The Cornell Migrant Program stimulates and conducts research, and disseminates research findings that improve living and working conditions of migrant, seasonal, and year-round farmworkers and their families. The CMP also provides a comprehensive source of information for farmworkers, their employers, and communities in which they live. The CMP brings together faculty, staff and students from throughout Cornell University to collaborate in meeting the needs of farmworkers and the communities in which they live. The CMP director is engaged in research and an ongoing farmworker needs assessment designed to address these needs through improvement of living and working conditions of farmworkers. Information is provided to service providers, public schools, agricultural employers, and community organizations, other educational institutions, state and federal agencies, and private organizations. The CMP also works with the Cornell Cooperative Extension network to provide a program of outreach and education that addresses the needs of farmworkers, employers, and communities.

Farmworkers are important stakeholders in New York State, and the Cornell Migrant Program (CMP) serves as the coordinating unit at Cornell to address farmworker needs. The CMP director conducts research and an ongoing farmworker needs assessments to identify outreach, education, and research foci that contribute to the improvement of the living and working conditions of migrant, seasonal and year-round workers, and re-evaluates these foci on a regular basis. This program is of interest to farmworkers but also to service providers, public schools, agricultural employers, Cornell Cooperative Extension, educational institutions, state and federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and community organizations. The CMP involves faculty and other academic staff from diverse departments and colleges in the conduct of research on farmworkers, and provides the vehicle for dissemination of these research findings. This information is extremely important for informing research and policy on issues of concern to farmworkers, immigrants and the communities in which they live. The CMP provides an important source of information on farmworkers for educators, extension professionals, and policy makers.

The CMP Director collaborated with farmworkers, service providers, agricultural employers, Cornell Cooperative Extension, educational institutions, state and federal agencies, nongovernmental and community organizations to assess research priorities to contribute to the improvement of the living and working conditions of migrant, seasonal and year-round workers. As a result of discussions on research opportunities with Cornell faculty, students, and staff, the CMP initiated several new research projects. These research efforts include: a demographic study of farmworkers in NYS, an economic analysis of farmworkers' contributions, research on immigration issues, and the development of a farmworker service directory.
The CMP director also established a summer student internship program to address farmworker needs, and of the 11 participating students, three plan to continue their research to develop senior honors theses. In response to widespread interest among farmworkers, the CMP Director collaborated with Cornell and other immigration specialists to develop workshops and educational materials for farmworkers. Over 300 farmworkers participated in CMP organized workshops. In response to requests from CCE, the CMP director organized a public forum on immigration for their annual in-service program. The CMP established a faculty steering committee to guide its future direction, and is engaged in the process of developing its broad advisory council.

The CMP addresses farmworker needs through research, education and extension. Through its educational program, the CMP provided information to over 350 farmworkers, 200 extension professionals, 100 service providers, and 50 Cornell students on immigration and agricultural labor. Through the CMP summer internship program, numerous farmworkers received on farm tutoring in English and information about New York State driving laws. Also CMP interns served as tutors for farmworker children through various migrant education summer programs, and worked as assistants to the Finger Lakes Migrant Health Program. The CMP research efforts informed many scholars, students, community members, 20 NYS policy makers, and 10 media professionals about the nature and concerns of the New York State farmworker population. There is great interest among service providers and policy makers in the research results of the CMP demographic study of farmworkers in NYS, its economic analysis of farmworkers' contributions, and the research on immigrant driving documents. The CMP has provided information through over 74 public meetings and forums attended by an estimated 7650 people.

Farmworkers

• Max Pfeffer (Department of Development Sociology)
• Pilar Parra (Cornell Department of Nutritional Sciences)
• Debra Castillo (Cornell Dept. of Romance Studies)
• Robert Gravani (Cornell Department of Food Science)
• Sofia Villenas (Cornell Department of Education)
• Beverly Mancuso (Gensee County Cooperative Extension)
• Lisa Coffin (Cornell Veterinary College- Quality Milk Production Services)
• Jonathan Kirsch, MD (Finger Lakes Migrant Health)
• Elizabeth A. Claypoole (Wayne County CCE)