NIU Today | University Honors joins collaborative to help students nationwide become tomorrow’s problem-solvers
NIU’s University Honors Program has joined a nationwide collaborative investigating innovative ways to develop the future workforce in the fields of food, agriculture, natural and human sciences (FANH) by leveraging the nimble and innovative framework of honors education.
Andrea Radasanu, director of the University Honors Program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture recently announced members of the collaborative as recipients of a three-year, $750,000 grant to support these initiatives.
Andrea Radasanu, NIU Honors Program director and assistant vice provost for student enhancement, serves as the coordinator of the human sciences portion of the curriculum. She will collaborate with a team of leading land-grant and minority-serving institutions in FANH programs, including official host institutions South Dakota State University, Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University and Virginia Tech.
In total, 14 institutions will be part of a nationwide network designed to develop innovative approaches for a Grand Challenge Scholars Institute and to empower systems thinking and career readiness essential for the future workforce in FANH fields.
“High-impact, collaborative, transformational learning experiences are hallmarks of honors education, and this group is leveraging honors pedagogy to provide an amazing opportunity for students,” Andrea Radasanu said. “This project takes collaboration to the next level, providing students from around the country access to top content experts and educators from participating institutions, which are diverse geographically, demographically and disciplinarily.”
Radasanu said as many as 10 NIU honors students will have opportunities beginning next fall to participate in and earn credit through the collaborative, which will be open to students from all disciplines. A call for participation will go out later this semester.
“I think it’s going to be a transformational experience for our students,” she said. “They will learn from experts nationwide.”
Radasanu said this vision was the driving force for members of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ (APLU) Council on Honors Education (CoHE) Student Opportunities Collaborative.
Over the course of a three-year project titled, “The Justice Challenge: Engaging Students in the Future of Food, Climate, and Sustainable Agriculture,” participating institutions will collaborate in exploring an annual grand challenge theme related to USDA priority areas—food justice, climate justice and sustainable agriculture.
Each year a new cohort of honors students will participate in the Grand Challenge Scholars Institute, which begins with a colloquium, introducing the students to the theme and to each other. Then, students will participate in their choice of a signature experience—field experience, design challenge or hackathon. Each one-year Institute will conclude with a culminating conference to showcase the students’ work and to enhance networks between students and leading experts in the FANH sciences.
“Our hoped-for outcome is for honors alumni of this program to enter the workforce better prepared to address the world’s greatest challenges with impactful systems approaches,” Radasanu added.
The overall objective of the project is to create a more diverse and well-prepared set of graduates in the FANH disciplines who are ready to tackle the complex challenges of today. Graduates of the program will be ready to enter the workforce with both an innovative skillset and mindset—essential in today’s world.
The project is expected to bring together more than 500 undergraduate students from across the country. Other participating institutions include the University of Toledo, University of Louisville, University of Montana, Virginia State University, California Lutheran University, Binghamton University – SUNY, Southern Illinois University, University of Illinois-Chicago, and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
