The Office of Multicultural Programs in Agriculture has a goal of helping students grow academically, personally, and professionally.  Dr. Pamala Morris, was recently named Assistant Dean and Director of Diversity Programs in Agriculture. Dr. Morris will be responsible for development and administration of multicultural and gender-based programs for students, staff and faculty throughout the college.

These include: 

Purdue chapter of MANRRS (Minorities in Agriculture and Natural Resources and Related Sciences)
There is a great need to expose multicultural students to careers in agriculture related areas. Companies such as Dow AgroSciences, Cargill, and USDA - NRCS and FSA have been invited to attend campus MANRRS meetings, including the MANRRS Regional Conference held on campus Nov. 5-6, 2004, to educate students on the employment opportunities with their companies/agencies.  

High School Associations
To gain a greater focus in the high school arena, linkages have been established with a number of high schools which have large minority populations. Continued outreach efforts with STAR Academy, Indianapolis and GATE, Fort Wayne are being redeveloped to increase exposure and participation of students with Purdue Agriculture. Purdue University initiated a Science Bound Program with the Indianapolis School Corporation to encourage students to pursue careers in science, engineering, technology, and agriculture.  A summer camp called Agriculture Exploration designed to introduce 8th and 9th graders to the breadth of opportunities available in agriculture was initiated in 2004. 

Multicultural Scholars Program
A grant was obtained from the USDA to recruit and retain five outstanding high school seniors from around the country.  This program provided the impetus to initiate a formal advising, mentoring, and tutoring program to assist all students with aspects of their academic and personal lives. 

Recruitment Trips
Dr. Gale has initiated a series of recruiting trips in order to establish and maintain strong collaborative arrangements with targeted Historically Black Institutions (HBIs) and 1890 Institutions.  In the past year she has traveled to Tuskegee University, Fort Valley, Alabama A & M, North Carolina A & T, Florida A & M, Atlanta University, and others. 

These trips have resulted in new relationships, including exchange visits of faculty between Purdue and the HBI. 

Agriculture Summer Research Program
The School of Agriculture has offered Summer Research Program for qualified undergraduate students at other universities since 1987.  Six to ten students are invited to come and do research with a faculty mentor for eight weeks.

The goal of this program is to encourage qualified students to pursue graduate education and eventually take leadership positions in government, industry or academia.   Special evening sessions are offered to help the students prepare for GRE exams, develop application materials for graduate school, and learn about careers in that require PhD degrees. Cultural, educational, and recreational activities are offered on the weekends.  This program is now offered in collaboration with the MARC/AIM Summer Research Opportunity Program that is sponsored by the Purdue Graduate School and the network of similar programs offered at other Midwest universities. 

Other Facilities and Programs
Purdue University provides a number of other programs and facilities that focus on providing a welcoming environment for all people.  Among these are the Black Cultural Center , the Latino Cultural Center , the HORIZONS Program, and LSAMP.  Numerous student organizations provide additional support for diverse students on campus.

Diversity in the Classroom
A new academic unit exploring diversity was recently introduced into our Introduction to Agriculture course, AG 101, required for all first year students in our School.

The Department of Agricultural Economics has begun incorporating units on diversity into their introductory course.  These are being coordinated with the one in AG 101 in order to build a planned sequence of experiences for our students. 

In addition to these single units that are being infused into ongoing introductory course, we have prepared a list of courses offered at Purdue University with substantial diversity and gender content.  This list has been shared with academic advisors with the recommendation that they encourage students to include one or more of these courses within their programs.  Arrangements have been made to send similar lists to advisors each semester before registration.  These courses can satisfy core requirements in Humanities, Social Sciences, or communications.  Baseline data has been obtained on the frequency with which these courses have been taken by SOA students, and these numbers will be monitored each semester.  Click here for the course list for the this semester (doc).