March 23, 2016

Norma Jean Revilla-Garcia

HACU, USDA MOU to promote collaborative opportunities with HSIs, HSACUs, HSSDs

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to maintain a USDA Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and Hispanic-Serving Agricultural Colleges and Universities (HSACUs) agenda to provide equitable access to employment, educational and institutional development opportunities.

This collaborative agenda is focused on promoting agriculture, food and environmental sciences and other agriculture-related careers for students attending HSIs and HSACUs. Other focal areas address increasing employment opportunities in USDA for students attending HACU-member institutions and supporting capacity enhancement of HACU-member institutions and their faculty.

The partnership includes collaborating on USDA internships as part of HACU’s National Internship Program, the HACU Cooperative Education Program (HCEP) and the USDA/HACU Leadership Group. USDA will also coordinate planning for pre-collegiate and collegiate programs for students of HACU­ member institutions, HSACUs and HSSDs that will prepare Hispanic students for academic success and careers in agriculture, food sciences and related fields.

For the PDF version of the MOU, click here. For more information on the USDA HSI National program, visit http://www.hsi.usda.gov/.