The Mechanized Vineyard-Teaching Project (MVTP) increases the number of program faculty, provides professional development, develops and disseminates new curriculum, and provides student learning experiences in mechanized vineyard management in a commercial-scale teaching-vineyard. The purpose of MVTP is to recruit, retain, and graduate increased numbers of students who are fully able to own and operate their own vineyard, or are fully employable in any commercial-scale mechanized vineyard in the Midwest. The activities undertaken teach STEM skills to operate and maintain commercial-scale equipment utilized in mechanized vineyard management and enhance students' employability. The goal of MVTP is to establish a career pathway to increase the percentage of rural, underrepresented, nontraditional, and veteran students recruited, retained, and graduated in order to meet workforce demands.
HIghland Community college (HCC) provides students with learning experiences about the STEM inherent in mechanized vineyard management. HCC enhances its current viticulture curriculum by creating three courses specific to mechanization in the vineyard. As vineyards swell in numbers and acres and labor becomes more scarce, mechanization is gaining in relevance in a traditionally labor-intensive industry. This project is educating students and entrepreneurs to adapt to these changes in the grape industry. All evidence points toward an expanding industry demanding more and better educated employees. The results of the project are being disseminated statewide through college affiliation with state and regional industry organizations, and national dissemination is being accomplished through association with the VESTA National Center of Excellence.
