SECONDARY and TWO-YEAR POSTSECONDARY

SECONDARY EDUCATION, TWO-YEAR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, and

AGRICULTURE IN THE K-12 CLASSROOM CHALLENGE GRANTS

PROGRAM SUMMARY -- FY 2010

Higher Education Programs
Science and Education Resources Development
National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Launched in 1999,(and originally titled ‘Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants’)this program is administered by the USDA Office of Higher Education Programs by authority contained in Section 7109 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-246), that amended Section 1417(j) of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 19777 (U.S.C. 3152(j)). This program awards grants to eligible public secondary schools, and to two-year postsecondary institutions,to strengthen education in the broad areas of agriscience and agribusiness. Beginning in FY 2002, eligibility was extended to include applications from two-year postsecondary institutions offering the associate degree.Then in FY 2009, eligibility was further extended to include applications focused on Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom, and eligible applicants were also expanded to include colleges and universities and non-profit organizations. With this change, the grant program name was changed to: ‘Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants’ (SPECA)

The purpose of the SPECA Grants Program is to promote and strengthen teaching programsin agriscience and agribusiness, at secondary and 2-year postsecondary institutions, by enhancing curricula,increasing faculty teaching competencies, promoting higher education to prepare students for scientific and professional careers, incorporating agriscience or agribusiness subject matter into other instructional programs, facilitating joint initiatives among other educational institutions, and to respond to identified State, regional, national or international educational needs.

Applications may be submitted by any public secondary school, by any public or privatenonprofit community or junior college, by eligible colleges and universities,or by a non-profit organization. The above applicants must demonstrate a commitment to teaching agriscience and agribusiness.

For the FY 2010 award cycle, a total of $900,518was available for project grant awards after subtracting administrative costs. This amount was further divided into two groups: applications from secondary schools (including Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom category) and applications from two-year, postsecondary institutions.

From this point forward in this document, summary information is grouped and reported by either the Secondary School Group or by the Two-Year, Postsecondary Institution Group.

Secondary Schools (including Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom) – Group Summary

FY 2010

A total of 52institutions submitted applications requesting $1,943,620.A total of $764,367 was available for awards. In March 2010, asixteen-member peer review panel evaluated these applications. The peer panel included faculty members from secondary schools, two-year postsecondary, land grant and non-land grant colleges and universities, and practitioners from the food and agricultural sciences community. Funds were available to support a total of 20 awards.Sevenprojects were formal Joint Project Proposals requiring partnerships between two or more institutions.

The following tables summarize just this year’s Secondary School Group of the Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants program:

Table 1A. FUNDS REQUESTED/AWARDED BY EMPHASIS AREAS
FY 2010Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and
Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants
Secondary Schools – Group Summary
ACADEMIC
DISCIPLINE AREAS / NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS / AMOUNT OF FUNDS
Requested / Awarded / Requested / Awarded*
General / 11 / 5 / $385,770 / $179,457
Agriscience / 12 / 4 / $456,623 / $148,337
Agribusiness / 0 / 0 / $0 / $0
Animal Sciences / 5 / 1 / $124,721 / $33,540
Plant Sciences / 4 / 1 / $184,450 / $ 47,914
Conservation/Renewable Resources / 2 / 1 / $85,000 / $ 33,540
Food Science/Technology & Manufacturing / 1 / 0 / $35,000 / $0
Ag Social Science inc. Ag Education / 12 / 5 / $456,392 / $195,981
Aquaculture / 2 / 2 / $81,422 / $ 78,025
Related Biological Sciences / 3 / 1 / $134,241 / $ 47,573
TOTALS / 52 / 20 / $1,943,620 / $764,367

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* Not all programs request the maximum funds allowed per institution under this grant ($35,000 - Regular Proposals, or $50,000 - Joint Project Proposals). These amounts represent the total Federal dollars awarded to each lead institution, including the funds that will be subcontracted to collaborating institutions for joint projects. With fund transfer restrictions taken into account, no single institution will receive more than $35,000 (Regular or Joint proposals). All funded projects in this grants program require 1:1 non-Federal matching funds. Matching funds are not reflected in these Federal award amounts.

Two-Year, Postsecondary Institutions – Group Summary – FY 2010

A total of 13 institutions submitted applications requesting $ 492,460. A total of $136,151 was available for awards. In March 2010, a four-member peer review panel evaluated these applications. The panel comprised faculty members from two-year postsecondary, land grant and non-land grant colleges and universities, and practitioners from the food and agricultural sciences community.

Funds were available to support a total of 4 awards.Oneof these projects was a formal Joint Project Proposals requiring partnerships between two or more institutions.

The following tables summarize just this year’s Two-Year, Postsecondary Institution Group of the Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants program:

Table 1B. FUNDS REQUESTED/AWARDED BY EMPHASIS AREAS
FY 2010Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and
Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants
Two-Year, Postsecondary Institutions – Group Summary
TARGET ACADEMIC
EMPHASIS AREAS / NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS / AMOUNT OF FUNDS
Requested / Awarded / Requested / Awarded*
General / 4 / 0 / $155,806 / $0
Agriscience / 0 / 0 / $0 / $0
Agribusiness / 2 / 1 / $82,536 / $33,520
Animal Sciences / 1 / 0 / $35,000 / $0
Plant Sciences / 3 / 2 / $85,802 / $ 55,390
Conservation/Renewable Resources / 1 / 1 / $49,298 / $47,241
Food Science/Technology & Manufacturing / 0 / 0 / $0 / $0
Ag Social Science inc. Ag Education / 2 / 0 / $84,018 / $0
Aquaculture / 0 / 0 / $0 / $0
Related Biological Sciences / 0 / 0 / $0 / $0
TOTALS / 13 / 4 / $492,460 / $136,151

Table 3. FUNDED PROJECT INFORMATION and DESCRIPTIONS
FY 2010Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education, and
Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants
Combined Secondary Schools Two-Year, Postsecondary Institutions
Accessthe following link: FY 2010 SPEC Funded Abstracts* to display project information. Data is from the CSREES Current Research Information System (CRIS) database. Projects are posted at this location once the award is official.
*CRIS URL is =