communicated, it will be shared with project leaders. The evaluation team will facilitate conversations to forge an understanding of findings and to make plans for programmatic improvements. Formal reporting includes an annual presentation to the Advisory Board and an annual overall synthesis of the data for the annual REEport.Heager, H. & Fresquez, C. (2016). Mentoring for inclusion: the impact of mentoring on undergraduate researchers in the sciences.CBE Life Science Education,15(3), 1-9.Strauss, A. & Corbin, J. (1990).Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Trujillo, G., & Tanner, K. D. (2014). Considering the role of affect in learning: monitoring students' self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and science identity.CBE Life Science Education,13(1), 6-15.