NEWS
Farm Service Agency
Public Affairs Staff
1400 Independence Ave SW
Stop 0506, Room 3624-South
Washington, D.C. 20250-0506

                                        Release No.  1501.05

                                 Latawnya Dia (202) 720-7962
                                   latawnya_dia@wdc.usda.gov


USDA FORMS PARTNERSHIP TO EXPAND DIVERSE WORKFORCE
       
       WASHINGTON, March 31, 2005 -- The U.S. Department of 
Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) today announced a 
partnership with the National Society for Minorities in 
Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences 
(MANRRS) to increase students’ awareness about career 
opportunities at USDA.
       
       “By working with an organization like MANRRS, USDA 
will increase the pool of qualified students for future 
employment opportunities,” said FSA Administrator Jim 
Little, speaking at MANRRS’s 20th Annual Career Fair and 
Training Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  “Since 
USDA serves all of America’s farmers and ranchers, 
recruiting qualified students with a broad set of skills 
and experiences is important.”
       
       MANRRS and FSA will work together to place graduate 
and/or undergraduate students with USDA’s Student Career 
Experience Program and the Career Intern Program at FSA 
field locations.  These student employment programs are 
available to all applicants regardless of race, gender or 
ethnicity.  Both organizations will develop a Mentor 
Program that will provide mentors nationwide in 
collaboration with local MANRRS chapter advisors.
       
       FSA also will provide opportunities for students to 
gain valued work and educational experiences, to meet 
career-field professionals and to interview with 
organizations interested in hiring them.  Through this 
combined effort, the number of career opportunities for 
students studying agricultural sciences and related fields 
at both the undergraduate and graduate levels will be 
increased, with the objective of enhancing the workforce 
diversity of FSA.
       
       This cooperative agreement lays the foundation for a 
long-term partnership between the two organizations.  The 
partnership connects FSA with an increased pool of the 
best and brightest minority students in the colleges of 
Agriculture and Natural Sciences around the country, while 
assisting in the development of the character and 
education of a generation of students from diverse 
backgrounds.
       
       MANRRS is a national society that promotes and 
fosters the involvement of minorities in agriculture, 
natural resources and related sciences, with established 
chapters at various colleges and universities throughout 
the United States.  Individual chapter activities and its 
annual national conference are designed to develop a 
partnership between minority students in agriculture and 
natural resources and professionals from academic 
institutions, government agencies and industry by 
promoting professional development, networking, and career 
placement in a nurturing environment.   MANRRS provides an 
avenue for building a diverse professional workforce for 
the 21st century.
       
       FSA is a customer-driven agency with a diverse and 
multi-talented work force dedicated to achieving an 
economically and environmentally sound future for American 
Agriculture.  FSA is continually interested in finding 
people from diverse backgrounds who have the skills 
required to meet future employment needs.  FSA has 
enhanced its internship programs to meet the hiring needs 
of the future and works with organizations like MANRRS to 
meet these objectives.   

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available at http://www.fsa.usda.gov