VESTA Resource Center

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The viticulture and enology industry is an important component of U.S. agriculture, with an estimated economic impact of $220 billion. The Viticulture and Enology Science and Technology Alliance (VESTA) Resource Center will support education of the advanced technological workforce needed in this industry. The VESTA Resource Center will help two-year colleges achieve their goals of providing students with the STEM foundational knowledge and industry-specific knowledge and skills needed for employment and career progression in the industry. The Center will enable faculty and industry to share best practices, providing access to successful recruitment and education models that can enrich their programs and business operations. Mentoring by experts within the Center will increase the capacity and capability of two-year colleges to access existing resources and funding for program development, expansion, and improvement.The VESTA Resource Center will support the development, expansion, and enhancement of Viticulture and Enology programs in two-year colleges through open access to successful models, expanded resources, and active mentorship provided by a network of experienced two-year college faculty, academic, and industry subject-matter experts. The participating two-year colleges and industry associations will employ their complementary expertise in a concerted effort aimed at enriching Viticulture and Enology programs’ ability to educate skilled technicians to meet industry needs. Accessibility of program content will be enhanced and supported with online courses and closed-captioned videos that support all learners, including learners who are deaf or hard of hearing. Virtual and in-person workshops will enable teachers to share with their students the career opportunities and critical importance of a STEM foundation for jobs in this industry. Collaboration with local industry and state-wide associations will enable educators to fill voids in workforce development for this rapidly growing industry. The Center will collaborate with two-year colleges and industry associations to establish Registered Apprenticeships that may serve as a model in other agriculture industries, an important sector in the U.S. economy that has been underrepresented in workforce development programs. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.