20237044040153

North Carolina Agricultural And Technical State University

Saplings envisions leading the 1890 Land-Grant Universities (LGUs) and the nation in growing the next generation of underrepresented minority (URM) workers, leaders, and innovators for food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences (FANH) careers. Saplings establishes sustainable pathways, partnerships, and programs to prepare URM students across the educational continuum - 4-H youth, grades 5-12, and college - for federal and private sector employment.

Our overarching goal is to use collaborative networks and innovative concepts and approaches to leverage institutional assets, expertise, and resources to increase the number of students persisting and succeeding at each major juncture along the education-to-workforce pathway. Saplings is aligned with USDA NextGen priorities and contributes to all 6 strategic goals of the 2022-2026 USDA's Strategic Plan, goals 2, 5, and especially 6.

The Saplings objectives are to:
1. Strengthen the college pipeline by igniting interest and engagement in FANH programs among grades 5-12 school students.
2. Use a comprehensive modular approach with multi-layer partnerships to attract, retain, mentor, and graduate more URM college students across the FANH continuum.
3. Increase institutional capacity for student success and boost students' awareness of FANH careers.

Upon the completion of this project, we expect to:
1. Train 6,134 G5-12 students, 326 G5-12 educators, and 5,871 college students.
2. Reach 980 families.
3. Engage more than 30 partners.
4. Enhance URM student enrollment, retention, and graduation rates at 1890 LGUs.
5. Increase URM graduates for USDA employment.
6. Enhance the 1890 LGUs' capacity by scaled courses, certificates, and training modules.

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]

Greensboro, North Carolina 27411-0002 United States

Single Zip Code

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