Archive

USDA HSI Education Grant

BGREEN - BuildinG a Regional Energy and Educational Network: A Partnership to Integrate Efforts and Collaboration to Shape Tomorrow’s Hispanic Sustainable Energy Leaders

PI: Dr. Tongdan Jin  Co-PIs: Jesus Jimenez, Carl Richardson  

Partners: University of Texas at El Paso, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, New Mexico State University

Purpose: Strengthen institutional educational capacities, curriculum, faculty, instruction delivery systems, and student recruitment and retention; attract and support undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups in order to prepare them for careers related to the food, agricultural, and natural resource systems of the United States, beginning with the mentoring of students at the high school level and continuing with the provision of financial support for students through their attainment of a doctoral degree.


USDA HSI Education Grant

Boots to Roots: Preparing Female Veterans and Hispanic Veterans in the Agricultural and STEM Degrees

PI: Ken Mix  Co-PI: Nicole Wagner

Purpose: The awarded funds target female veteran and Hispanic veterans, whose employment in professional positions is not in proportion to the general population. The outcome will be an ongoing program recruiting military veterans and Hispanic students into agricultural related degree programs.

USDA news story


USED DHSI-Cooperative

Career and Financial Education (CAFE): A Graduation Success and Career Readiness Initiative at Texas State University and Del Mar College

PI: Nick Weimer

Purpose: Career and Financial Education (CAFE) is an innovative program that exists to assist Texas State students in learning how to successfully transition from the university to professional schools or enter the workforce. The program’s primary goal is bringing juniors and seniors to new levels of career readiness and financial awareness. Funded by a Title V grant, CAFE offers career readiness workshops, financial education events, one-on-one financial coaching, personalized graduation preparation, and academic coaching.


NSF PREM

Center on Interfaces in Materials: A Partnership with the Research Triangle MRSEC

PI: Bill Brittain

Partner: Duke University

Purpose: Texas State to partner with the Research Triangle MRSEC to pursue studies in colloid and protein assembly.  Research will be integrated in education and outreach via Propagation of Knowledge through Shared Mentorship, a model for collaboration between educational levels ensuring a pipeline for increased participation in the STEM disciplines.

The goal of the NSF program – titled Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials – is to broaden participation and increase diversity in materials research and education. The program creates partnerships between existing MRSECs and minority serving institutions with a goal of increasing the number of under-represented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

Award press release


NASA Minority University Research Education and Project (MUREP)

FAMA – Future Aerospace-Engineers and Mathematicians Academy

PI: Araceli Ortiz  Co-PIs: Laura Amaya, Alejandra Sorto, Hiroko Warshauer

Purpose: The Texas State University – FAMA – Future Aerospace-Engineers and Mathematicians Academy program aims to increase participation and retention of historically underserved and underrepresented students in STEM disciplines by offering early space-based STEM learning experiences for upper elementary-middle school students, family outreach and professional development for pre-service teachers. The project will impact over 250 elementary and middle school students per year by providing them with intriguing summer programs, periodic academic-year follow-up sessions, and engaging family community programs. In addition, an Aerospace Education Laboratory (AEL) will be equipped with computers, laptops, cellular-based devices and basic robotics kits at a partner community center to enhance the technological literacy development of program students. Targeted educator professional development workshops for educators will also be offered, from which instructors will be recruited to facilitate the summer student programs.

Press release


DOD HBCU/MI Award 

Large-Scale Partial-Duplicate Image Retrieval and Its Applications

PI: Lucy Lu

Purpose: This project systematically investigates problems in large-scale partial-duplicate image retrieval and proposes effective approaches to solve them. Compared with general images, partial duplicate images have some intrinsic properties such as high repeatability of local features, consistent local patch appearance, and stable spatial configuration. This study will have broad impact in many promising applications, including tattoo image retrieval, surveillance video search, image encyclopedia, mobile landmark and product search.

Faculty profile

Press release


USED DHSI-Individual

Mentoring and Academic Coaching: Foundations for Student Success at Texas State

PI: Dann Brown

Purpose: A U.S. Department of Education grant helped support two programs: 1) Enhancing Student Success through Mentoring, and 2) Strengthening Achievement and Developing Financial Literacy through Academic Coaching

Project Maestros aims to develop a transfer success team that will improve and expand the transfer student pipeline with Austin Community College and Alamo Community College District campuses through communication, information exchange, transfer orientation and timely articulation of credits prior to and upon matriculation to the university. The project will support achievement of student goals for postsecondary completion and transition to the workforce. In addition, it is expected to enhance students’ success in the future profession as a result of skills developed through professional development that improve career achievement and satisfaction.

Project Maestros website

Press release


USDA HSI Education Grant

Southwest Agriculture And Food Security Education: Preparing Future Leaders For A Safe And Secure U.S. Food Supply System (SAFE)

PI: Dr. Doug Morrish

Partners: Austin Community College (ACC), Southwest Texas Junior College (SWTJC), New Mexico State University

Purpose:  Will fund 10 community college undergraduate students' education. Upon completion of a two-year course of study, students will transfer to Texas State University and complete a bachelor degree in agriculture or a related science. Additionally, 11 graduate students' education will be funded at Texas State University and/or New Mexico State University in agriculture or a related science. Through the SAFE grant, all 21 students will become certified by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the course entitled Preparedness and Response to Food and Agriculture Incidents: Management and Planning Level, and five online Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) e-learning courses related to agriculture and food supply safety. Furthermore, all students will engage in: day-long USDA and DHS job shadowing activities, a summer USDA or DHS internship, attend a national and/or a regional research conference, and a professional development consortium. Students will gain six certifications offered by DHS and FEMA and an immense amount of experience with food security, food safety, and agroterrorism, thus helping narrow the gap of underrepresented students in food and agricultural sciences. 

Press release