Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Building a Boulevard project supported by the NEXTGEN program will provide meaningful mentoring and financial assistance to help build a diverse and highly skilled food, agriculture, natural resource and human science workforce. Over the five-year duration of the grant, 418 students (200 master's, 180 undergraduate, and 38 community college) willwork on career-advancing projects with faculty mentors, gainin-depth discipline-specific knowledge, exercisecritical thinking skills, learn about thediversity of FANH careers and the pathways to attain these careers. The Building a Boulevard project will organize and host a series of workshops where fellows will a) participate in interactive workshops to develop and practice leadership skills; b) learn and practice the tenants of effective science communication; and c) learn about USDA Pathways program and USDA careers from USDA employees. Fellows will be financially supported to present and attend at professional and URM conferences. As a result of participating in the Building a Boulevard project, student participants will have increased discipline-specific knowledge, improved leadership skills, increased awareness of USDA careers, improved research skills (which include critical thinking and problem-solving skills), and have increased confidence in their abilities - all skills needed for a thriving FANH workforce.
Animal Health Component
5%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The Building a Boulevard progran willhelp build a diverse and highly skilled FANH workforce by recruiting, training, and mentoring students from across the California State University system. Over the five-year project, we willrecruit, train and mentor 418 students (200 master's, 180 undergraduate, and 38 community college). Our goal with ARI-NEXTGEN Fellowships is to provide meaningful financial assistance and mentoring that will allow students to focus on their studies, immerse themselves in a discipline-specific, career-advancing project, work on-campus with faculty mentors, gain knowledge about careers, and learn skills that will help advance their FANH careers. Over the five-year grant, underrepresented students will apply for 400 fellowships that will support undergraduate and graduate students to engage in research and professional FANH projects. We will organize and host a series of workshops where fellows: a) participate in interactive workshops to develop and practice leadership skills; b) learn and practice the tenants of effective science communication; and c) learn about USDA Pathways program and USDA careers from USDA employees. Fellows will be financially supported to present and attend at professional and URM conferences. Scholarships will be provided to 40 community college students to enroll in a FANH program and obtain a bachelor's degree and 10 students from our program that matriculate and complete their first year in a FANH-related PhD program will receive scholarships. Student participants will have increased discipline-specific knowledge, improved leadership skills, increased awareness of USDA careers, improved research skills (which include critical thinking and problem-solving skills), and have increased confidence in their abilities - all skills needed for a thriving FANH workforce.
Project Methods
Applying to the Program: Twice annually, (February, October) a request for applications will be advertised across the CSU system through the ARI network, the offices of Research and Sponsored Projects at each CSU campus, and offices of UG Research across the CSU system. Fellowship applications will be reviewed by a committee and awarded on a competitive basis. We find it very effective to recruit promising students from classes we teach, through department and faculty social media pages and announcements to student clubs. ARI will utilize a web-based fellowship application. Participants will agree to these program requirements: 1) participate in an IRB-approved evaluation of the program; 2) prepare a short proposal identifying and justifying the problem they wish to work on; 3) describe their proposed contribution to the project; 4) state career goals; 5) submit transcripts; 6) a signed commitment from a faculty sponsor to mentor and commit the resources needed for successful completion of the project; 7) participate in a problem solving/critical thinking discipline-specific activity culminating in a written report; 8) attend and participate in four Communicating Science and Leadership workshops; and 9) present project results at a professional meeting and/or attend a URM national conference. PI's Still and Robinson will curate a list of programs for Ag Communication and Public Policy Fellows to apply to, assist students with their applications, and serve as their CSU faculty mentors. In the event we cannot find an external internship for the Ag Communication or Public Policy Fellow, we will convert those funds to support a different fellow position.An ARI review committee comprised of CSU faculty and ARI administrators will review applications. We will favor applicants whose faculty mentors are currently funded by the ARI or whose research has been funded by an external agency or industry. This ensures faculty will have project-related resources and their project is relevant to industry or a funding agency. We will encourage projects and collaborations that are inter-collegiate and multi-disciplinary. Students will be selected based on criteria evaluation metrics, which includes the ability to adequately and persuasively address in their application: 1) problem identification and justification; 2) their contribution to the project; 3) commitment to pursue a FANH-related career or attend graduate school; 4) resources available to the student; and 5) a phone or in-person interview. Outreach, recruitment and application information will emphasize that URM students are especially encouraged to apply. Students wishing to work with faculty who are not receiving ARI or external funding at time of application are eligible for support. If a student wishes to work on a project or area of research but cannot find a faculty sponsor and otherwise has demonstrated project knowledge and ability, we will find a faculty sponsor.Faculty that agree to sponsor a student will sign a pledge to mentor the student and will assign discipline-related work that is meaningful and critical to the success of their project or professional learning experience. We will provide a mentoring guide that explicitly states mentor expectations and provide workshops that will help participants learn of different careers and pathways to obtain the career they seek. Faculty mentors will provide the student an overview of the research project, the hypotheses being tested, methodology, work/research ethics, and close oversight of the student's project throughout the year. ORecent graduates will serve as Graduate Advisors: Underrepresented students from this Building a Boulevard program will serve as graduate advisors as part of the layered mentoring approach. Recent MS and PhD graduates that have participated in previous HSI grants, as well as other successful and inspirational recent graduates from other programs, will be invited to provide mentoring and share experiences during the in-person Communicating Science and Leadership Conference and other virtual workshops. Student participants will be encouraged to follow up with mentors after the workshops.ARI-NEXTGEN Fellows will Attend Professional and URM Conferences: Each year, student fellows will be encouraged to attend a professional conference and/or a URM conference (e.g., MANRRS, HACU, BUGS, IAC, etc.). Most often, students working on research projects are expected to attend a professional conference, and we will encourage and support that. ARI-NEXTGEN Fellows will be encouraged and supported to attend and present their project data at a profession conference; students with their own data will be given preference. In addition to attending a professional conference, our ARI-NEXTGEN Fellows will be encouraged, to attend a URM conference. URM conferences provide opportunities to learn about issues facing their communities, and these events include networking and career recruiting, often with federal agencies.?ARI-NEXTGEN Fellows will Attend the Communicating Science and Leadership Conference: Each cohort of ARI-NEXTGEN Fellows will attend three virtual and one in-person events designed to improve their science communication and leadership skills. The first workshop will be virtual and the subject matter will be communicating science through oral presentations. Students will learn the basics of how to communicate their science to an educated lay person through five-minute oral presentations or two-minute lightning talks. The workshop is designed and hosted by PI Still. The second workshop, "Communicating Science and Leadership Conference", will be attended in-person and will be held in Sacramento. The conference is organized and hosted by our Building a Boulevard program. Our conference will also include a session in which USDA careers and the USDA Pathways programs are presented by USDA representatives. Students will present an oral presentation or a lightning talk of their research. Our program will also help support students to present their work at professional conferences. The third workshop will be virtual and is titled "My Career (How I Got Here)". This workshop is presented by a successful first-generation URM who tells their story of how they successfully navigated the academic and professional world, largely on their own, and the lessons they have learned along the way. These successful young men and women are articulate and inspiring and have been a huge hit in the feedback we have received from students in our HSI grant. If schedules allow, we will add an additional "How I Got Here" session to the in-person conference in Sacramento. The fourth workshop, also virtual, will include a short primer on their final project write-up, and a final oral and lightning talk session, thus providing a second opportunity for students to practice communicating their work.