COBLESKILL, N.Y. – SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech has received a $30,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to build a prototype virtual reality (VR) course in agricultural engineering and lay the groundwork to test it with students, a step toward giving rural and place-bound farmers a way to gain technical skills without leaving their land.
Over the next two years, faculty leaders at the College will work to map out course learning objectives across in-person, online and VR formats. By the end of the grant period, the team expects to have a working VR course module in hand, along with a proposal for a follow-on NLGCA grant to formally pilot the course with students and compare their outcomes to a traditional in-person classroom.
"Access to a quality education shouldn't depend on how far someone lives from a college campus," said Dr. Ian MacDonald, Interim Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of Faculty. "This grant lets us start building a way for rural farmers to gain skills that could reduce how much they spend on outside specialists, cut down on time lost to non-functioning equipment, and strengthen their farms' overall productivity without requiring them to leave or pause their operations in the process.”
The award is funded through NIFA's Capacity Building Grants for Non-Land-Grant Colleges of Agriculture (NLGCA) program. The Research Foundation for SUNY will manage the grant on behalf of the State University of New York (SUNY).
The award is part of a broader $5 million investment NIFA is making this year across 24 Capacity Building Grants awarded to NLGCA institutions nationwide, intended to help non-land-grant agricultural colleges like SUNY Cobleskill expand their capacity for education, research, and outreach in agriculture and related fields.
About SUNY Cobleskill Ag & Tech
The power of hands-on learning and personal development is our guiding principle, empowering our students to grow purpose in their lives and influence the creation of a more sustainable and equitable world. As SUNY’s leading institution of Agriculture and Technology, we explore and innovate at the interchange of these fields, recognizing the roles they play in shaping our future. Our commitment extends globally, achieved through personal, collaborative learning experiences designed for an ideal progression from classroom knowledge to career application. Learn more at www.cobleskill.edu .
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