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INVESTIGATOR: Lohakare, J.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
UNIV OF ARKANSAS
PINE BLUFF, ARKANSAS 71601

INCREASING MINORITY STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN THE VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES THROUGH OUTREACH, CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Apart from the current and projected need for veterinary and animal science professionals in the US, there is a widely recognized lack of racial diversity within the veterinary profession. This is despite the changing demography of clientele who own livestock and pets. Thus a deliberate effort to increase and diversify this pool of professional work force is needed for enhanced food security and safety. The overall goal of this project is to strengthen and build animal and pre-veterinary science teaching capacity of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) through recruitment outreach, curriculum enhancement and experiential learning. The immediate outcome of the project will be increased enrollment within the animal science program, a strong pre-veterinary program and highly qualified minority students who can succeed in veterinary programs, graduate schools and become leaders in the livestock industry. The specific objectives are to: (i) Initiate and implement a veterinary and animal science career awareness outreach program among minority students , career advisors in middle and high schools and junior colleges and parents to stimulate interest in veterinary and animal sciences; (ii) Develop a comprehensive pre-veterinary training curriculum and strengthen the existing animal science curriculum at UAPB and iii) Maximize retention through advisement, mentoring, internships and providing scholarships to talented students. This project will further the goals of UAPB of attracting and retaining highly qualified students in food and agricultural sciences and also serve to increase the number and diversity of qualified students pursuing veterinary and animal science graduate programs nationally.

OBJECTIVES: The project's overall goal is to build the teaching capacity of UAPB to prepare and graduate highly qualified pre-vet and animal science minority students that are ready and can succeed in veterinary and graduate schools and are prepared to become leading professionals in the food-animal industry. The specific objectives are to: (i) Initiate and implement a veterinary and animal science career awareness outreach program that will focus on high school minority students, school career advisors/counselors, science teachers and parents to stimulate interest in veterinary and animal science careers; (ii) Strengthen the animal science curricula at UAPB and develop a comprehensive pre-veterinary training program and iii) Improve retention and quality of pre-vet and animal science graduates through mentorship, summer internships, scholarships and job shadowing.

