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Mentor Name and Contact Information

Valerie Vincent, vvincent@agcenter.lsu.edu

Either location:

• St. Tammany Parish LSU AgCenter Extension Office- 1301 N. Florida St, Covington, LA 70433
• Washington LSU AgCenter Extension Office- 1104 B Bene Street, Franklinton, LA 70438 985-705-0495 or 985-875-2635

Description of Committed Responsibilities of the Undergraduate Student Intern: General Responsibilities

• Provide overall programmatic assistance for nutrition, healthy communities, food safety, nutrition, health, agriculture economics, community gardens, rural communities, and youth development programming in the assigned area. Collaborate with co-workers to insure teamwork.
• Assist agents in maintaining a functioning healthy communities coalition committee, collaborating with other agencies and organizations, maintain a volunteer database, utilizing effective teaching methods for intended audience, techniques, utilizing the internet, and developing credibility along with an effective marketing program.
• Assist in the organization and execution of coalition meetings, action planning, reporting, youth development, social media and workgroup progress.
• Work collaboratively with agents in working with local, state, and federal governing bodies in the conduct of community outreach.
• Assist and facilitate efforts of agents to plan, implement, evaluate, and market high quality research-based educational programs in Nutrition and Health. Strive to have planned outcomes and show impact from the nutrition, healthy communities and youth development programming.
• Effectively communicate the impact of programs to stakeholders, legislators and administrators.
• Maintain a professional image including dress, conduct, productivity, and effectiveness in performing job responsibilities.
• Assist parish chairs and/or regional coordinator with execution of nutrition, healthy community and youth development programs.
• Be an advocate for programs with administrators, stakeholders, and legislators.
• Increase awareness of nutrition, healthy community and youth development education programs by providing visibility for programs thru collaborative meetings and media (radio, TV, newspaper, internet).
• Attend professional development opportunities and continue professional development and remain current with program area research and its application to programming.
• Keep informed on laws, regulations, policies, and procedures affecting the conduct of programs.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum qualifications: Undergraduate students from LSU and partner institutions with an intertest in extension education, public health, community development, community nutrition, human foods and nutrition, family and consumer sciences, human development, dietetics, economics, sociology, business or public administration, landscape architecture, or closely related field with at least a 2.0 GPA are most competitive.
• Preferred qualifications: Desire to serve others; excellent communication skills, high attention to detail and experience with Word, Excel, and Power Point

Number of Intern Positions: 2

Success Measure or End of Project Deliverables

Nutrition, Healthy Communities and Youth Development

• Work with LSU AgCenter staff and coalitions to implement action plans
• Create appropriate social media content
• Assist staff in implementing effective education programs
• Work with related agencies and organizations as needed to establish appropriate programs; help identity or strengthen new collaborations and audiences
• Monitor programs for effectiveness in reaching target audiences and adherence to federal, state and guidelines.
• Participate in training meetings, conferences, and online calls to stay abreast of program content and administrative guidelines.
• Assist faculty with the overall programming needs to insure an effective, efficient, and visible education program

Primary Mentor

Valerie Vincent is the FCS Regional Coordinator for the Southeast Region. Currently working with Healthy Community Coalitions in St. Tammany and Washington Parishes in addition to nutrition programs offered through the LSU AgCenter that seek to make policy, system, and environmental (PSE) changes to create opportunities for a healthier community.