Partnership for Transfer Success in Usda Career Majors II

<p>NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY:<br/> PTSP II will develop an educated workforce in FANNRS fields, addressing priority need area two, and Educational Need Areas (a), (e), (f). Collaborators include US Forest Service, Food Safety Inspection Service, Women Infants and Children; and Cal Poly Pomona College of Agriculture. A USDA career curriculum will be developed for high school students, and a College Career Counseling Class will be tailored to FANRRS majors. Total number of students served 2000 to 3000.<p>
APPROACH: <br/>This project will span three years. The first year will focus on outreach to high school and SAC students; the second and third years will be directed towards retention and transfer services for current SAC students, and, to a lesser degree, to university students in FANRRS programs. An advisory board will be created including SAC and CSU Pomona faculty in FANRRS disciplines to assist with the overall direction of the program. During summer and fall 2010 PTSPII staff will collaborate with Santa Ana Unified School district to develop career exploration lessons featuring FANRRS majors and USDA-related careers. These lessons will be incorporated into the existing curriculum. It is expected that 2,000-2,500 students will receive this specialized instruction by the end of the three year grant period. Santa Ana College students will benefit from career panels
and or field trips designed to raise awareness of FANRRS majors and USDA related careers. These activities will take place every semester. In year two, forty SAC students will be selected for the PTSP II cohort and participate in a learning community, receive specialized counseling, and additional career exploration activities. In year three of the grant, our previous Santa Ana College PTSPI students pursuing university FANRRS majors will be recruited to mentor PTSP II cohort students in their final year prior to transfer. PTSP II students will continue transfer counseling and career awareness activities, including travel to the MANRRS national conference as well as participate in a 100 hour internship opportunity. The USDA scholarship will also be awarded in this final year. The PTSP advisory board will help select the recipient based on need, merit and potential for USDA careers. The
learning communities and transfer mentoring approaches have been implemented through other programs at SAC with great success. Adapting these proven approaches with an emphasis on FANRRS, in conjunction with the specialized transfer planning and counseling and financial support will contribute towards the retention of students in these fields and facilitate their transfer to the University, the main objectives of this grant.
</p><p>PROGRESS: <br/>2012/08 TO 2013/07 <br/>Target Audience: In year three, the Santa Ana College Partnership for Transfer Success in USDA career majors program II (PTSPII) has provided transfer counseling, staff support, mentoring, internship opportunites, field trips and financial assistance to a targeted audience composed of thirty-two underrepresented minority Santa Ana College students pursuing USDA related majors such as Biology, Business, Nutrition, Geography, and Engineering. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? This year the Program Director participated in proffessional development at the NACTA conference in Blacksburg Virginia, and Program Staff accompanied four students to the MANRRS conference in Sacramento California, How have the results been disseminated to communities of
interest? The results of this year's acclomplishments have been included in the State's Program Academic Progress Report (PA/PR) for Santa Ana College, and the scholarship award was presented during to the Transfer Celebration for Santa Ana College to an audience of 400+ parents, students, faculty and administration attending the event. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? The Program Director will continue to provide individual conseling support to the seventeen PTSPII participants who will be transferring fall 2014, and will be disseminating scholarship funds to Giovanni Salgado, USDA/PTSPII scholarship recipient, during the following two years. In addition, the sevbenteen remaining PTSP/USDAII students will be attending university field trips, conducting internships, participating in the Transfer Mentor Program, and successfully
transitioning to various universities in USDA related fields.<br/>
PROGRESS: <br/>2011/08/01 TO 2012/07/31 <br/>OUTPUTS: In year two, the Santa Ana College Partnership for Transfer Success in USDA career majors program II (PTSP II) has accomplished the following outputs: thirty students enrolled and participated in a learning community pairing a College Composition Course(English 101)with a Counseling 116 course featuring curriculum that has been adapted to focus on USDA career field exploration, where students participated in self development excercises, educational planning, career exploration, support services and experiential learning opportunities. This project targets a total of forty students pursuing FANNERS majors who will receive individual guidance from project counselor and staff support every semester until they transfer to the university. The PTSP II Project's Director and a PTSP student program participant attended the USDA
HIS meeting in Edinburg Texas in May 2012, and conducted a poster presentation highlighting the project's success. In addition,program students participated in several conferences, student career pannels, university field trips, and resume workshops. PARTICIPANTS: Martha Vargas: As Co-Principal Investigator, one of her roles was to co-present a project poster at the USDA HSI meeting in Edinburg, Texas in May 2012 (no grant funds went directly towards Ms. Vargas' salary for this event). Geraldine Rodriguez, was the PTSP USDA II student who co-presented at the meeting. Cecilia Arriaza: Co-Principal investigator, along with Martha Vargas, collected the data and created the poster that was presented at the annual Project Directors Meeting (no grant funds went directly towards Ms. Arriaza's salary for this event). Martha Vargas revised the curriculum for the standard counseling course focused
