Virginia Western Community College has received a $343,209 Advanced Technology Education (ATE) grant from the National Science Foundation, the independent science agency of the US government.
The three-year grant will fund the College’s project, “Cross-Pollination Skills: Enhancing Mechatronics and Agricultural Collaboration to Produce Skilled Agricultural Technicians,” which will test West Virginia faculty members’ ideas to improve education of technicians.
“We are very grateful to have received this substantial grant from the National Science Foundation,” said Dr. Robert Sandel, president of Virginia Western. “Our faculty is always looking for innovative ways to equip our students to meet the needs of the community, and this collaboration builds on that strength. Our state leaders have identified key workforce needs in the agricultural sector, and we stand ready to help for Virginia to be a welcome destination for these employers.”
The Cross-Pollination Skillsets project targets a state government priority of developing business opportunities through controlled environmental agriculture (CEA), according to Dr. David Berry, assistant professor and head of the Mechatronics Program. As principal investigator, Berry will lead the new initiative with Drs. Mallory White, assistant professor of biology and head of the Agriculture Program, who is serving as co-principal investigator. The concept of the grant is to train the next level of technicians needed in the state’s agriculture workforce.
An integral part of the project’s formation was the partnership with the project’s Business and Industry Leadership Team (BILT). Contributing as members of BILT are: Matthew Lohr, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture; Arturo Gomez Mazatan, Red Sun Farms; J. Scott Lowman, Institute for Advanced Learning and Research; Gus Brennan, Greenswell Growers; Jared Heffron, Novenesis; Stefanie Manbeck, Cattlemen’s Insurance Agency; Kate Stevens, James River High School – FFA agriculture advisor/teacher; and Walter Grigg, TORC Robotics.
“This project was shaped by our community partners and we are very grateful for their support,” said Dean of STEM and Workforce Solutions Amy White. “Our faculty investigators were very open and flexible as we began the planning process, and so we were able to be very nimble in responding to BILT’s input.”
Industry members outside of BILT also note the value of the project’s synergies. “Integrating agriculture and technology into college curricula is essential for businesses like MOVA Technologies Inc. or Vegg Inc., which provide smart solutions for the ag-tech climate,” said Luke Allison, director of advancement and communications for MOVA Technologies. Inc. The next generation of workers must be leaders in environmental stewardship as they advance technological progress. Higher education must ignite their imaginations, fostering a proactive approach to creating innovative solutions to the challenges that must arise.”
Through teamwork with Shelley Lyons, Virginia Western grants coordinator, and Dean Amy White, investigators Berry and White began preparing the grant proposal with mentoring and technical support from Mentor-Connect, which provides mentoring and technical resources to assist two-year faculty of the college to write competitive grant proposals. Mentor-Connect is an ATE project led by Florence-Darlington Technical College in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges. Virginia Western was one of 24 community colleges selected nationwide to participate in Mentor-Connect’s annual training and mentoring sessions to prepare the grant application.
“Most of the credit for our winning proposal must go to the Mentor-Connect program. I was initially skeptical that the program would adequately address our focus area. The focus on agriculture is just gaining momentum and I wasn’t sure any mentor would have experience with the topic,” Berry said. “However, the mentors worked with us constantly, pushing us to progress even though we were overwhelmed with other responsibilities. The result of this experience was not only a winning proposal; our internal team, our external network and our focus have strengthened. significantly.”
Mallory White noted the need this project will fill. “This is new territory. However, our urban college is willing to educate the community about hydroponics and controlled environment agriculture,” she said. “We have a strong science department, so it is important to take advantage of our existing programs, incorporate new courses and think ahead to meet the growing need for more advanced agricultural techniques required to ensure that more crops to grow successfully and sustainably.”
Students will be able to combine courses from the Mechatronics and Agriculture programs, plus new courses being developed, to obtain an Associate of Applied Science in Technical Studies. Because these programs already existed, there is a much smoother on-ramp than the longer process of adopting an entirely new program at the state level.
The NSF grant will support staffing, course development, and equipment to better target the focus on controlled environment agriculture. For example, the project is developing a course in vertical growing and hydroponics, which will include equipment that will also benefit the College’s Horticulture Program. “We will literally be able to cross-pollinate the fields of mechatronics and ag – mechatronics with pH sensors and meters, giving students more practice with data analysis and the ag field through understanding the technology behind hydroponics,” said Mallory White. The program also plans to benefit K-12 students.
Another way of cross-pollination involves increasing gender diversity among the current populations of Mechatronics and Agriculture programs. The Mechatronics Program enrolls more male students, while female students make up the majority of enrollments in the Agriculture Program. “One of our intended outcomes is to create a more diverse population in the programs and have men and women explore ideas within this emerging field of controlled environmental agriculture,” Berry said.
The ATE program focuses on educating technicians who work in high-tech fields that drive the country’s economy. Because community and two-year technical colleges are the primary sources of technician education in the United States, faculty from these institutions of higher education have had leadership roles in most ATE projects since the program’s inception in 1993.
“We are excited to work within our community to support the growing field of agriculture and look forward to the results of this valuable project. We strive to be good community partners and this project is yet another way that Virginia Western can be a leader in providing opportunities and resources for our students,” said Dean Amy White.
Source: virginiawestern.edu