San Diego, California – The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has allocated $15 million to support
Hispanic-serving institutions in bolstering higher education in the field of agriculture. $400,000 will be awarded to the San Diego Mesa College SEEDS Scholars: Awareness,
Preparation, and Training Program. NIFA aims to equip undergraduate students with
the necessary tools to pursue rewarding careers in food and agriculture across various
sectors.
The SEEDS Scholars program offers a comprehensive approach to guiding students towards
FANH (Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences) disciplines. By providing
experiential learning opportunities such as informational interviews, paid internships,
and engaging activities with USDA partners, farmers, social justice organizations,
academic researchers, and garden educators, community college students will be exposed
to a wide range of potential careers in the industry.
One of the main objectives of the SEEDS Scholars program is to increase awareness
among Latinx students about FANH career pathways, with a focus on mission-critical
occupations. The program also aims to prepare students through workshops, job shadowing,
field trips, and mentoring opportunities with FANH employers, ultimately providing
them with the skills needed to thrive in FANH careers.
"I'm proud that we can offer paid internships so students can apply what they learn
in the classroom and develop their professional skills related to food justice, food
security, and natural resources. By addressing sustainability and equity issues with
the food system, student participants have the opportunity to use their talents to
address one of the most pressing issues of our time: food security in the context
of climate change," said Waverly Ray, San Diego Mesa College Professor of Geography.
Project methods for the SEEDS Scholars program include a career readiness work experience
course, internship placements, job shadowing experiences, informational interviews,
and field trips with FANH employers. Evaluation methods will involve pretest-posttest
surveys, workshop and field trip evaluations, mentoring program assessments, and annual
focus groups and interviews conducted by an external evaluator to measure the impact
of the program.
For more information on the San Diego Mesa College SEEDS Scholars program visit https://sdmesa.edu/seeds.
This work is supported by the SEEDS Scholars: Awareness, Preparation, and Training
Program, grant no. 2024-77040-43180, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National
Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations
expressed on this communication are those of the authors and should not be construed
to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.
About Mesa San Diego Mesa College
San Diego Mesa College is a fully accredited, comprehensive college committed to equity
and excellence. We honor our diverse community of students, faculty, professional
staff, and administrators who collaborate to foster scholarship, leadership, access,
and innovation in an inclusive learning environment. By promoting student learning
and achievement that leads to degrees and certificates, transfer, workforce training,
and lifelong learning, we empower our students to reach their educational goals and
shape their future. Among the largest community colleges in California, Mesa serves
approximately 29,000 students per year, 25% of whom are full-time. Mesa offers over
200 associate degree and certificate programs and is one of 15 California community
colleges offering a four-year baccalaureate degree. Mesa ranks as one of San Diego’s
top transfer institutions, is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), an Asian
American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI), and
a Military Friendly Gold Status School, serving nearly 2,500 active duty, veterans,
and their families. www.sdmesa.edu
Tags: SEEDS Scholar Program, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Waverly Ray, U.S. Department of Agriculture
