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NSF Org: |
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | June 21, 2019 |
Latest Amendment Date: | July 30, 2021 |
Award Number: | 1902427 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Jill Nelson
DUE Division Of Undergraduate Education EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
Start Date: | July 15, 2019 |
End Date: | June 30, 2023 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $385,929.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $385,929.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2400 W BRADLEY AVE CHAMPAIGN IL US 61821-1806 (217)353-2167 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
2400 W Bradley Ave Champaign IL US 61821-1899 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | Advanced Tech Education Prog |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
Advanced Applicator Technicians mix and/or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical applications. These jobs are critical for the modern agriculture industry as they help ensure strong yields for farmers and agriculture management companies. As the agriculture sector continues to modernize and become more precision-based, the Applicator Technician position is also modernizing and now requires greater technical expertise and training. Due to the shortage of a qualified candidate pool, agribusiness organizations often struggle to fill applicator positions. Existing programs at community colleges are designed for either general agriculture or equipment technicians and do not specifically address the specialized knowledge required by an Applicator Technician. The goal of this project is to meet the educational and training needs of this critical sector by preparing highly skilled technicians and creating pathways for educational advancement in the state of Illinois.
The project will create four new courses, a professional certificate program, and a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree to prepare students and incumbent workers for careers as Advanced Applicator Technicians. The creation of these credentials builds on previously developed precision agriculture coursework through Parkland's prior NSF-ATE funded Precision Agriculture Curriculum Enhancement project. Additionally, the project will build relationships with high schools and industries, to increase understanding and interest in the Applicator Technician sector, thus contributing to a regional workforce pipeline. The project will also seek to improve the representation of veterans in the precision agriculture sector to ensure agribusiness industries have a diverse workforce. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The CAAT, or Curriculum for Advanced Applicator Technicians, project provided funding for Parkland College to create an Advanced Applicator Technician program to provide specialized knowledge and training required of both new and incumbent workforce members. Over the course of this project, four new courses were created, along with a new certificate and new A.A.S. degree program.
The two main goals of the project were:
1) Create courses and credentials for the Applicator Technician role in the precision agriculture industry.
2) Expand interest in Applicator Technician jobs and enrollment in the newly-developed Advanced Applicator Technician program.
The project began year-1 during the 2019-2020 academic year, and felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in regards to the ability of faculty to travel and the ability of students to participate in in‑person classroom instruction for a significant amount of time. Despite those challenges, the initial cohort of students enrolled in the Advanced Applicator Technician program was strong with a headcount of 10 students. The 2nd and 3rd cohorts started with a total of 7 students combined and ended with 5 students. As the project moved into subsequent years, a no-cost extension year was granted due to the limited ability to pursue project goals during the pandemic.
The project experienced the following outcomes across the funding period:
- Creation of 4 new Applicator Technician courses
- Creation of an Ag Retail Operations Certificate
- Creation of an Advanced Applicator Technician A.A.S. Degree
- Offering of a variety of activities through which information on the Precision Agriculture and Advanced Applicator Technician programs and career opportunities were disseminated
- Strong engagement, collaboration, and commitment from a continuously growing number of industry partners
- Participation in, and presentation at, NSF ATE-PI conferences
- Administration of Advisory Board surveys and annual meetings
- Hosted multiple events for hands-on learning and community engagement, including: career fairs with industry partners, open houses, focused events targeting underserved or under-represented elementary-, middle-, and high school districts, attendance at state and regional industry conferences and annual meetings, workshops for high school teachers and counselors
- The project was unable to attract and enroll any students into the program that identified as having veteran status
- Despite working very well with industry partners, the program was unable to enroll any incumbent workers during the project period
The project was successful, overall. Some of the challenges presented in the early years of the project were unfortunate, but also helped to demonstrate the extremely high value of the ability to provide hands-on education and training in technical fields. The high-demand for technicians has grown markedly each year, and continues to grow to this day, as verified by discussion and feedback at each and every industry meeting and advisory board meeting the project has been a part of. Many lessons learned and observations made throughout the scope of the CAAT project are instrumental in forming plans to revise the Advanced Applicator Technician Program to more swiftly meet the needs of industry and provide it with the growing workforce it needs.
Last Modified: 02/22/2024
Modified by: Charles R Mitsdarfer
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