By Karen Cotton
Wash Jones, associate professor of agriculture in Prairie View A&M University’s College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, is looking forward to the opportunities the recent funding of a half-million dollars in scholarship funding from the USDA-National Institute of Food And Agriculture will provide for students.
“Our students need scholarship assistance, and this is one way of helping students achieve their goals and get involved with the USDA,” said Jones. “The scholarships will serve as an enticement to bring more students into the college, and possibly a career with the USDA in the future.”
The awarding of this next phase of funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture-funded Passport to Careers in Agriculture Scholarships Program demonstrates the level of excellence in maintaining strong relations with federal funding agencies, as well as being an exemplary steward of the managing the funding and change the lives and career trajectory of deserving students,” said Magesh Rajan, Ph.D., P.E., MBA, vice president of Research & Innovation. “This award assures PVAMU will continue to attract and recruit students into our outstanding agriculture research and innovation programs.”
Jones currently serves as Chief Academic Advisor and Chair of the CAHS Scholarship Committee in the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Human Ecology at PVAMU and has over 15 years of research and teaching experience.
Jones is focused on ensuring students are career-ready, stating, “We promote them doing study abroad experiences, and summer internships.” Both components are required to receive the CAHS Passport to Careers in Agriculture scholarships.
This funding can impact PVAMU students by providing a pathway to careers in the USDA and agriculture and making them more marketable upon graduation. The National Association of Colleges and Employers organization, which focuses on career readiness, listed several core competencies, some of which Jones sets as expectations for student participants.
Students are instilled with skills on the NACE list, including critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, communication skills, technical skills, and global understanding.
“As a Carnegie R2 university, students will have the opportunity to be involved with research on the undergraduate level,” said Jones. Participants are encouraged to get more “high-impact” practices, including research, studying abroad, and summer internships.
To be eligible to participate in the program, you must be an incoming freshman or transfer student with a major in an agriculture program. Jones said there are currently 32 students in the program.
“This funding will allow us to draw in more students. We have a goal of ‘double-in-five.’ We plan to double the enrollment within the College in five years.”
“I’m looking forward to more students achieving their objectives of having a job before graduation and getting that undergraduate experience we are promoting during this program,” said Jones.
