The USPOULTRY Foundation has awarded a $25,920 student recruiting grant to the Department of Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas. The grant was made possible in part from an endowing Foundation gift from the Monty and Margot Henderson Student Recruiting Fund. The grant check was presented by Bill Potter, vice president of food safety and quality assurance at George’s, Inc., to Dr. Michael Kidd, department head.
The University of Arkansas is one of six universities in the United States that has a department dedicated to poultry science. Kidd explained how the grant will benefit the department as they work to recruit and educate the next generation of industry leaders.
“The USPOULTRY Foundation recruiting grant is critical for our department to enlist talent into poultry science. We recruit with multiple means at the University of Arkansas, utilizing current students, staff and faculty. The availability of these funds allows us flexibility in our recruiting methods and have resulted in numerous high school and community college students entering the University of Arkansas as a poultry science major and departing on solid career track jobs in the poultry and egg industry,” said Kidd.
The USPOULTRY Foundation awarded recruiting grants totaling $282,500 for the 2017-18 school year to 35 colleges and universities across the United States with either a poultry science department or a poultry studies program. The student recruiting program dates to 1994 when the USPOULTRY board of directors established the Foundation to provide annual recruiting funds to attract students to poultry studies and ultimately into careers in the poultry industry.
The recruiting grant check presentations were part of College Student Career Program activities at the 2018 International Poultry Expo, part of the International Production & Processing Expo.