APPROACH: To highlight, showcase, create awareness and generate interest in the many broad and fulfilling careers available within the veterinary profession and animal industries among minority high school and junior college students: to do this, the PD, CO-PD1, recruitment staff, UAPB SAFHS information technology (IT) and media center and the Department of Agriculture Marketing Committee will work together to prepare and develop visual and audio promotional materials that include; informational brochures, videos(DVDs) and CDs highlighting the exciting career opportunities in the animal and veterinary sciences. The team will disseminate this information to potential students through social media, physical delivery to feeder schools career offices, churches and youth community centers and during sports activities, including local 4-H youth groups. The team will prepare YouTube promotional videos featuring animal activities and student engagements at UAPB. These will include current animal science students working hands on with animals. In addition, the team will create a Facebook account for the animal science program at SAFHS and populate the page with promotional material featuring activities with animals including pictures and videos and a link to admission to the program and curriculum at UAPB. The team will also use the promotional videos featuring pre-vet and animal science program facilities and students performing animal or laboratory activities for advertisement on local media and download them on SAFHS website. Also, brochures containing information on the veterinary school admission requirements and application and admission processes will be made available at SAFHS for potential veterinary students.We will organize a one day animal science career awareness workshop (professional development credit earning for the schools staff) at UAPB targeting feeder school's career advisors, counselors and science teachers. The workshop will feature talks and presentations by key livestock industry professionals and research experts. The project team will also liaise with these school and community college counselors to ensure availability and dissemination of the career promotional materials available in their offices. Furthermore, the team will liaise with counselors at feeder middle schools, high schools and junior colleges so the PD and CO-PD1 can participate in career days and showcase and discuss these opportunities with potential students.PD with the help of UAPB CO-PDs will initiate and develop a summer residential intensive veterinary and animals science career enrichment program (Anitrak) for middle and high school, and junior college students with high grades and GPAs to explore careers in veterinary and animal science. This will serve as a hands-on activity to expose minority students to animals and increase the interest of well-qualified students to veterinary and animal science careers. Initial recruitment will target between 10 to 20 students per year who will work in group projects of five under supervision and guidance of SAFHS faculty for four weeks of hands-on research or projects relevant to the livestock industry. Participating students will be exposed to the latest technology in animal science research and allied fields. In addition, the PD and CO-PD1 will organize trips to animal industry partners (USDA animal research lab, Tyson Poultry processing facility, and livestock farms). At the end of the Anitrak program, participants will be expected to write a one page summary their experience at the SAFHS. These presentations are designed to build the student's written communications skills.For developing a comprehensive pre-veterinary training program and strengthen the animal science curricula at UAPB the implementation of new courses is already underway as an indication of the University commitment to quality of teaching animal science and will continue during the grant period. The PD has a background in veterinary medicine and PhD in animal nutrition and will develop with the help of CO-PD1 the syllabi, course objectives and select instructional material to be used for the four new courses to be introduced. The PD will teach the new courses in the Agriculture department. The PD, CO-PD1 and the Department chair will work together through the relevant University channels to ensure the new curriculum and courses are approved and implemented by the end of the grant period. These courses will be in addition to the existing animal science curriculum courses. Other relevant courses in the biological sciences will be evaluated and recommended for the pre-veterinary pathway curriculum as found necessary. To teach the new courses, the department chair will distribute the full time equivalent (FTE) of the current animal science faculty in the department to ensure the courses are successfully administered.For improving retention and quality of pre-vet and animal science graduates through mentorship, scholarships, summer internships, and job shadowing we expect to achieve at least 70 percent retention in the pre-vet and animal science program, graduate strong and well-prepared pre-vet students who can successfully pursue the DVM program and also students with enhanced hands-on skills to pursue animal science graduate programs or work in the livestock industry. This program will target the recruitment of talented students who will work closely with the PD and CO-PD 1. These two faculties will foster and seek to establish very close relationships with scholars recruited through this program and act as mentors and advisors at every stage throughout the student's academic endeavors. Through this relationship, pre-vet students will be advised on relevant course work to prepare them for the DVM program and assisted to apply to potential DVM schools. Students will also be encouraged to join student groups (e.g., MANRRS, Animal Science Club) for networking with other students in the professional fields.A need based competitive scholarship fund to cover part of in-state tuition will be established and made available to deserving, highly qualified students with over ACT scores over 22 to pursue the UABP pre-vet or animal science program. These scholarships will ensure these students can concentrate on their education and pursue the program successfully. Continuing students will be required to maintain a GPA of 3.0 to qualify for this need based scholarship.The PD and the CO-PDs will also assist students in obtaining summer research or industry internship positions at UAPB, partner 1862 institutions (Purdue University and the University of Arkansas), job shadowing opportunities with federal or state agencies and private veterinarians and companies so that students can be exposed to real-life animal related scientific activities. For those students in the pre-veterinary pathway program, one of the internships at their sophomore or junior or year will be with the Purdue University Veterinary School to expose the students to the DVM program. Participation in Purdue University's access to Animal-Related Careers (A2RC) program will be a key summer internship for UAPB's pre-vet students. The students will also have a chance to participate in the A2RC Scholars Early Admissions Program, which provides early conditional admissions to qualifying participants. For those students interested in careers in the poultry industry, internships will be sought through the 3 +1 partnership program with the University of Arkansas. The PD and CO-PDs will liaise with UAPB career services to ensure all students have internship opportunities. The internship program will be credit earning. At the end of the internship, each student will be required to give a presentation on their internship activities and also prepare a written summary.

