Performing Department
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Non Technical Summary
In collaboration with multiple education and community partners, Adams State University, Colorado's premier Hispanic-Serving Institution, proposes to grow and diversify the FAN (food, agriculture, natural resources) and USDA workforce in the impoverished, rural San Luis Valley to increase economic opportunity, social mobility, and quality of life for its residents. With USDA/NIFA support, Adams State will develop robust outreach and engagement, scholarship, and experiential learning programs in a capacity building effort to expand its enrollments of students from underserved communities, increase retention and degree completion, and advance equity in career access in six FAN disciplines: agribusiness, general agriculture, food studies, wildlife biology, geology, and geography/conservation. Aligned with USDA and NEXTGEN goals, the project focuses on student-centered and student-led community collaborations to attract, inspire, and support underserved high school and undergraduate students in these career pathways. Innovative experiential learning opportunities and a sustainable network of near-peer and professional mentoring support across educational levels will guide students in their careertrajectories. Outreach activities infused with experiential learning; annual cost-of-attendance scholarships; linguistic supports; and paid, structured internships will remove barriers to completion and prepare students for entry into FAN/USDA employment. Objectives include increasing FAN degree enrollments of underserved students by 29% to 67 and first-time, full-time underservedstudent retention rates to 64%. Within 5 years, Adams State aims to award 48 FAN degrees, including 75% (36) to underserved students, with 60% of graduates entering FAN/USDA employment. Student and staff presentations at conferences in FAN disciplines attended by diverse educators and students will broaden impacts.
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
ASU's NEXTGEN project focuses on increasing the number of students, and students from underserved communities, successfully enrolling, persisting, and completing degrees in preparation for careers in FAN or USDA professions. To accomplish this, ASU will implement: 1) outreach and engagement; 2) student scholarships; and 3) experiential learning. Career development and leadership activities are embedded in the programming and required for NEXTGEN scholarship recipients and interns to promote retention and encourage entry into FAN/USDA careers. Below is a list of ASU's 6 objectives for increasing the enrollment, retention, and credential attainment of underserved students in FAN majors.ASU NEXTGEN Project ObjectivesObj. 1: In fall 2023-25 the enrollment of full-time freshmen and first-year community college transfer students in 6 FAN majors increases by 5 students per year to 36, over fall 2022 baseline of 21 students. Fall targets, 2023: 26; 2024: 31; 2025: 36; 2026: 36; 2027: 36.Obj. 2: In fall 2023-25 full-time freshmen and first-year community college transfer enrollments in agriculture, agribusiness, and food majors increase by 3 per year to 14, over fall 2022 baseline of 5. Fall targets, 2023: 8; 2024: 11; 2025: 14; 2026: 14; 2027: 14.Obj. 3: In 2023-28 full-time enrollment of underserved students increases in 6 FAN majors by 5%/year, over fall 2022 baseline of 52. Targets, 2023: 55; 2024:58; 2025:61; 2026: 64; 2027:67.Obj. 4: In 2024-27, first-time full-time (FTFT) student retention rates increase in 6 FAN majors by 2 percentage points per year, over fall 2018-21 ASU 3-year avg. baseline of 58%. Fall targets, 2024: 60%; 2025: 62%; 2026: 64%; 2027: 64%.Obj. 5: In 2024-27, underserved FTFT student retention rates increase in 6 FAN majors by 2 percentage points per year, over fall 2018-21 ASU 3-year avg. baseline of 58%. Fall targets, 2024: 60%; 2025: 62%; 2026: 64%; 2027: 64%.Obj. 6: (a) In 2025-27 the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in 6 FAN majors increases by 5 per year, over 2021 baseline of 6. Targets: 2025: 11; 2026: 16; 2027: 21. (b) The number of degrees awarded to underserved students in 6 FAN majors increases by at least 3 per year, over 2021 baseline of 6. Targets: 2025: 9; 2026: 12; 2027: 15.1) Outreach and Engagement: To broaden exposure and access to FAN careers, the project staff and PI collaborate with rural secondary and postsecondary partners, youth organizations, and ASU staff and FAN faculty. The project director and NEXTGEN intern will travel with ASU's transfer coordinator to meet with students at their 2- year colleges. Field trips to FAN operations (4 per semester), including USDA and other federal or state agencies, will incorporate tours and demonstrations and help ASU and high school students gain insights into the daily activities of