Overview | In Focus | Funding | Partners | Events| Results/Impacts | Resources | Contacts

Overview 

Education programs support all CSREES National Emphasis Areas.  These programs promote teaching excellence, enhance academic quality, and develop tomorrow’s scientific and professional workforce. In cooperation with public institutions, private sector partners, and the Land-Grant University System, CSREES provides national leadership to address critical educational issues.

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In Focus

• Annual, Regional Teaching Improvement Workshops for university food and agricultural sciences faculty are funded in part by CSREES Higher Education Programs.
• The Academic Summit for Colleges of Agricultural, Life, and Related Sciences, set for February 2006, will redesign approaches to postsecondary education in the agricultural sciences. 
• Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) is a national partnership of state-level volunteers, coordinated through CSREES Higher Education Programs, to improve agricultural literacy in U.S. elementary and secondary schools.
• National Awards Program for Excellence in College and University Teaching in the Food and Agricultural Sciences: Guidelines and nomination procedures for this annual awards program recognizing outstanding, baccalaureate-level faculty throughout the country.
  

Funding

• 1890 Institutions Teaching and Research Capacity Building Grants Program
• Food and Agricultural Sciences National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program (RFA is expected to be released in August)
• Higher Education Challenge Grants Program
  
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Partnerships

• CSREES partners with the National Science Foundation to conduct Annual Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), which assess trends in Ph.D. production.
• CSREES partners with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University to develop, maintain, and enhance the Food and Agricultural Education Information System (FAEIS).
• CSREES works with Purdue University to study employment opportunities in the food and agricultural sciences.
• Space Agriculture in the Classroom (SAITC) is a joint project of CSREES, NASA, and the University of Florida designed to boost student awareness of the space program and the role of agriculture in our economy and society. SAITC helps students see the connection between agricultural practices on Earth that relate to space-based research, particularly in the plant sciences. View various teacher and student resources that inspire us to reach for the stars!     

Events

• National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference 2004, Washington, DC, September 12-15, 2004.
• California Agriculture in the Classroom Conference; October 21-23, 2004; Visalia, California; Join over 300 educators -through a series of keynote presenters, workshops, exhibits, and tours about local food and farms- to identify stimulating ways for educators to connect students with the food and fiber they use in their everyday lives.
• 77th Annual National FFA Convention, Louisville, KY, October 27-30, 2004.
• 117th Annual Meeting of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), San Diego, CA, November 14-16, 2004.
• National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, NV, December 7-11, 2004.

Selected Results and Impacts

• At the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, a CSREES capacity-building grant integrates teaching and research in agriculture, fisheries, and human sciences.
• The University of Maine received a CSREES challenge grant to develop an international curriculum.
• California State University at Fresno received a CSREES capacity-building grant to increase enrollments and retain Hispanic students.
• Florida A & M University received two CSREES capacity-building teaching grants to establish a degree program in Biological and Agricultural Systems Engineering (BASE).
• A CSREES higher education challenge grant provides minority students attending urban-based community colleges a science mentoring experience at the University of Illinois.

Resources

• 1890 Scholars Program, USDA.
• CSREES Fellows Program, Higher Education Programs.
• USDA Living Science – Careers in the Food and Agricultural Sciences, Purdue University.
• Research, Education, and Economics Information System (REEIS)
• US Department of Education Publications.
• National Center for Educational Statistics.
• Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) Association.
• The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
• The American Indian Higher Education Consortium.
• Agriculture in the Classroom’s Natural Resource Directory; a searchable, peer-reviewed, electronic database of educational materials about agriculture.

Contacts

P.S. Benepal, Director, Multicultural Alliances
George W. Cooper, Deputy Administrator
Jeffrey Gilmore, Director, Higher Education Programs

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