English language (EL) learners, many of whom are immigrants, face economic, social, and cultural constraints when accessing Extension programming. NFNM is an innovative program that seeks to address these constraints by developing and implementing place-based natural history curriculum for adult English language (EL) learners in the authors state.…

This chapter describes the University of Minnesota Preparing Future Faculty program, focusing on pedagogical approaches and assignments that have made the program relevant for over 20 years. It concludes with a look at the future facing graduate student professional development.

Physical activity and healthy eating are instrumental to a child's overall healthy development, resulting in a number of positive outcomes, like better academic performance and lower risk of depression. Yet, most young people are not meeting the recommended daily amount of physical activity, are not eating enough vegetables or fruits, and are…

The CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) announce the inaugural winners of the Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) Equity Awards, recognizing strategies that have been proven to put CPL in reach of key adult learner populations and/or increase their CPL credit-earning.…

The Policy Practice in Field Initiative was created to seed innovation and develop new models for an integrated approach to enhance the policy skill set of all social work students regardless of specialization. Funds provided to the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) are regranted to schools and programs of social work for field placement and…

This article focuses on designing and conducting action research in diverse settings. Action research is a collaborative approach to problem solving. It involves consultative problem identification, reflects context, encourages reflexive examination, and ultimately encourages and empowers beneficiaries for desirable change. In that regard, it puts…

Institutions of higher education frequently acknowledge their role in contributing to the common good through their mission statements. The current literature suggests that in order to be effective mission statements must be clearly articulated and reflected in all the activities of the institution including its curriculum. Faculty members at…

Research and writing are critical components of an undergraduate education. Partnerships between economics faculty and campus resources can improve student research and writing skills. Here, the authors describe programs at three different campuses that bridge department and campus resources: the Empirical Reasoning Lab at Barnard College, the…

Flexibility, creativity, and collaboration are required to successfully meet the needs of each school when scaling up family engagement programs across a diverse range of communities. Flexibility, creativity, and collaboration are required to successfully meet the needs of each school when scaling up family engagement programs across a diverse…

The University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development made an organizational decision in 2011 to invest in a system-wide approach to implement youth program quality into the 4-H program using the Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA) tool. This article describes the four key components to the Minnesota Youth Program Quality…

Over the last twenty-five years, the Minnesota Historical Society, the University of Minnesota Libraries, and Minitex have developed a partnership centered on creating pathways to higher education by engaging local middle school and high school students in immersive programs at academic libraries. These activities vary in scope and content, but…

The effective recruitment and retention of faculty of color continue to present major challenges to universities, in part, because the normal search process in higher education has been largely unsuccessful at diversifying faculty. Therefore, universities have implemented alternative strategies to recruit and retain scholars of color, including…

Vocational Education, Community Training, and Occupational Relations Program (VECTOR) serves a variety of students with disabilities, about one-third of whom are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf/blind. As part of what the federal government calls a "traditionally underserved population," these students come from the homes of immigrants and…

Metro Deaf School (MDS), located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is one of the first charter schools in the nation. MDS, provides a bilingual environment in ASL and English for deaf and hard of hearing students, ages 3-21, in pre-K through high school. In its 20 years of operation, MDS has seen its students become more diverse, and with the diversity…

According to the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education, a "promising practice is any technique used that has a positive impact on students and has some data to support the claims made." Sources of this data range from experimental research to district- or state-level data analysis, but they must provide…