82 FR 35928 - Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders Regarding the Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) and the National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program: Stakeholder and Public Listening Session

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
National Institute of Food and Agriculture

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 147 (August 2, 2017)

As part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) strategy to successfully meet the needs of its stakeholders, NIFA will host a virtual listening session. The focus of the listening session is to gather stakeholder input for the Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) and the National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program Request for Applications (RFA) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. NIFA is particularly interested achieving the most impact and identifying suggested priorities in these workforce development programs.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 147 (Wednesday, August 2, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35928-35929]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-16259]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

National Institute of Food and Agriculture


Solicitation of Input From Stakeholders Regarding the Higher 
Education Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) and the National Needs 
Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program: Stakeholder 
and Public Listening Session

AGENCY: National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of web-based listening session and request for 
stakeholder input.

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SUMMARY: As part of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's 
(NIFA) strategy to successfully meet the needs of its stakeholders, 
NIFA will host a virtual listening session. The focus of the listening 
session is to gather stakeholder input for the Higher Education 
Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP) and the National Needs Graduate 
and Postgraduate Fellowship (NNF) Grants Program Request for 
Applications (RFA) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2018. NIFA is particularly 
interested achieving the most impact and identifying suggested 
priorities in these workforce development programs.

DATES: The listening session will be held on Thursday, August 24, 2017 
from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Anyone 
interested may submit written comments. All written comments must be 
submitted to Dr. Joyce Parker at [email protected] by 5 p.m. 
EDT on August 24, 2017.

ADDRESSES: The web-based listening session will be hosted using Adobe 
Connect and audio conference call. On August 24th, please access the 
following Web site, https://zoom.us/j/261558898. The audio conference 
call capabilities can be accessed at 1-888-844-9904, participant code 
7923533#.
    Registration: Persons wishing to present during the web-based 
listening session on Thursday, August 24, 2017, are requested to pre-
register by contacting Dr. Joyce Parker at [email protected]. 
Participants may reserve one 5-minute comment period. More time may be 
available, depending on the number of people wishing to make a 
presentation. Reservations will be confirmed on a first-come, first-
served basis. All other participants may provide comments during the 
listening session if time permits, or by the listed means. You may 
submit comments, identified by NIFA-2017-0004, by any of the following 
methods:
    Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
    Email:
    For the MSP program [email protected]
    For the NNF program [email protected]
    Include NIFA-2017-0004 in the subject line of the message.
    Mail: Paper, disk or CD-ROM submissions should be submitted to Dr. 
Joyce Parker, Division of Community and Education; Institute of Youth, 
Family and Community (IYFC), National Institute of Food and 
Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, STOP 2201, 1400 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20250-2220.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name 
and reference to NIFA-2017-0004. All comments received will be posted 
to http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Joyce Parker, Program Specialist, 
NIFA at (202) 401-4512 or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background and Purpose: Higher Education 
Multicultural Scholars Program (MSP)--The purpose of the MSP is to 
provide scholarships to support recruiting, engaging, retaining, 
mentoring, and training committed, eligible multicultural scholars, 
resulting in either baccalaureate degrees within the food and 
agricultural sciences disciplines or a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine 
(D.V.M.) degree. The scholarships are intended to encourage outstanding 
students from groups that are historically underrepresented and 
underserved to pursue and complete baccalaureate degrees in the Food, 
Agricultural, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences, or achieve a 
D.V.M., that would lead to a diverse and highly skilled work force.
    Through these scholarships, the goal of the MSP is to increase the 
participation of any group historically underrepresented in USDA 
mission areas and prepare them for the professional and scientific 
workforce in these areas. Underrepresented/underserved groups are those 
whose representation among food and agricultural professionals is 
disproportionately less than their proportion in the general population 
as indicated in standard statistical references, or as documented on a 
case-by-case basis by national survey data (e.g. the U.S. Department of 
Education's Digest of Education Statistics, U.S. Department of 
Agriculture's Food and Agricultural Education Information Systems, 
etc.).
    National Needs Graduate and Postgraduate Fellowship Grants Program 
(NNF)--The purpose of the NNF Grants Program is to provide funding to 
support students' training and completion of master's and/or doctoral 
degree programs in identified national need areas within the Food, 
Agricultural, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences. Awards made under 
NNF are specifically intended to support traineeship programs that 
engage outstanding students to pursue and complete their degrees in 
areas where there is a national need for the development of scientific 
and professional expertise in the food and

[[Page 35929]]

agricultural sciences. NNF awards invest in graduate training and 
relevant international experiential learning for a cadre of diverse 
individuals who demonstrate their potential to successfully complete 
graduate degree programs in disciplines relevant to the mission of the 
USDA.

Implementation Plans

    All comments and the official transcript of the listening session, 
once available, may be reviewed on the NIFA Web page, https://nifa.usda.gov/stakeholder-feedback-education. NIFA plans to consider 
stakeholder input received from this listening session as well as other 
written comments in developing the Fiscal Year 2018 solicitations for 
these programs.

    Done at Washington, DC, this 26 day of July, 2017.
Sonny Ramaswamy,
Director, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
[FR Doc. 2017-16259 Filed 8-1-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3410-22-P