PROGRESS: 2020/05 TO 2021/05
Target Audience:High school students, Student counselors in high schools, parents of high school students, animal science undergraduate students at UAPB, and department of agriculture students at UAPB. Changes/Problems:1. We have applied and received approval for a no cost extension for a year (until May, 2022) of this project and will try to accomplish the objectives of this project. 2. We have prepared flyer, application form for this year summer program (ANITRAK-2021) for high school students. We had planned to conduct summer program last year from June 06- June 19, 2020; but canceled it due to covid-19 situation. We will watch the covid-19 situation and decide accordingly this year. 3. Dr. Latonia Craig has been appointed as a new Assistant Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at Purdue Veterinary Medicine and is now serving as a Co-PD for the remainder of this project. 4. Due to faculty constraints and available resources, developing a pre-vet program seems to be a tough task, although administrators at UAPB are very much interested and enthusiastic about developing this program. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. Thirteen students applied for virtual edition of International Production and Processing Expo in January (IPPE, 2021) and 2 students secured job offers from private companies. 2. Six students graduated in May 2020, two students graduated in Dec. 2020, and two students will graduate this May 2021 from the animal science program. One more student from 3+1 poultry science program will graduate in May 2021. 3.One freshman student has signed up to join 3+1 poultry science program and one other student joined University of Arkansas at Fayetteville this fall to continue for remaining year of the 3+1 poultry science program. 4. Three animal science students worked on animal farm in fall 2020 and participated as student workers in research projects of two graduate students in animal science. 5. Students were encouraged to apply for summer and year-long Vets Up program at Purdue University through the sub-award agreement. One student has been selected and doing a year-long online Vet's Up! Champion program through collaboration with Purdue University. One student has applied for summer 2021 Vet's Up program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. One of our animal science students got accepted and joined the Purdue University's College of Veterinary Medicine. This Information was disseminated through UAPB webpage and online media (wordpress.com) and communities were also informed through local newspaper (Pine Bluff Commercial) about this news. 2. Animal science Facebook page and Instagram were updated to keep communities, high school students, and UAPB students informed and engaged. 3. Animal science club notice board is used to inform students about internships, jobs, and other opportunities available to students. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. Internship opportunities on the animal farm at UAPB will be provided to animal science students in the coming year. 2. We have prepared flyer, application form for this year summer residential program (ANITRAK-2021) and planning to conduct summer program from July 03- July 16, 2021. 3. We will meet high school minority students, school career advisors/counselors, science teachers and parents to stimulate interest in veterinary and animal science careers through several recruitment events that happens on and off-campus. Promotional materials about UAPB animal science and 3+1 programs will be circulated to the school advisors, parents, and students to increase recruitment. 4. Animal science students at UAPB will be encouraged and assisted to apply and will be given the opportunity to participate in the Vets Up! programs this year at Purdue University through subaward agreement. 5. A virtual curriculum plan will be developed for students to work with Purdue University faculty for three days, gain veterinary exposure, and will explore the DVM application process. If a visit is allowed to Purdue in Spring 2022, students will travel to Purdue to gain hands-on animal experience. Additionally, a stipend will be awarded to a current DVM student (former UAPB student) to serve as a mentor to selected students and will also provide research opportunities to the DVM student for the duration of the grant cycle.

IMPACT: 2020/05 TO 2021/05
What was accomplished under these goals? For Objective 1) A two-week summer enrichment program called ANITRAK-2020 was planned to be conducted from June 06- June 19, 2020 on-campus for high school students. We prepared flyer, application form but had to cancel due to covid-19 situation. We published article on university webpage and Pine Bluff commercial about the animal science student Ms. Lizney Rudds accepted and joining the Purdue University's College of Veterinary Medicine so that the community (parents, students, counselors, etc.) can be informed about the success story of joining animal science and poultry science degree programs at UAPB. One UAPB animal science junior student joined Vet's Up Champion program for a year at Purdue University. This year in the virtual edition (January 26-28, 2021) of College Student Career Program at International Production and processing Expo, 2021, 13 students from UAPB had applied for jobs and internships. Two of them received job offers. We have prepared flyer, application form for this year summer program (ANITRAK 2021) and planning to conduct this summer program for high school students from July 03- July 16, 2021. For objective 2) For introducing animal science students to biotechnology and molecular biology techniques, they are encouraged to take "Introduction to Agriculture Biotechnology" course that deals with providing this knowledge and techniques. Students are encouraged to apply for summer and year-long Vets Up program at Purdue University through the sub-award agreement. One student has been selected and doing a year-long online Vet's Up! Champion program. For Objective 3) Three animal science students were provided with scholarships from the funds from this project. Animal science student was provided the opportunity for internship from the funds from this project. Animal science club notice board is used to inform students about internships, jobs, and other opportunities available to students. Thirteen students applied for virtual edition of CSCP program at International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE, 2021) and two students got the job offers from private companies. Animal science Facebook page and Instagram were updated to keep students informed and engaged. Six students graduated in May 2020, and two graduated in Dec 2020. Two students will graduate in May 2021. One more student from 3+1 poultry science program will graduate in May 2021. There is an upward trend of enrollment in animal science program from Fall 2019, to Fall 2020 because of the activities funded through this project. We have a record high number of students in animal science program (44 students), the highest in the school of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Human Sciences, at UAPB.

