Recipient Organization
BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA
2802 MOORE HWY
TIFTON,GA 317935679
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) is in Tifton, Georgia and has a student body of over 3,700 individuals. Most of the students are considered underserved because they come from rural and impoverished areas of the state, are first generation students, or minority individuals. Rural migration of younger populations has caused an economic imbalance throughout communities in the South, and they can lack needed services in these areas due to their declining numbers and reduction of skilled employees. Specifically, rural veterinary medicine is facing a national shortage of practitioners specializing in food animal medicine. Without an adequate supply of veterinarians caring for these animals, the supply chain could be negatively impacted. ABAC has a significant rural student population pursing degrees in biology and animal science and has had previous success of promoting veterinary medicine through their acceptance into veterinary college. We would like to further these efforts by continuing our existing partnership with University of Georgia-Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory and building new and lasting relationships with local veterinarian clinics, the State Veterinarian's Office, the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association, and White Oak Pastures. We want to provide optimal opportunities for ABAC students to gain unique experiences that will help them be more employable by producing graduates that can return to rural communities and bring their skill sets to better serve those areas. Educational attainment by ABAC graduates returning to rural communities that participate in opportunities presented to them through the relationships formed with this proposal can help improve rural areas.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Project Goal 1: Establish a veterinary science pipeline learning program for rural Georgia.Objective 1: Form new working relationships with appropriate veterinary medicine practitioners during year one.Output 1: Have at least two meetings (either in person or through an online meeting format) with UGA-TVDIL, various local veterinarian clinics, the State Veterinary's Office, and the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association.Objective 2: Develop Memoranda of Understanding with appropriate veterinary medicine practitioners during year two.Output 1: Draft MOUs with UGA-TVDIL, various local veterinarian clinics, the State Veterinary's Office, and the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association by December 2025.Project Goal 2: Establish a plan for an internship program between ABAC and White Oak Pastures.Objective 1: Form a new working relationship with White Oak Pastures during year one.Output 1: Have at least two meetings (either in person or online) with White Oak Pastures.Objective 2: Develop a Memorandum of Understanding with White Oak Pastures during year two.Output 1: Draft a MOU with White Oak Pastures by December 2025.Project Goal 3: Disseminate new cooperative partnerships to all participating organizations.Objective 1: Plan a conference at ABAC to share and communicate ideas between all participating agencies near the end of the project.Objective 2: Hold a Veterinary Science Pipeline Conference at ABAC in April 2026 that includes faculty from the UGA-TVDIL, veterinarians and staff from local veterinarian clinics, staff from the State Veterinary's Office and the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association, and staff from White Oak Pastures.Project Goal 4: Establish a plan and collect data to support a large-scale comprehensive proposal to the NGLCA or other suitable USDA venue.Objective 1: Determine veterinary science pipeline needs and capacities for cooperating partners.Objective 2: Collect necessary demographic, student, national, and regional data.
Project Methods
EffortsAbraham Baldwin Agricultural College: Meetings among individuals and various departments is needed at ABAC including the Department Dean, Department Head, other faculty members, and students.ABAC and UGA-TVDIL: Collaborative efforts between ABAC and UGA-TVDIL have been taking place for several years through the USDA NLGCA grant discussed above, and also through a Higher Education Challenge grant awarded to the vet lab. Meetings between these institutions will continue to address procedures, goals, and objectives for the future. Program growth increased throughout, engagement with other support educational institutions, and potential for nationwide rollout with be specific foci.ABAC and local veterinarians and clinics: For many rural students such as those attending ABAC, finding access to work for a veterinarian in their hometowns can be very difficult due to lack of availability, which means these students have not had the required supervised vet hours needed to apply to vet school. Most programs require 250 veterinarian shadowing hours (UGA website, 2023), however, applicants on average have around 1,100 hours of animal experience when they apply (AAVMC, 2023). Providing this opportunity to ABAC students, particularly minority students, could make a huge difference in their chances of being accepted to vet school, as well as give them the experience and knowledge to learn more about small and large animal medicine. If we can provide ABAC students with the ability to gain supervised veterinary work hours before applying to vet school, then one of the criteria for admissions would be accomplished. Previous conversations have taken place between ABAC and local veterinarians and clinics including Healing Paws Animal Hospital located in Tifton, Georgia, Double