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The main goal of this project is to recruit and academically retain students in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, a region where socio-economic challenges often keep students from advancing academically, so that they may obtain bachelors degrees, transition to graduate education or enter the USDA workforce. The LRGV region has an average poverty rate of 37.33 percent as compared to Texas at 17.2 percent and 16.3 percent nationally. A three way collaboration between the University of Texas Pan American, the Texas A&M University Citrus Center and the USDA Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service will address the socio-economic challenges that underrepresented students face by recruiting them into an experiential learning program that fosters their professional growth. <P>The project directors intend to do this by providing 12 undergraduate students and 6 master's candidates with research internships as well as funding for the first year of one Ph.D. student to ease their transition to doctoral studies. During this Food Safety and Security focused internship, project director Dr. Persans, mentors Dr. Erin Schuenzel, Dr Robert Dearth, Dr. Jason Parsons (University of Texas Pan American), Co-PI, Dr. Louzada (Texas A&M University Citrus Center) and USDA APHIS scientist Dr. Norman Barr will train the students in research techniques required for success in graduate school or the USDA workforce. This program has a proven track record of producing new cohorts of young Hispanic scientists. For the last nine years, 67 student research internships were granted and 33 of these students went on to graduate school, a continuation rate of 49.25 percent. We have had a graduation rate of 100% of participants attaining a bachelors degree and a 100% graduate rate at UTPA and an 87% graduation rate at the Texas A&M University Citrus Center for participants attaining a masters degree Additionally 11 of these students (16.4%) are currently enrolled in Ph.D. programs at large prestigious institutions such as Texas A&M University, College Station, Washington University and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. <P>The expected outputs of this project include: students academically attaining bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees, a highly trained group of underrepresented students that can enter into STEM careers with the USDA workforce, and to relieve some of the socio-economic burdens that underrepresented students face in their attainment of academic degrees or required experience to secure employment.
Non-Technical Summary:<br/>
Underrepresented students experience many socio-economic factors that affect their educational attainment. In order to alleviate some of these burdens on students, this project seeks to train underrepresented students, especially Hispanic Americans, at state-of-art research facilities in food safety and security research. In this project, 6 research mentors will train 12 undergraduate students and 6 graduate students in laboratory skills they need for entering advanced graduate degree programs or obtaining the necessary experience to join the USDA food safety and security workforce. This current grant will build upon the project's previous success in training and mentoring 67 students who have attained academic success. Students will be given financial aid to pursue academic studies, career counseling, and experiential learning opportunities to build skills. The ultimate impact of this work is to increase the number of highly qualified Hispanic researchers in STEM and agriculturally related job fields. This fits the USDA need areas of experiential learning and recruitment and retention of underserved students.
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Approach:<br/>
The project will run through a four-step process: recruitment, applicant selection, intense training and student development. To recruit students, the program will be widely promoted on University of Texas Pan American campus through its biology department, student websites and billboards. Faculty and successful program participants will visit undergraduate classes and tours of the research facilities will be provided to these students. Students may apply on line or with hard copy applications. They will need to give a personal statement on why they feel the program would benefit them. They will also need to provide two letters of recommendation and an academic transcript. The project directors will select students who will be interviewed. The project directors will train students in lab safety, lab techniques, and equipment use. They will then assign students to research projects where they will be mentored by project directors and other graduate students in the program. An innovative aspect to this program, which differs from other programs, is that the students will rotate through the various mentors' labs as the progress of the research projects move forward. Students will transition to mentors of different expertise as the research projects need during their evolution. Finally, students will participate in several cohort activities designed to bond them together with a common program experience. Among these include a GRE preparation course, attendance at national meetings, participation in taking a science ethics course at UTPA and attending seminars by outside visiting speakers at UTPA and TAMUK-CC. We will use several parameters to assess at each program level the effectiveness of that level. The evaluation plan to be used for this program is based on Theory Based Evaluation (TBE) and the Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in the U.S. Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resources System 2005-2010 Report. The metrics that will be used to evaluate the program (derived in part from the references above) will include: student personal info such as Name, Major, Class Year, Gender, Underrepresented status, GPA etc., experiential learning project outcomes, student academic experience, Student progress in the program, graduation rate, and other metrics deemed significant during the course of the project. These data will be collected via questionnaires and surveys to the students. These will be administered at the beginning of the project, with periodic follow-ups during and at the end of the student learning experience. The evaluator will make periodic reports to the Principal Investigator and provide information and data that will allow the Principal Investigator to continuously assess the project on the whole as well as on individual components. A yearly evaluation report will be made along with a final program report at the conclusion of the grant period. The outputs of the program that will be monitored are student graduation rate, GPA improvement, GRE improvement and number of students transitioning to employment and/or advanced degree programs.