USPCE facilitates Curriculum Development Grant
On February 2, 2006, Iowa State University, North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University with facilitation by the USPCE submitted a Higher Education Challenge Grant to the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES).
The “Swine Institute” grant is for funding to support curriculum development and implementation of a pilot program. This Swine Institute would be a shared program of the aforementioned Universities. The Swine Institute would ultimately serve students interested in swine production on a national scale.
This is the first grant in an anticipated three-grant sequence. This first grant is a three-year project and will pave the way for a subsequent implementation project. The goals and objectives of the first grant presented below are precursors to implementation.
Goal 1:
To develop a curriculum and course outlines for an intensive swine-education program that meets the needs of multiple institutions.
Objective 1.1:
Within 18 months of project start, each faculty team developing a course will complete action with 100% agreement.
Objective 1.2:
The animal science faculty of 80% of participating universities and community colleges will sign off on the curriculum for each course within 24 months of project start.
Goal 2:
To develop plans and materials to recruit students into the program.
Objective 2.1:
Within 18 months of project start, a marketing plan and instructional materials acceptable to the three collaborating institutions will be ready to use.
Objective 2.2:
As a result of the use of these materials, the first pilot cohort of 20 students (beta-test group) will be fully enrolled with students meeting the admission requirements.
Goal 3:
To ensure a high-quality academic program in swine production.
Objective 3.1:
An advisory team including industry, academic and government representatives, will judge each course in the pilot program “very good” or “excellent” based on site visits and other data.
Objective 3.2:
Student evaluations will document that at least 80% of respondents consider their courses “very good” or “excellent”.
The anticipated award date for this grant is July 15th 2006 with anticipated funding being received in October of 2006. |
