GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Recently, the University of North Georgia announced that it was one of the two recipients of an inaugural $10,000 Education Advancement Program grant from the National Professional Agriculture Students Organization.
The National Professional Agriculture Students Organization is a student-led organization that develops two and four-year college-level professional agriculture students for the workplace through skill-set development, networking opportunities, and more.
According to an article from UNG, the funding from the grant will support expansion of UNG’s agriculture education efforts, assisting in both student recruitment and the launch of an “Introduction to agriculture” course that will be available for both freshmen and dual-enrollment students.
During the 2024-25 academic year, UNG established the South’s first PAS chapter.
“It’s a huge win for us as a program and new PAS chapter to expand our reach and grow awareness in the South for the PAS,” Dr. Linda Purvis, UNG associate professor of biology and PAS faculty adviser, said. “We’re honored to be selected and excited to see what that brings in the future for us as a program.”
At the National PAS Conference last spring, UNG Poultry Science students Jacque Connor, Ashley Davis, and Alyssa Foster won first place in the Poultry Specialist career area event. The event required the team to take a knowledge test, write a case study report about a real-world problem, and give a presentation on a current event with only 45 minutes to prepare, UNG noted.
Individually, Davis, Connor, and Foster secured the top three places in the category. Foster is a junior pursuing a bachelor’s degree in middle grades education and an associate degree in agriculture-poultry science, and she previously served as vice president of the UNG PAS chapter, UNG said.
“Transferring to UNG to study poultry science has allowed me to enjoy college and set me up with the tools to be an agriculture educator,” Foster said. “[The PAS grant] can help kids find passions they never thought they would have.”
On Feb. 20, UNG’s agriculture program hosted Ag Awareness Day at UNG’s Gainesville Campus. Funding from the PAS grant was used to support the event, UNG added.
Six UNG students are attending the National PAS Conference in Branson, Mo. They are competing in various categories, including Poultry Specialist, Agriculture Education, Animal Health, and more.
To learn more about the National Professional Agriculture Students Organization and the Education Advancement Program, visit https://www.nationalpas.org/.