employees, current projects, and the range of careers. In addition, a fall career/internship fair at ASU will encourage students to meet or follow up with FAN industry representatives, participate in resume review or mock interviews, and gain career tips. ASU students will help to organize and lead the activities to foster peer connections, also with high school students. In addition, ASU students will develop and promote a speaker series (2 events/semester) on FAN/USDA careers. ASU will add to its concurrent enrollment offerings an introductory course for college credit for 5students per course in agriculture and in food studies. High school students will participate online with ASU students in the classroom.2) Scholarships: To remove the barrier of the costs of college to full- Adams State University 7 time enrollment and degree completion, ASU will provide up to 4 years of scholarship support to meet each student's financial needs. Scholarships may cover full tuition, fees, books, necessary materials/supplies, room and board, and other participant support costs. Working with the ASU Financial Aid Office and the applicant, project staff identify the areas of unmet financial need to alleviate the student's need to work or take out loans. An application process will ensure the student meets basic eligibility requirements for a ranking based on financial need and scoring that prioritizes underserved students. Students in allied disciplines, such as business or biology, with a demonstrated interest in FAN/USDA careers and intent to participate in program activities may also apply. As the primary student-facing staff member, the experiential learning coordinator will support scholarship recipient retention by ensuring each student receives mentoring, tutoring, career counseling, coaching for internship or employment processes, and other support services to help them maintain their GPA and progress on their career pathway. The coordinator holds an orientation for new students and 2 cohort mentoring sessions each semester. ASU Career Services or FAN/USDA contacts assist with presenting 2 career workshops each semester to prepare students for internship and job application. The coordinator monitors student GPA, progress to credential completion, and program participation with at least 1 check-in meeting (in-person or virtual) per month to identify student needs or gaps in services.3) Experiential Learning: A key retention component and central project activity is developing and implementing an expanded variety of experiential learning opportunities for students interested in employment in FAN or with USDA. These may include half-day field trips, tours, or site demonstrations (4/semester); job shadowing; and semester-long paid internships. This range in duration and required commitment will increase Adams State University 8 the number of employers and students who can participate, thereby exposing many more students to diverse career areas than previously possible. Expanding these opportunities to high school students will encourage and develop students' FAN interests and the pipeline into these disciplines and careers and allow younger students to network with ASU student role models.Paid internships (40 hours/semester) will be the most immersive career experiences offered. A wage of $20/hour (vs. $15 average wage) will attract students with financial need to FAN internships and help to alleviate the burden of needing to work or incur debt while gaining experience relevant to their studies and career interests. The coordinator will work with employers to develop selection rubrics and applications for appropriate student internship matching to align student interests and skills with employer needs. The number of paid internships available through the grant will expand as FAN enrollments grow from 10/semester in Year 1 to 23/semester in Years 4-5. Employers, including the USDA, indicate that, in addition to FAN-specific skills and credentials, they need business/accounting, data/technology, or research skills in areas. ASU has budgeted 2-4 internships per year for "allied disciplines."To ensure a meaningful and rewarding experience for interns and employers, project staff will hold an orientation on requirements and expectations for student interns each semester as well as pre-internship meetings with intern supervisors. These meetings will review standards for learning outcomes, professionalism, and internship completion on both sides per ASU policy, and include learning agreements, progress review, and final feedback/evaluation from student and employer. The coordinator will provide goal-setting support and/or career mentoring as the internship liaison and may also tap the employer for mentoring assistance. Regular communication with intern supervisors will monitor student progress and gain curricular input from the field.
