A&T School of Agriculture Receives Capacity Building Grants

November 18, 1996

Greensboro, NC: Four members of the North Carolina A&T School of Agriculture faculty have been notified that their projects will receive funding from USDA's 1890 Institution Teaching and Research Capacity Building Grants Program.

Carolyn Turner, M. R. Reddy, Manuel Reyes and Perry Howard will receive funding totalling $852,514 for their programs. Turner, Howard and Reyes' grants will be used for instructional enhancement, while Reddy's grant will be targeted for research.

The 1890 Institution Teaching and Research Capacity Building Grants Program is designed to strengthen collaboration among the 1890 institutions, and with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and private industry. Other goals include advancing cultural diversity in the food and agricultural fields, and enhancing the quality of teaching and research programs at historically black land grant institutions.

The Capacity Building Grants Program is competitive, and is administered by the Higher Education Programs office in the Science and Education Resources Development division of the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.

The program provides grants for teaching and research projects in high priority areas. Project coordinators are encouraged to seek matching support from non-federal sources, and cooperation with one or more USDA agencies is required.

Funded projects include:

* Internship Success: Student Professional Development and Career Placement, a project directed by Dr. Carolyn Turner, an associate professor with the Housing Research Program at A&T, is directed toward developing a model internship program.

The project's goal is to develop an internship program, to be shared with other universities, which will enhance experiential learning, assist in job placement, and improve minority presence in the food and family sciences.

To accomplish this goal, the NC A&T Department of Human Environment and Family Sciences project will: create linkages with industry, agencies and universities; use state-of-the-art educational applications and manuals to support and enhance the internship program; and share products and procedures with other universities through a variety of outlets, including teleconferences, the Internet, and workshops.

This project received $202,480 in funding from Capacity Building Grants Program.

* Poultry Manure Management in Cropland for Sustainable Agroecosystems and Environment, a project directed by Dr. M. R. Reddy, a professor of soil science with NC A&T's School of Agriculture, will research the efficient use and management of poultry manure as a fertilizer, soil amendment, and for sustainability.

The poultry manure project comes in response to North Carolina's extensive involvement in poultry production and environmental concerns regarding poultry waste disposal. Grant funds will be used to purchase research equipment and to enhance student and faculty expertise through collaboration with USDA's Agricultural Research Service.

Reddy's project received $268,911.

* Strengthening A&T's Instructional Capabilities in Erosion and Water Quality Modeling, a project directed by Manuel Reyes, assistant professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, will enhance erosion and water quality modeling efforts.

Funds provided to the erosion and water quality modeling project will be used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment, and to develop collaboration with public and private agencies specializing in erosion and water quality.

This project received $191,250.

* Incorporating Digital Media into the Landscape Architectural Curriculum, a project directed by Perry Howard, associate professor of Landscape Architecture, will enhance student capabilities to address complex problems pertaining to environmental and land use issues.

To accomplish this goal, project designers plan to restructure the landscape architecture curriculum, and train students and faculty members in using digital media to develop strategies in landscape architecture.
The landscape architecture project received $189,873.