PUBLICATIONS (not previously reported): 2020/05 TO 2021/05
No publications reported this period.

PROGRESS: 2017/05/15 TO 2018/05/14
Target Audience:High school minority students, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Animal Science students, Community members that attended UAPB Rural Life Conference at Pine Bluff Changes/Problems:Delay in Project Start up: 1. Being new faculty at UAPB (joined in 2017), the account for this project fund was set up in August, 2017. 2. I am the only faculty in animal science program at UAPB, and I have teaching, research, and extension appointment. I am also advising and mentoring all animal science students at UAPB. Due to the resignation of the initial PD from the university, it took time for me to understand the project clearly and the objectives to be met. 3. The CO-PD from UAPB (Dr. Ondieki Gekara) left before I joined as a faculty at UAPB. Another CO-PD from UAPB (Dr. Edmund Buckner) also resigned from job at UAPB in August 2017. 4. In addition, the CO-PD from Purdue University (Dr. Cipriani Davis, Kauline) also left her University in January 2018 and I came to know about this in March, 2018. Dr. Sandra San Miguel is now a new CO-PD from Purdue University and we requested CO-PD change to USDA-NIFA in April, 2018. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. 19 students majoring in agriculture (animal science option) at UAPB visited Animal Science and Poultry Science departments at University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. 2. They received exposure of several animal facilities including poultry facilities and hands-on experinece of dissecting birds, measuring egg quality, egg embryo mortality in poultry hatchery. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. To increase awareness among local communities to stimulate interest in veterinary and animal science careers options and thereby increase recruitment at UAPB, the news of jobs and interniship offers that animal science students received at International Production and Processing Expo (IPPE, 2018 at Atlanta), was presented as a poster in UAPB Rural Life Conference, at Pine Bluff Convention Center, Pine Bluff. 2. The above Information was presented to 320 participants through the UAPB Rural Life Conference held on March 09, 2018. 3. The above news of IPPE and students success was also circulated in local newspaper and posted on UAPB website. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Next year plans: 1) To meet high school minority students, school career advisors/counselors, science teachers and parents to stimulate interest in veterinary and animal science careers. 2) Promotional materials will be developed and circulated to the school advisors, parents, and students to increase recruitment. 3) We will revise the animal science (option) curriculum at UAPB. We will develop course description for the new courses. 4) Scholarships will be provided to animal science students in the coming year and internship opportunities will be provided to them. 5) Animal science students at UAPB will be assisted to apply and will be given the opportunity to participate in the Access to Animal-Related Careers (A2RC) program and the Veterinary Scholars Summer Research Program for a total of 12 weeks in the next summer at Purdue University through subaward agreement.

IMPACT: 2017/05/15 TO 2018/05/14
What was accomplished under these goals? For Objective (i): 1. The PD (Dr. Jayant Lohakare) participated along with agriculture department faculty at UAPB, for 4H-youth plan and recruitment drive at university of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in October, 2017. 2. In the above event, a total of 25 participants (high school seniors students) showed interest to join animal science program at UAPB. 3. This year on Golden Lions Fever Day (April 06, 2018), high school students from several adjoining states including Arkansas came on UAPB campus and we showcased and provided them with promotional materials of our program. 60 students and some parents showed interest in animal science and inquired about pre-vet program at UAPB. For Objective (iii) 1. To increase job awareness, the PD took students in Department of Agriculture including animal science students to International Production and Processing Expo Atlanta - 2018 for jobs and internships. Four animal science students got internship offers in that expo. 2. The PD also took 19 animal science students to University of Arkansas at Fayetteville on April 19, 2018 to enrich students learning exposure and hands-on experience. 3. PD also activated Animal Science Club at UAPB which was not in action since 2 years, to keep students engaged and connected. Twenty-seven students have joined this club. 4. The Office of Admissions at UAPB has pointed out the upward trend of increasing the applications (74 applications so far), interest, and enrollment (40 students) in animal science program this year Fall at UAPB which is a positive development.

PUBLICATIONS: 2017/05/15 TO 2018/05/14
Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Jayant Lohakare, Tamia Thomas, and Will Hehemann. 2018. UAPB Students Network, Find Job Opportunities at International Production and Processing Expo, 2018 in Atlanta. UAPB Rural Life Conference, 09 March, 2018, Pine Bluff, AR.