College Vision for Access and Equity
The College will be a welcoming and inclusive community where students, faculty, and staff of all backgrounds thrive—while addressing equity challenges in agricultural careers and creating pathways for underrepresented populations into the agricultural workforce.
Strategic Investment Priorities
Priority 4.1: Inclusive Recruitment and Retention of Students
Objective
Increase recruitment, enrollment, retention, and graduation of undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups in agricultural sciences through targeted recruitment, scholarships, and tailored support.
Why this matters
Agriculture faces changing demographics and complex challenges that demand new perspectives and solutions. Many emerging populations are not traditionally drawn to agricultural fields, yet their participation is essential to resilient, sustainable agricultural and natural ecosystems. A diverse student body enhances creativity, innovation, and problem-solving, strengthening the future workforce. The College must reflect Pennsylvania’s demographic diversity and create pathways for rural, first-generation, and underrepresented students to succeed and lead in agricultural sciences.
Key Initiatives
- Develop and invest in partnerships with six urban and rural high schools with diverse populations through faculty- and department-led citizen science projects that introduce students to agricultural careers through hands-on learning.
- Partner with state agencies, the private sector, and Extension educators to develop programs that introduce students to agricultural careers and build pathways into postsecondary education through early exposure, mentoring, and college-going experiences.
- Expand scholarship programs for low-income, underrepresented, first-generation, and rural students by an additional $400K annually by Year 3, providing full in-state tuition coverage that is renewable through degree completion based on academic performance.
- Scale the AgAccess Scholars and First Gen Lighthouses programs to support all incoming low-income, underrepresented, and first-generation students in their first year.
- Leverage first-year seminars to promote an inclusive academic climate grounded in Penn State values by building culturally aware instructor learning communities and delivering course modules that equip all students to work across differences and thrive in diverse academic and professional environments.
- Encourage and support faculty in applying for and securing competitive Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) grants by providing proposal-development assistance and facilitating summer programming that prepares visiting undergraduate students for graduate study and exposes them to our programs.
- Grow and strengthen partnerships with Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) through collaborative research and teaching initiatives, and by developing structured pathways that increase student interest in our graduate programs.
Responsible Units
Office of Access and Equity, Office for Undergraduate Education, Office for Research and Graduate Education, academic departments, Enrollment Management, Development
Metrics and Targets
| Measure | Baseline (2025) | Year 5 Target (2031) |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of majors whose applicant pools are as diverse as the overall Penn State applicant pool. | TBD | 60% of the programs |
| Pell eligible student enrollment (AY 24-25) | 23.1% | +4 percentage points |
| Underrepresented minority student first-year retention rate (2024)2 | 80.4% | Equal to college average (90.8%) |
| Underrepresented minority student 4-year graduation rate (2020)2 | 52.5% | Close 50% of the gap (i.e., increase the rate to 56%) |
| Students reporting a sense of belonging. | Not available | No meaningful differences among all groups |
(1 Enrollment Management Dashboard, accessed 5/22/2026), 2 OPAIR Grad Ret Extended internal dashboard, accessed 5/22/2026)
Priority 4.2: Inclusive Recruitment and Retention of Faculty and Staff
Objective
Recruit and retain faculty and staff whose diversity of expertise, perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences advances in innovation, creativity, and excellence while better reflecting the diversity of people in our Commonwealth. Support this goal by prioritizing professional development and fostering a climate in which all faculty and staff are supported and can thrive.
Key Initiatives
- Partner with departments to develop long‑term faculty recruitment strategies that broaden and deepen the candidate pool by strengthening collaborations with Minority‑Serving Institutions (MSIs), fostering interinstitutional seminar series, and supporting coordinated campus visits.
- Establish faculty mentoring programs designed to address varied needs, experiences, and career trajectories, ensuring earlycareer faculty and faculty from all groups have the support needed to succeed and thrive.
- Review and update promotion and tenure criteria for research, teaching, and extension faculty.
- Invest in expanding community‑building and belonging programs that strengthen connection, engagement, and inclusion among staff.
- Conduct biennial climate surveys with unit-level reporting and action planning.
Responsible Units
Human Resources, academic departments, Office of Access and Equity, Dean's Office
Metrics and Targets
| Measure | Baseline (2025) | Year 5 Target (2031) |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of faculty searches achieving a candidate pool that reflects the diversity of the national PhD / professional pipeline for the field. | Department dependent | All departments reach at least 60% |
| Faculty/staff sense of belonging (survey) | Not available | No meaningful differences among all groups |
| Faculty promotion rates (by demographic) | [TBD] | No meaningful differences among all groups |
| Staff retention rates (by demographic) | [TBD] | No meaningful differences among all groups |
