PARTNERING AWARD-WINNING TEACHERS AND TEACHERS WITH PROMISE: ENHANCING THE DISCIPLINARY DIVERSITY OF USDA TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: ACTIVE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1031538
• Grant No.: 2023-77040-41311
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $250,000.00
• Proposal No.: 2023-06461
• Project Start Date: Sep 15, 2023
• Project End Date: Sep 14, 2027
• Grant Year: 2024
• Program Code: [TEACH]- Teaching Awards

Recipient Organization
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
(N/A)
BLACKSBURG,VA 24061

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
The USDA Teaching Excellence Awards Program has successfully recognized outstanding educators in the food and agricultural sciences for over 30 years. Every year teaching awards are granted in three categories: Regional and National Awards, Early Career Awards, and Teaching and Student Engagement Awards. In the past decade, a distinct disciplinary bias has developed within two award categories. Teachers from Agricultural Education have received 56% of the Early Career Awards and 50% of the Teaching and Student Engagement Awards. This disciplinary bias does not appear within the Regional and National Awards, where only 13% of winners are from Agricultural Education. Faculty members and instructors in the food and agricultural sciences state that Agricultural Education teachers have an easier time preparing teaching award nomination packages because their research programs align with the scholarship of teaching and learning and they have received formal coursework in education and therefore are better prepared to write teaching philosophy statements and evaluate their teaching effectiveness. This disciplinary bias against educators from non-Agricultural Education disciplines in these two award categories presents an opportunity to remove some of these barriers through the development of a mentorship program. Previous Teaching Award winners will be paired with teachers with promise from non-Agricultural Education disciplines to provide guidance during the preparation of a USDA Teaching Excellence Award Nomination.

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
903	0001	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
0001 - Administration;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

early career teachers

mentorship program

teaching awards

Goals / Objectives
There are two goals of the project:1) To assist USDA NIFA and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities with the administration of the USDA Teaching Excellence Awards Program2) Increase the disciplinary diversity of winners of the USDA Teaching Excellence Awards Program

Project Methods
The request for nominations for the USDA Teaching Excellence Awards program will be released by USDA NIFA in late winter and nominations will be collected by USDA NIFA and shared with APLU. The mentorship program will be in place for the release of the request for nominations and each mentor and mentee will host five virtual meetings to prepared the mentee's application package for submission to the USDA Teaching Excellence Awards Program. In late spring/early summer, APLU will partner with Virginia Tech and the University of Georgia to host a review panel to evaluate the nomination packages and select the winners. In late fall/early winner, the USDA Teaching Excellence Award winners will be honored at the APLU winter meeting. The Project Direct and co-Project Director will conduct interviews with the mentors and mentees to evaluate the success of the the mentorship program and report findings.

Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience for this period were agriculture and natural resources teachers in higher education who had the potential to win USDA Teaching Excellence Awards. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Two review panels of the USDA Teaching Excellence Award nominations have been organized for Summer 2024. Members include: Dorcia Chaison Asst. Dean for Academic Advising and Student Success Michigan State University [e-mail] Matt Interis Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Clemson University [e-mail] Christine Wade Associate Dean and Director of Academic and Student Affairs University of Wyoming [e-mail] Barrett Vaughn Interim Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Success Tuskegee University [e-mail] Jim Connors Associate Dean and Director of Academic Programs South Dakota State University [e-mail] How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We targeted theselection of mentees for the mentorship program by identifying teachers with potential from 1) geographic regions that have traditionally received fewer nominations, 2) faculty from non-agricultural education disciplines, 3) faculty from HBCUs, and 4) faculty from colleges and universities that have not previously won a USDA Teaching Excellence Award. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. The review panels will be held in June and July to evaluate the 2024 USDA Teaching Excellence Nominations. 2. We are interviewing mentors and mentees of the first mentoring program to evaluate their experience of participating in the mentorship program. 3. We will select mentees and mentors for the second cycle of the mentoring program. 4. We are collecting data to assess the alignment between the content of teaching award nomination packages and metrics for evaluating excellence in the classroom.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Goal 1: The following USDA Teaching Excellence Awards were made at the 2023APLU Annual Meeting National Award Winners: Michael Gonda (South Dakota State University) and De'Etra Young (Tennessee State University). Regional Award Winners: A. Ozzie Abaye (Virginia Tech), Laura Bowling (Purdue University), Kristen Govoni (University of Connecticut), Russ Hovey (University of California, Davis), Kathleen Boyce Rodgers (Washington State University), and Stephanie Yarwood (University of Maryland, College Park). Early Career Award Winners: Logan Britton (Kansas State University) and Brandy Phipps (Central State University). Teaching and Student Engagement Award Winners: Dan Stern (Oklahoma State University) and Jennifer Weeks (University of Florida). Goal 2: A mentorship program was developed to assist teachers with potential to apply for the USDA Teaching Excellece Awards. The members of the 2024 mentorship program were: Mentee: Dr. Kirsten Stephan. School of Natural Resources, West Virginia University. 1862 Land Grant University. North East Region. Selected because this is university and region are underrepresented among USDA Teaching Excellence Award winners and applications. Mentor: Dr. Pete Bettinger - University of Georgia. Mentee: Dr. Brent Pease. School of Forestry and Horticulture, Southern Illinois University. Non-land grant university. North Central Region. Selected because his university has never had a USDA Teaching Excellence Award winner and his discipline is underrepresented in the Early Career Award category. Mentor: Dr. Dean Winward - Southern Utah University. Mentee: Dr. Hongmei Li-Byarlay. Department of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Central State University. 1890 Land Grant University. North Central Region. Selected because her university is an 1890 Land Grant University. Mentor: Dr. Shyam Nair - Sam Houston State University. Mentee: Dr. Elisa Monaco. Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences, Oregon State University. 1862 Land-Grant University. Western Region. Selected because her discipline is underrepresented in the Teaching and Student Engagement Award category. Mentor: Dr. Ranjith Ramanathan - Oklahoma State University.

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