Generation Next

By knitting together grants, creative thinking, and new partnerships, as well as adapting existing programs, faculty and staff in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at N.C. A&T is grooming the next generation of agricultural leaders.

No one way will work, said Shirley Hymon-Parker, Ph.D., the college’s associate dean for research.

“With all of the challenges we are facing now and those to come, our land-grant universities have to ensure they are doing those things needed to prepare students so they are ready with creative and research-based solutions,” Hymon-Parker said. “This is still part of our mission to ensure that we are accessible, adaptable and preparing students for tomorrow.”

Only half the number of students needed to fill the more than 60,000 food and agriculture-related jobs available annually graduate each year. As such, yeoman’s efforts are required to fill that gap and ensure that the workforce is diverse and inclusive. While universities are working individually, they are also working collectively and collaboratively to ensure the U.S. of a globally competitive workforce.

One of A&T’s centerpiece efforts was securing an additional grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to host the 1890 Center of Excellence for Student Success and Workforce Development. The initial center funding came in 2020 for $1.6 million, with an additional $1.1 million netted last year.

The center is one of a maximum of six national centers launched in celebration of the Second Morrill Act of 1890. This thinktank, in partnership with Florida A&M, Fort Valley State, Lincoln, Tuskegee and Virginia State universities, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, will also serve the entire 1890 land-grant university system.

The center’s overall objective will be to serve as a hub that will develop and test programs designed to attract, retain, graduate and place minority students in careers in the food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences and related fields. The center will:

• Provide STEM and experiential learning opportunities to high school students.
• Recruit, retain, mentor and graduate first-generation, underrepresented students at 1890 universities.
• Deliver workforce development experiences to enhance the pipeline from secondary to postsecondary to graduate programs to careers.
• Develop strategies to integrate emerging technology into the academic curriculum.

Cooperative Extension will play a vital role in the center’s activities using its 4-H program as fertile ground to help young people connect to agriculture-based careers and opportunities.

To date, the center, initially known as the Center of Excellence to Motivate and Educate for Achievement (MEA), has assisted more than 1,400 students, introduced more than 65 technologies and hosted 86 training workshops.

With additional support from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the college offered partial scholarships to 70 freshmen and transfer students seeking degrees in food and agriculture this summer. These one-year, $2,000 scholarships are part of a federal, 1890 land-grant scholarship program providing more than $19 million to the nation’s 19 historically black land-grant universities.

An elementary school student enjoys a robotics class, part of the CAES’s outreach to public schools.

This new 1890 Scholarship Program, coupled with the existing 1890 Agricultural Scholars program, should increase the talent pipeline for the next generation of agricultural workforce leaders and scientists, said Carrie Castille, NIFA director.

“We need the brightest minds from across all areas and cultures in our society to be represented, Castille said, adding that the NIFA scholarship programs help that goal become attainable.

Recently A&T partnered with N.C. Virtual Public Schools to offer two agriculture-related classes to middle and high-school students statewide.

Virtually, students can take two courses from A&T: one in animal science, and one in food and nutritional science. This is a critical gain for districts that don’t offer these classes in person.

“Many agriculture courses were cut in a curriculum shift in the late 1980s, and individual schools districts don’t have the funds to supply them on their own,” said  Brandon Simmons of N.C VPS.

After two years of work and coordination, the classes were available early this summer. Almost 350 students, 192 in food and nutrition and 156 in animal science, have signed up for or are taking the classes. Funding to develop the programs and initial courses was available through a USDA Capacity Building Grant.

The project was part of a three-year $299,800 grant to create the classes for high school students and develop student ambassadors, a coordinated social media campaign, and implement a student retention program entitled Guaranteed 4.0.

The final centerpiece for building the next generation of ag professionals is the continuation of the Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP), which pairs high school students with CAES researchers for a residential, campus-based summer internship.

Kingsley Ekwemalor Ph.D., right, an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, guides a RAP student through an examination in the University Farm’s Small Ruminant Unit.

COVID-19 canceled the program in 2020, but RAP was switched to a virtual program for 2021. But the change did not  halt the work nor dampen the enthusiasm of this cohort of students.

From studying insects and biochars to cloning Mimi the brown mouse, RAP students worked individually and as a team with selected research faculty members.

A critical part of the program is getting students to understand the research process and see themselves as part of solving a real-life crisis, much like developing the COVID-19 vaccinations, said Hymon-Parker. Additionally, she added, they need to see research as fun and profitable.

“Research was an intimidating concept because of the misconception of having to do the studies alone or the pressure of always being correct,” said Kayia Morrow, a RAP student from Greensboro, NC, during her final presentation. “This program has shown that there are teams that develop relationships for years and work together to make mistakes and develop solutions to worldwide programs.”

Or added Tara Lepore, a rising high school senior from Hubert, NC. “… One of my favorite parts of this experience was learning how it’s not just one department. Everything moves and develops together. The amount of real-life field research done is so exciting. In high school, we don’t do much of any field work, so I’m excited to get to A&T and start real-life research.”

In addition to these efforts, A&T has a Multicultural Scholars program and is enhancing and creating new doctoral programs focused on today’s agricultural challenges.

No one program will be the magic elixir, said Hymon-Parker. Still, as the population swells, producers deal with climate changes, depletion of resources and political shifts and technologies emerge, colleges and universities must embrace the challenges and opportunities ahead.

“We can’t watch agriculture change and not change how we are preparing the next generation of professionals,” said Hymon-Parker. “The world is changing. The students are changing and we’re making adjustments and adaptations, so we remain relevant and ready.”