Cultivate & Evaluate - Tucson Village Farm VIP Team
Goals
Our team focuses on evaluating the educational, health, and workforce development impacts of internships at Tucson Village Farm (TVF), a seed-to-table youth farm promoting nutrition, sustainability, and leadership through experiential learning.
TVF is a 4-H Youth Development, seed-to-table program designed to reconnect young people to a healthy food system, teach them how to grow and prepare fresh food, and empower them to make healthy life choices. A University of Arizona (UA) program through Pima County Cooperative Extension, TVF is a working urban farm and healthy living center that fosters life and leadership skills in young people through agriculture, culinary education, outdoor adventure opportunities, and community engagement. Learn more here: Tucson Village Farm Website.
Each semester as many as 50 UA students engage with the farm through internships, classes, experiential learning projects and volunteering (collectively referred to as TVF interns). During their time at the farm, TVF Interns may engage with community members while delivering educational programming, contribute to farm work (planting, harvesting, weeding, composting, etc.), and participate in food processing, preparation, and recipe development. The objective of the VIP team is to evaluate the impact that being a TVF intern has on college student education, wellbeing, and skills so that we can continue to improve on the experience we provide, share our best practices with other Cooperative Extension programs, and utilize findings to promote TVF Internships to college students, faculty and staff.
Issues Involved or Addressed
The project will be co-designed and implemented at the Tucson Village Farm by the VIP team. This plan will contribute to evaluating the impact of working at TVF on college student’s learning and will be replicable in future years to continuously improve the experience of students volunteering at on the farm.
Major topics involved and addressed:
- Experiential Learning
- Food Systems
- Intervention Research
- Nutrition and Dietetics Practice
- Community Engagement
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
- Program Evaluation
Methods and Tech
TVF is a fast-paced environment and working educational urban farm that engages community members and students across numerous programs, such as school field trips and leadership programs, and activities, such as food production, processing and distribution. Students in this VIP will gain hands-on experience with:
- Collecting data via qualitative and quantitative methods
- Analyzing and reporting data
- Public speaking
- Managing projects
- Stakeholder engagement
- Working in teams
- Leadership
Academic Majors of Interest
We are open to all majors.
Preferred Interests and Preparation
Skills:
- Ability to work independently and create deliverables with little supervision
- Ability to work as part of a team
- Ability to engage with diverse audiences
- Willingness to learn Qualtrics, Excel, and other programs
- Willingness to learn to design infographics and communicate outcomes visually
Application Process
To express interest in this team, please complete the VIP Interest Form and when completing select "Cultivate & Evaluate - Tucson Village Farm VIP Team."
This team accepts students at the start of each semester.
This team accepts students for credit.
Team Advisors
Kayle Skorupski, PhD, MS, RDN-AP, CNSC, FAND