on USDA related career and activities, and taught the course during the fall 2011 semester. Maribel Pineda and Eva Palomares: As the two Transfer Center Specialists, they were responsible for the recruitment of the initial thirty students for the class, student recruitment and attendance to MANRRs and CDA conferences, coordination of two field trips (one to Cal Poly Pomona and another to the Irvine Ranch Conservancy), and provided assistance to thirty project participants with resume preparation. This resulted in services provided to a total of 110 students. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience during the second year of the project was Latino first-year community college students attending Santa Ana College. Program efforts included individual and group counseling regarding educational planning and transfer requirements, career workshops, students participation in field trips, USDA
career panel, and attendance to three conferences. All these activities have been designed to inform and prepare students for transfer to various universities majoring in USDA related fields. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
<br/>PROGRESS: <br/>2010/08/01 TO 2011/07/31 <br/>OUTPUTS: In year one, the Santa Ana College Partnership for Transfer Succces in USDA career majors program II (PTSP II) has accomplished the following outputs: outreach and dissemination activities that served over five hundred High School students; development of USDA careers curriculum for both High School and Community College students; recruitment of thirty community college students into a learning community and dissemination of program activities and goals at a national conference. One hundred ninety eight high school students (including one hundred eighty identified as Hispanic/Latino) were introduced to USDA related educational opportunities and careers through classroom presentations. A power-point presentation and classroom lesson was created to teach groups of students about how agriculture impacts their daily lives,
introduce them to the USDA and about career opportunities in Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (FANRRS). PTSP II staff also disseminated program information by participating in the college's Early Decision (ED) program. ED provides an orientation to the College for incoming freshman. Through these orientations, three hundred incoming freshmen from our predominantly Latino (95 percent) feeder school district were provided with information about USDA and the PTSP II program through flyers and or presentations. In addition, thirty students (twenty-eight Latinos) were recruited for participation in the learning community cohort that will begin in Fall 2011. This learning community links Freshman Composition (English 101) with a Career Counseling Course featuring curriculum that has been adapted to focus on USDA related fields (Counseling 116). These students will also
receive individualized support from program staff and counselors to monitor their transfer progress. The PTSP II Co-Principal Investigators attended the USDA HSI Program Director's meeting in Arlington, VA Fall 2010. At this event, a poster was presented highlighting the programs' success from the prior award as well as planned program activities for PTSP II. PARTICIPANTS: Martha Vargas: Co-Principal Investigator While no grant funds went directly towards Ms. Vargas' salary, as Co-Principal Investigator, one of Martha Vargas' roles was to co-present the project at the annual USDA HSI Project Directors' meeting. In addition, she participated in laying the ground work and making connections with the local high schools to set up the presentations that were conducted in Spring 2011 by PTSP staff. Another responsibility was to liaison with the English Department staff and faculty to create
the learning community cohort. Further, Ms. Vargas revised the curriculum for the standard career counseling course to focus on USDA related careers and activities. Along with Cecilia Arriaza, the other Co-Principal Investigator, Martha Vargas held phone conferences with the external program evaluator to coordinate evaluation goals and activities. Cecilia Arriaza: Co-Principal Investigator While no grant funds went directly towards Ms. Arriaza's salary, as Co-Principal Investigator, Cecilia Arriaza collected data and created the poster that she co-presented at the annual USDA HSI Project Directors' meeting. Ms. Arriaza also coordinated initial program logistics with our district office to set up budgets, hire staff and get the project underway. She oversaw the staff and their assignments and collaborated with the external evaluator. PTSP II Staff-Transfer Center Specialists: Two Transfer
Center Specialists were hired from grant funds to carry out the program activities. They created the lesson and presented it in Fall 2010 at our participating High Schools. They were also instrumental in recruiting students for the learning community cohort. PTSP II staff also created program publications and created the program's website. Other duties included Transfer Center support in order to relieve Cecilia Arriaza from 25 percent of her responsibilities as Transfer Center Student Services Coordinator in order to serve on this project. Our Partner Organization was the Santa Ana Unified School District, more specifically Segerstrom and Godinez High Schools. These schools allowed PTSP II staff on campus to conduct presentations/lessons to seniors and to post flyers and brochures at their college centers. The counselors at these schools were extremely helpful in coordinating this
effort. The Santa Ana College Department of English was a major collaborator in creating the learning community cohort. The campus already has a successful Freshman Experience program and this USDA learning community was integrated into that program. TARGET AUDIENCES: The target audience during the first year of the project was Latino High School students. Program activities were conducted in Santa Ana Unified Schools, as the district is 95 percent Latino. Program efforts included classroom lessons about USDA careers, and curriculum development in the way of revising the standard career counseling curriculum to infuse USDA related topics. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.</p>