HSI grant

The project will be conducted over a three-year period. The following steps will be used to achieve our goals: 1) Develop a mentoring program for incoming animal science students. The mentoring program will allow students to shadow graduate students during their research projects. Ten qualified incoming Animal Science students will receive a $500 stipend at the beginning of the Spring semester for completing the Fall portion of the mentoring program. One student from the mentoring program who graduates from Sul Ross Department of Animal Science will be awarded a Master of Science Fellowship to provide them with additional financial assistance beyond their participation in this project. This approach will submerge the new students into an active part of their college education and create an incentive to finish their college education. 2) Purchase new scientific instrumentation and laboratory equipment for the nutrition and reproductive laboratories during the fall semesters of 2005 and 2006. This equipment will be incorporated into current Animal Science courses in the spring semesters to provide hands-on experience for students. 3) Develop curricula that increase interactions between students and faculty outside of traditional lecture courses. Five Animal Science courses will be restructured and three new courses will be developed to improve the students scientific and professional competencies in the areas of animal nutrition and reproduction. The courses will be designed so students will be able to utilize the newly acquired state-of-the-art instrumentation. 4) Develop alternative and innovative teaching methods that reach and motivate undergraduate and graduate students in Animal Science. Multimedia equipment will be purchased during the fall semester of 2005 so digital imagery and video footage can be captured during courses to supplement into the new curriculum and for the development of recruiting material that will be used on recruiting trips. Course web pages and an interactive bilingual tutorial DVD will be created to enhance the newly restructured Animal Science courses. During the first year of the project a collaborative arrangement with HorsePower Production will be started for the creation of course web pages and the interactive tutorial DVD. English and bilingual versions of the interactive tutorial DVD will be evaluated by students throughout the project period. Sul Ross and HorsePower Production will develop a student questionnaire for each restructured animal science course and create an exit survey for graduating Animal Science students who participated in this project. Questionnaires will focus on the following categories: hands-on learning experience, usefulness of subject material, user friendliness and graphical design within the multimedia material, and students perception of acquired skills. 5) Project outcomes and activities will be communicated to agricultural educators nationwide by the development of a project web pages during the first year of the project and by presenting results at the appropriate national meetings and in professional journals.

The main goal of this project is to recruit and then prepare Hispanic and other underrepresented Animal Science students for a successful future in the agricultural industry through experiential learning. To achieve this goal Sul Ross State University (SRSU) will focus on the following objectives: 1) create a mentoring program that will attract and retain a minimum of twelve minority Animal Science students each year; 2) obtain a 100% retention rate of minority students during their first year at Sul Ross by providing financial assistance for students that complete the mentoring program; 3) restructure five Animal Science courses and create three new courses to provide a realistic workplace experience for the development of valuable real-life skills; 4) acquire state-of-the-art instrumentation for the nutrition and reproduction laboratories so students will be able to accurately analyze and calculate the nutrient needs and appraise the reproductive potential of various livestock; and 5) develop interactive multimedia supplements for 4 animal science courses to improve student examination performances by 5-10%.