SECONDARY and TWO-YEAR POSTSECONDARY

SECONDARY EDUCATION, TWO-YEAR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, and AGRICULTURE IN THE K-12 CLASSROOM CHALLENGE GRANTS PROGRAM SUMMARY -- FY 2009

Higher Education Programs Science and Education Resources Development National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) U.S. Department of Agriculture

Launched in 1999, (and originally titled the ‘Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants’) this program is administered by the USDA Office of Higher Education Programs by authority contained in Section 7109 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), that amended Section 1417(j) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 19777 (U.S.C. 3152(j)). This program awards grants to eligible public secondary schools, and to two-year postsecondary institutions, to strengthen education in the broad areas of agriscience and agribusiness. Beginning in FY 2002, eligibility was extended to include applications from two-year postsecondary institutions offering the associate degree. Then in FY 2009, eligibility was further extended to include applications focused on Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom, and eligible applicants were also expanded to include colleges and universities and non-profit organizations. With this change, the grant program name was changed to: Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants (SPECA)

The purpose of the SPECA Grants Program is to promote and strengthen teaching programs in agriscience and agribusiness, at secondary and 2-year postsecondary institutions, by enhancing curricula, increasing faculty teaching competencies, promoting higher education to prepare students for scientific and professional careers, incorporating agriscience or agribusiness subject matter into other instructional programs, facilitating joint initiatives among other educational institutions, and to respond to identified State, regional, national or international educational needs.

Applications may be submitted by any public secondary school, by any public or private nonprofit community or junior college, by eligible colleges and universities, or by a non-profit organization. The above applicants must demonstrate a commitment to teaching agriscience and agribusiness.

For the FY 2009 award cycle, a total of $898,754 was available for project grant awards after subtracting administrative costs. This amount was further divided into two groups: applications from secondary schools and applications from two-year, postsecondary institutions.

From this point forward in this document, summary information is grouped and reported by either the Secondary School Group or Two-Year, Postsecondary Institution Group. Secondary Schools-Group Summary-FY 2009

A total of 53 institutions from 30 states submitted applications requesting $2,322,073. A total of $725,284 was available for awards. In March 2009, a nineteen-member peer review panel evaluated these applications. The peer panel included faculty members from secondary schools, two-year postsecondary, land grant and non-land grant colleges and universities, and practitioners from the food and agricultural sciences community. Funds were available to support a total of 20 awards from 19 institutions in 16 states. Nine projects were formal Joint Project Proposals requiring partnerships between two or more institutions.

The following tables summarize this year’s Secondary School Group of the Secondary and Two- Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants program:

Table 1A. FUNDS REQUESTED/AWARDED BY EMPHASIS AREAS

FY 2009 Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants

Secondary Schools – Group Summary NUMBER OF AMOUNT OF FUNDS ACADEMIC APPLICATIONS DISCIPLINE AREAS Requested Awarded Requested Awarded*

General 31 7 $1,147,048 $ 220,290

Agriscience 8 2 $384,129 $93,908

Agribusiness 7 6 $282,231 $ 223,388 Animal Sciences 2 0 $45,541 $0 Plant Sciences 5 1 $174,254 $ 14,086 Conservation/Renewable Resources 3 1 $118,996 $ 46,954 Food Science/Technology & Manufacturing 2 1 $70,000 $ 32,868 Ag Social Science inc. Ag Education 0 0 $0 $0 Aquaculture 1 1 $50,000 $ 46,954 Related Biological Sciences 1 1 $49,874 $ 46,836

TOTALS 60 20 $2,322,073 $725,284

______* Not all programs request the maximum funds allowed per institution under this grant ($35,000 - Regular Proposals, or $50,000 - Joint Project Proposals). These amounts represent the total Federal dollars awarded to each lead institution, including the funds that will be subcontracted to collaborating institutions for joint projects. With fund transfer restrictions taken into account, no single institution will receive more than $35,000 (Regular or Joint proposals). All funded projects in this grants program require 1:1 non-Federal matching funds. Matching funds are not reflected in these Federal award amounts. Two-Year, Postsecondary Institutions – Group Summary – FY 2009

A total of 14 institutions from 11 states submitted applications requesting $ 664,733. A total of $173,470 was available for awards. In March 2009, a four-member peer review panel evaluated these applications. The panel comprised faculty members from two-year postsecondary, land grant and non-land grant colleges and universities, and practitioners from the food and agricultural sciences community.

Funds were available to support a total of 4 awards in 4 institutions from 4 states. Three of the projects were formal Joint Project Proposals requiring partnerships between two or more institutions.

The following tables summarize this year’s Two-Year, Postsecondary Institution Group of the Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants program:

Table 1B. FUNDS REQUESTED/AWARDED BY EMPHASIS AREAS

FY 2009 Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants

Two-Year, Postsecondary Institutions – Group Summary TARGET NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS AMOUNT OF FUNDS ACADEMIC EMPHASIS AREAS Requested Awarded Requested Awarded*

General 8 2 $365,056 $ 93,889

Agriscience 2 0 $68,087 $0

Agribusiness 0 0 $0 $0 Animal Sciences 1 1 $49,987 $ 46,942 Plant Sciences 1 1 $34,756 $ 32,639 Conservation/Renewable Resources 2 0 $96,847 $0 Food Science/Technology & Manufacturing 1 0 $50,000 $0 Ag Social Science inc. Ag Education 0 0 $0 $0 Aquaculture 0 0 $0 $0 Related Biological Sciences 0 0 $0 $0

TOTALS 15 4 $664,733 $173,470

Table 3. FUNDED PROJECT INFORMATION and DESCRIPTIONS FY 2009 Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants

Combined Secondary Schools & Two-Year, Postsecondary Institutions

Access the following link: FY 2009 SPEC Funded Abstracts* to display project information. Data is from the CSREES Current Research Information System (CRIS) database.

*CRIS URL is = http://cris.csrees.usda.gov/cgi-bin/starfinder/0?path=fastlink1.txt&id=anon&pass=&search=CG=*38414*%20and %20gy=2009%20NOT%20PS=term*&format=WEBTITLESG