20237044040149

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there is an underrepresentation of minorities in the USDA permanent workforce (U.S. EEOC). Similarly, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that underrepresented students in the class of 2019 experienced a high disadvantage in obtaining paid internships compared to white students (NACE, 2019).

RAISE's goal is to implement an innovative strategy to increase U.S. underrepresented students' opportunities in food, agricultural, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH) agencies. This will be achieved through the following initiatives:

1) Creating a one-of-a-kind internship hub to assist and offer each year, 55 paid fall, spring, and summer internships with USDA, Texas AgriLife Extension, and Bobcat Farm. These internships will be available not just to the host institution, Texas State University students, but also to a group of partnering community college students.

2) Targeting urban counties to broadcast USDA opportunities to a wider, non-traditional agriculture audience. This will allow students to engage directly in county challenges and feel a sense of making a difference.

3) Providing tools to include families and intentionality in career choices through an on-boarding process.

4) Implementing a unique mentoring program using former USDA fellows who have already participated in an internship and have employment in USDA or government agencies.

5) Targeting FANH majors other than agriculture, such as nutrition, family and consumer science, engineering, biology, and chemistry.

6) Connecting students with federal and state agency professionals to gain skills in applying for federal jobs, resume and cover letter writing, professionalism, communication, ethics, etc.

Community college students will be given an opportunity to make a connection with the four-year university by being dually enrolled at each institution and gaining course credit to be applied once transfer takes place.

RAISE aims to increase the number of underrepresented students completing a four-year degree in FANH, aid in developing a vibrant, competitive, and highly skilled FANH workforce eligible for federal and state agencies, improve professional development opportunities for current and future USDA employees, and establish a model internship hub for federal employment that can be used by other higher education institutions in the U.S.

Texas State University

10.237 - From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals

Institute of Youth, Family, and Community (IYFC) [USDA - NIFA]

San Marcos, Texas 78666-4684 United States

Single Zip Code

From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals (USDA-NIFA-ARPAED-009362)