Project Grant 20213843035536

**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THREE SCHOLARS WILL BE ADDED TO BE PROGRAM. EACH SCHOLAR WILL BE PROVIDED A PARTIAL SCHOLARSHIP RANGING FROM $2,000 TO $10,000 EVERY YEAR BEGINNING IN FALL 2020 (I.E., CLASS OF CLASS OF 2024) AND ENDING IN SPRING 2024 (I.E., CLASS OF 2027) (NOTE: THIS TIMELINE DEPENDS OF THE EXACT AWARD DATE - ADJUSTMENTS MAY BE NEEDED). THE TOTAL AWARD OVER EIGHT SEMESTERS WILL BE VALUED AT A MINIMUM OF $8,000 TO A MAXIMUM OF $40,000 PER SCHOLAR. THE SCHOLARSHIP WILL BE POSTED TO THE STUDENT'S ACCOUNT BY THE UAPB OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AID, AND IS EXPECTED TO COMPLEMENT OTHER FINANCIAL SOURCES THE STUDENT WILL LIKELY HAVE. FOR EXAMPLE, MOST UAPB STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR FEDERAL PELL GRANTS, FEDERALLY-BACKED STUDENT LOANS, AND NUMEROUS SMALLER SCHOLARSHIPS FROM FOUNDATIONS, CHURCHES, AND OTHER SIMILAR ORGANIZATIONS. IN-STATE STUDENTS ALSO MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR ARKANSAS LOTTERY SCHOLARSHIPS AND ARKANSAS GAME AND FISH COMMISSION (AGFC) CONSERVATION SCHOLARSHIPS. AS FOR SYSTEMS AND MECHANISMS TO COLLECT PROGRAM DATA, AWARDS CAN BE TRACKED WITH A SIMPLE SPREADSHEET GIVEN THE NUMBER OF AWARDS EXPECTED (153 AWARDS TOTAL). THE SPREADSHEET WILL CONTAIN EACH AWARD (I.E., SCHOLAR) ON A SINGLE ROW, WITH COLUMNS REPRESENTING DIFFERENT BENCHMARKS ACHIEVED (E.G., CREDITS COMPLETED THROUGH A CERTAIN YEAR, CUMULATIVE GPA ATTAINED BY THAT YEAR, LIST OF COURSES NOT PASSED, ETC.). SHOULD ANY SCHOLARS LOSE THEIR SCHOLARSHIP FOR ANY REASON, FUNDS COMMITTED TO THAT SCHOLAR WILL BE RECONSTITUTED INTO ANOTHER AWARD FOR A SCHOLAR IN THE NEXT COHORT.II. STRATEGIES FOR EVALUATING PROGRAM SUCCESSANNUAL RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATES OF SCHOLARS WILL BE TRACKED AND COMPARED TO UAPB AVERAGES, AND WHEN POSSIBLE, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL AVERAGES (E.G., FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION AND INFORMATION SYSTEM [FAEIS]). WITHIN NIFA, IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO COMPARE RETENTION AND GRADUATION RATES OF THESE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS ACROSS THE DIFFERENT 1890 INSTITUTIONS.III. STRATEGIES FOR INCORPORATING FEEDBACK INTO THE PROGRAMSCHOLARS WILL PROVIDE COMMENTS ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE EACH YEAR WHILE IN SCHOOL, WHICH WILL BE USED TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS IN A FEEDBACK FASHION. HOWEVER, GIVEN THE RELATIVELY BRIEF DURATION OF THIS GRANT, LONGER-TERM FEEDBACK LOOPS WILL PROBABLY NOT BE POSSIBLE. THESE TYPES OF FEEDBACK LOOPS TAKE MANY YEARS AND MUCH DATA TO BE DEVELOPED, BY WHICH TIME THIS GRANT WILL HAVE ENDED.IV. DEFINED APPROACH FOR LONGITUDINAL TRACKING OF SCHOLARS POST-GRADUATIONAS FOR THE NUMBER OF SCHOLARS THAT GAIN EMPLOYMENT RELEVANT TO THEIR DEGREES FOLLOWING GRADUATION, THESE CAN BE COMPILED AS SCHOLARS GRADUATE AND COMPARED TO OTHER UAPB MAJORS, PROVIDED THOSE DATA ARE AVAILABLE. SPECIAL EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ON THE NUMBERS AND PERCENTAGE OF B.S. GRADUATES THAT WORK IN THE FIELD IMMEDIATELY POST-GRADUATION AND 10 YEARS LATER. THESE FIGURES WILL PROVIDE SOME INDICATION OF THE OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SCHOLARS PROGRAM AS WELL AS RETENTION OF GRADUATES IN THE FIELD.GRADUATE FOLLOW-UP WILL BE OVERSEEN BY THE PROGRAM COORDINATOR MENTIONED ABOVE.