FLYING THE COOP: EMPOWERING UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS TO BROADEN POULTRY PROCESSING CAREER HORIZONS IN THE COOP CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Goal 1 - UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL ACCESS: Elevate Fresno State's Center for the Optimization Of Poultry (COOP) infrastructure to become a Center of Excellence (COE) for poultry processing offering a centralized, bilingual academic hub focusing on regional and nationwide improvement in welfare education and job training with an emphasis on impacting HSI students and supporting career advancement.Objective 1: The COOP COE will: (1) align processing education and training resources with industry needs; (2) formulize the Poultry processing Career Certificate to be recognized as an industry standard for student education in processing education; and (3) Promote nationwide access to resources developed in Obj. 2. The center's senior personnel include faculty and staff whose function it is to raise the standard for which poultry education is taught to the current/future workforce, and implement industry applicable outreach and research programs to address critical areas of poultry employment.Goal 2 - UNIVERSITY/WORKFORCE SKILL ENHANCEMENT: Develop and implement bilingual (English, Spanish) curriculum and technical workshops covering poultry processing management, welfare and handling, and worker safety to become the recognized standard for postsecondary/workforce poultry processing education.Objective 2: Project staff will: (1) develop and pilot an online bilingual English and Spanish processing curricular module available to HSI students; (2) embed curricula module into existing Fresno State Animal Science coursework for 72 HSI students per year leading to a minimum of 48 students graduating over the grant lifetime; (3) promote the online module as case studies to universities nationwide as a result of the anticipated industry-adoption of the curriculum as the recognized standard for processing education; and (4) create and offer in-person HSI student workshop module to foster adoption of processing plant technical, safety, and managerial skills. Students participating in the hands-on workshop will interact with industry leaders through cooperation with the Cal Poly-SLO pilot processing plant where students will explore poultry welfare evaluation, soft skills, and leadership skills in the processing industry.Curriculum Modalities - Curricula will be offered online to maximize student access - specifically those students at agricultural HSIs which lack course variety in animal production and welfare or lack institutional funding for on-campus poultry training facilities.To increase curricula accessibility, the curriculum will be created through Universal Design for Learning guidelines (CAST, 2008). The purpose of conducting a hands-on workshop to build on knowledge gained in the online module is to expose HSI students to a simulated commercial processing industry in a pilot processing plant to promote experiential learning and provide equity to HSI learners who lack such resources at their home campus.Certificate - Upon curricula mastery, students will be qualified to a) secure internships at private companies participating in the career fairs highlighted in Obj 3 and 4; and b) earn a Poultry Processing Career Certificate demonstrating readiness for entry- and mid-level poultry careers.Goal 3 - UNIVERSITY/CAREER TRANSITION: Establish student internship and job opportunity pathways through execution of job interview mentorship and career development study tours for 500 California community college/ university HSI students via attendance at regional and international conferences.Objective 3: Study tours will include: (1) interview and resume preparation offered through Fresno CC Career and Employment Center including technical and soft skills gained via completion of Obj. 2 education; (2) touring processing plants outside of California (e.g. - Southeastern US); (3) participation in IPPE and SJVMA; (4) participation in interviews for full time internship and job employment at the College Student Career Program at IPPE, and (5) build instructor capacity to lead the study tours and provide mentorship to students as they engage in industry networking opportunities.Goal 4 - POULTRY PROCESSING CAREER REALIZATION: Align strategic opportunities for regional internship and job accessibility by launching the West Coast Poultry Processing Career Fair for 600+ California HSI students pursuing poultry processing careers and West Coast companies seeking qualified employees.Objective 4: To ensure qualified California HSI students receive equitable consideration for prominent internship/ job opportunities, the COE will: (1) leverage industry partnerships to assemble companies for a West Coast Career Fair equivalent to the program at the IPPE College Student Program that caters to West Coast students; (2) facilitate networking opportunities for high school, community college, and university students, faculty, and advisors; (3) provide career counseling and advising for associate and bachelor degree seekers; (4) highlight poultry processing career opportunities on the West Coast; and (5) provide a venue for internship/career interviews.Goal 5 - HIGH SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY CAREER VISION: Demonstrate the impact of poultry processing career opportunities to 20 CA high school ag teachers as a catalyst for empowering student mentorship for high school-to-college-to-poultry processing career linkages for 100 high school students at their home institution.Objective 5: Hands-on professional development for high school ag teachers will include: (1) industry led discussions addressing California HSI students' potential for processing careers regionally and nationwide; (2) introduction to the curriculum and internship/job pathways laid out in Objs 1 and 2; (3) experiential learning via visiting a pilot poultry processing plant; and (4) assistance in creating motivational educational support for students to pursue these opportunities.