R Veterinary Mobile Services in Ocilla, Georgia, Countryside Veterinary Clinic in Slyvester, Georgia, and Blackshear Veterinary Hospital in Cordele, Georgia. Future meetings are needed to establish relationships between the agencies to determine the needs that local clinics have for ABAC student involvement at those locations. The number of students each clinic can accommodate, days and times students can work each week, duration of student work (daily, weekly, by semester, or year), and student pay versus shadowing are all items that need to be addressed and examined in discussions with each veterinarian clinic. Logistical constraints will also be discussed.ABAC and the State Veterinarian's Office and the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association: The mission statement for the GVMA is that it "is committed to advancing the veterinary medical profession and supporting the veterinarian's role in improving animal and public health" (GVMA website, 2023). A major effort that the GVMA supports is encouraging veterinarians to work in rural settings in Georgia. One way that the GVMA helps graduating veterinarians locate to rural areas is through student loan repayments or forgiveness. Additionally, the GVMA offers a Certified Veterinary Assistant (CVA) Certification that would be ideal for ABAC students to completed who are interested in becoming veterinarians. Educating ABAC students on these opportunities can help them become more well-rounded candidates when applying to vet school. If they are accepted into a program, then successfully graduate, new veterinarians can then be encouraged to work in rural locations throughout Georgia with the knowledge that a portion of their student loans can be repaid in part through the GVMA actions and involvement.Previous meetings between ABAC and the GVMA addressed ideas to promote the veterinary field for rural students and what might be done in the future to further this effort. A specific path to explore with the GVMA is the Certified Veterinary Assistant program for ABAC students that "encourages continuing education for veterinary medical personnel, enabling them to become more informed, skilled, and trusted members of the veterinary medical team" (GVMA website, 2023). These efforts will continue in a more structured way, formalizing roles and working partnerships going forward. ABAC and White Oak Pastures: White Oak Pastures is a unique farm in southern Georgia that has transitioned away from modern industrial agriculture techniques to operating their farm as a living ecosystem with lands holistically managed to be teeming with life. They are a zero-waste farm, selling meats, poultry, animal hides for various leather goods, and a variety of other food and beauty items through their website and on-site store and restaurant. They have an established, healthy internship program that accommodates approximately 60 students per year as funded through their own auspices. ABAC hopes to work with them to feed potential vet students to their program and to help expand their base with other educational institutions. ABAC students completing internships at White Oak Pastures would be able to learn about various subject areas including farming, business practices, hand made goods, and retail services. Logistical details such as housing, duration, and number of students would need to be determined through future meetings and conversations.Meetings between ABAC and White Oak Pastures have previously occurred to discuss internship opportunities and interest between the organizations. Additional meetings will continue to address specificities associated with ABAC students completing internship programs at White Oak Pastures. Ultimately, ABAC would like to White Oak Pastures to be the first among many such internship opportunities for students at working ranches and food producers.Formation of MOUs with stakeholders;Once the work to be performed with each organization is determined, Memoranda Of Understandings (MOUs) will be drafted with each group to formalize these new relationships. These MOUs will detail what that scope of work is for each facility and what the desired contributions will be including milestones, deliverables, end products, and any necessary reports. A timeline for deliverables will also be generated within each. The information contained within the individual MOUs will be determined from previous meetings that took place between the ABAC PI and various organizations. Once all MOUs have been completed, a conference will be organized at ABAC that will get all stakeholders together to discuss the pipeline efforts and plans for this project.EvaluationHow activities will be evaluated;The primary goal of this project to continue existing relationships and develop new partnerships with various organizations to form a veterinary science pipeline in rural Georgia will need to be evaluated. The success of this project will be determined by examining communication through meetings leading to MOUs with the various facilities. Attendance and participation in a conference that would occur near the end of this planning project between involved parties would also help determine the success of this proposal. Information and lasting partnerships developed through this planning process could be used to design and form a larger, more comprehensive grant later based on the scope of work determined in the MOUs formulated in this proposal. Plans to communicate results to USDA and the public;Project staff will attend the annual NLGCA Project Director's meeting. This will inform USDA NIFA leadership about our project successes and areas of concern. ABAC will promote and inform the community of its efforts and actions through social media and news articles.