Project Methods
This project will increase engagement of high school students (900), community/2-year college students (375), and current ASU students (1,500), as well as specifically target regional 4-H and FFA membership for engagement and potential recruitment into concurrent and/or ASU FANH programs. The addition of a dedicated project director and recruiter focused on achieving the goals in outreach, engagement, scholarships, and experiential learning outlined in this proposal will promote increased and targeted recruitment for the FAN degrees specifically. Students in underserved communities, students of color, and first-generation students will be prioritized. Scholarships, internships, career related events, and other work-based learning experiences will inspire students in their academic and career trajectories as well as offset or alleviate financial concerns to promote retention and degree completion.A key initiative is community-building and networking among high school students and ASU undergraduates at student-led events such as the field trips each semester, career speaker presentations, and the annual career fairs. These opportunities will be intentionally designed to actively engage the undergraduates in leadership development as they determine the shape of the experiences and the speaker selection relevant to peer interests. High school students will interact with undergraduates already in the FANH degree programs who are scholarship recipients and interns. This exposure as well as the integration of these field and additional shared experiential learning opportunities will help to build an active community of students exploring FANH concurrent and undergraduate studies, careers, and projects.ASU's plan for stakeholder coordination, communication, data-sharing, and reporting will ensure program operations flow well and each partner and project staff member understands participation expectations. Each year the PI and the project director will review outreach and experiential learning partnerships for expansion, review partner roles for effectiveness, and formalize partner commitments via site visits, phone/email, and MOUs with each organization's leadership. The experiential learning coordinator/recruiter will be the primary stakeholder liaison for coordinating daily activities and events, recruiting students, completing experiential learning placements, and facilitating concurrent course enrollments each semester. Project staff, including an ASU intern, will promote program services, events, and scholarships via a designated website, social media, flyers, class/club visits to ASU and high school students, faculty, and staff on an ongoing basis. Data-sharing for all stakeholders and regular progress/outcome reporting will follow the Data Management Plan (attached) and inform the program evaluation each semester. Finally, the director will produce a stakeholder newsletter each semester shared via email and the website. The annual career fair will include a partner meeting to discuss the project progress.To ensure stakeholder input and progress review, ASU's NEXTGEN Advisory Committee (7 members), including Margaret Doell, Associate VPAA, 2 faculty from FAN areas (Dr. Benita Brink, Biology Chair; Dr. Chayan Lahiri, Geosciences professor), a district superintendent (tbd), and 3 industry or USDA partners (1: Dan Dallas, Rio Grande NFS; 2: Sheldon Rockey, Rockey Farms; 3: tbd), meets with the PI, project staff, and evaluator once per semester to review progress to objectives attainment, operational efficiencies, evaluation data, and consider recommendations for improvement. The Advisory Committee will also support scholarship and internship selection and rank eligible applications prior to each semester.Evaluation Methods:Dr. Michael Martin, Associate Professor of Agricultural Education at Iowa State University, will Adams State University will conduct the project evaluation in collaboration with the PI and project staff. He will ensure the data collection instruments and analysis meet standards and best practices, are appropriate to the project's goals and objectives, and that evaluation processes support continuous program improvements to promote participant satisfaction and positive results. ASU's logic modelillustrates the anticipated increases in student outcomes, including graduates' employment in FAN, as a result of project activities. Guided by the logic model, Dr. Martin will provide formative and summative analysis and assessment of quantitative and qualitative progress data, products, and detailed annual and final reports to meet USDA/NIFA federal requirements. He will review project data each semester with the PI, project director, and advisory committee to ensure fidelity to the implementation plan and progress towards achievement of project objectives. All recommendations to improve efficiencies and programs based on data analysis will be activated in the subsequent semester and academic year. He will also prepare annual progress reports and a final report on evaluated metrics, products, outcomes, and impact data, including a student count by Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code. A final summative evaluation will gauge the impact of the project's accomplishments evidenced in each specific outcome and overall in capacity building efforts to expand ASU's FAN programs and support students' degree completion and entry into FAN/USDA careers. At conference presentations and NEXTGEN/NIFA director meetings, the PI, PD, or other staff may disseminate project findings. Key evaluation questionsare:- Is the program on track to meet its stated goals and objectives?- Have the problems or barriers to success been successfully identified?- Are the solutions advancing program progress and moving students toward graduation?-Do the project's primary component techniques increase the number of students (and underserved students) recruited and retained compared to previous efforts?-Do experiential learning activities affect students' interest, engagement, or learning in FAN?-Have stakeholders continued to support the project and growth of FAN related programming?In addition to institutional data such as student enrollment, retention, completion, and demographic data, quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from scholarship recipients, interns, and intern supervisors (for both high school and undergraduate participants) at least once per semester to gauge impacts and determine what improvements may be made to promote student progress, success, and satisfaction. Pre/post activity surveys will gather data on student knowledge gains, perception changes, effectiveness of programming, feedback for improvement, relevant to FANH education, experiential learning, and careers, as well as satisfaction with their overall experience. In addition, industry field trip hosts, intern supervisors, and other stakeholders will participate in surveys and/or focus groups each semester or year, appropriate for their roles and project engagement. Employment statistics for program graduates will also be collected to monitor entry into FANH fields.