THE RATE OF SUICIDE AMONG FARMERS, RANCHERS AND AQUACULTURALISTS IN THE UNITED STATES IS 84.5 PER 100,000- A RATE THAT IS HIGHER THAN FOR WORKERS IN ANY OTHER OCCUPATION (LIKAM WA MCINTOSH, SPIES, STONE, LOKEY, TRUDEAU, &AMP; BARTHOLOW, 2016) AND THAT IS 50% HIGHER THAN THE RATE OF SUICIDE FOR FARMERS DURING THE 1980'S FARM CRISIS (GUNDERSON, DONNER, NASHOLD, SALKOWICZ, SPERRY, &AMP; WITTMAN, 1993). PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT MENTAL HEALTH SYMPTOMS ALSO ARE MORE SEVERE FOR FARMERS THAN AMONG THE GENERAL POPULATION (KIRSCH, 2014). NUMEROUS RISK FACTORS FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED THAT ARE UNIQUE FOR AGRICULTURAL POPULATIONS INCLUDING ECONOMIC VARIABLES (E.G. TARIFFS, MARKET PRICES), ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AFFECTING YIELD (E.G. DROUGHT, PESTS), AND SOCIAL ISOLATION (FRASER, SMITH, JUDD, HUMPHREYS, FRAGAR, &AMP; HENDERSON, 2005). ACCESS TO LETHAL MEANS IS ALSO HYPOTHESIZED TO CONTRIBUTE TO HIGH RATES OF SUICIDE, WITH FIREARMS BEING USED IN OVER HALF OF SUICIDES AMONG FARMERS (STALLONES, DOENGES, DIK, VALLEY, 2013).THESE RISK FACTORS ARE EXACERBATED BY BARRIERS TO MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES WITHIN RURAL COMMUNITIES. THE LACK OF MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDERS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IS WELL-DOCUMENTED AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH MORE SEVERE MENTAL HEALTH SYMPTOMS (TIESMAN KONDA, HARTLEY, CHAUMONT MENE?NDEZ, RIDENOUR, &AMP; HENDRICKS, 2015). MANY RURAL TEXAS COMMUNITIES ARE SIMILARLY AFFECTED; RURAL COUNTIES IN TEXAS HAVE HALF AS MANY PSYCHIATRISTS AS RURAL COUNTIES IN OTHER STATES (COLLINS, 2018) AND 185 COUNTIES IN TEXAS DO NOT HAVE A SINGLE PRACTICING GENERAL PSYCHIATRIST (MERRITT HAWKINS, 2015). AMONG FARMERS, ATTITUDINAL FACTORS, INCLUDING NEGATIVE STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT AND A CULTURAL EMPHASIS ON SELF-RELIANCE, ALSO HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO DECREASE TREATMENT SEEKING BEHAVIORS (GREGOIRE, 2002, HULL, FENNELL, VALLURY, JONES, &AMP; DOLLMAN, 2017).THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL (CDC) HIGHLIGHTS A NUMBER OF EMPIRICALLY SUPPORTED STRATEGIES THAT MAY BE HELPFUL FOR ADDRESSING SUICIDE AMONG FARMERS INCLUDING INCREASING SOCIAL SUPPORT, PROMOTING HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIORS, PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING FOR COLLEAGUES AND SUPERVISORS, AND REDUCING MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA (LIKAM WA MCINTOSH ET AL., 2016). ADDITIONALLY, MOBILE APPLICATIONS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO INCREASE ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES FOR TRADITIONALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS (HOBFOLL, BLAIS, STEVENS, WALT, &AMP; GENGLER, 2016; WILLIAMS, HAGERTY, BRASINGTON, CLEM, &AMP; WILLIAMS, 2010). IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THIS HEALTH CRISIS IN A WAY THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH CDC RECOMMENDATIONS AND EMPIRICAL DATA, WE PROPOSE TO DEVELOP A SERIES OF PSYCHOEDUCATIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES, REFERRED TO AS THE GENERATING RESILIENCE IN OUR WORKFORCE (GROW) PROGRAM, FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN DEPARTMENTS FOCUSING ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES, AS DEFINED IN FEDERAL STATUTE, THROUGHOUT THE STATE OF TEXAS. THE GROW PROGRAM WILL INCLUDE A ONE-DAY TRAINING, WEBINARS, AN OUTREACH ACTIVITY, AND MENTORSHIP CALLS FOR EACH LEARNING COMMUNITY.THE OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT WILL BE ASSESSED USING A COMBINATION OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT MEASURES. USING KIRKPATRICK'S (1959) FOUR-LEVEL TRAINING MODEL, PARTICIPANT OUTCOMES WILL BE TRACKED IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING DOMAINS: REACTION (I.E. PERCEPTIONS RELATED TO THE VALUE OF THE TRAINING), LEARNING (I.E. MEASUREMENT OF CHANGE IN KNOWLEDGE), BEHAVIOR (I.E. BEHAVIORAL APPLICATIONS OF TRAINING CONTENT), AND RESULTS (I.E. EFFECTS OF TRAINING ON PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIORS). TABLE 3 PRESENTS A DETAILED SUMMARY OF THE MEASURES INCLUDING ASSESSMENT CONTENT, TIMING, AND ASSOCIATED PROJECT OBJECTIVE. WHILE IT IS COMMON TO TRACK EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES AND SATISFACTION VIA QUANTITATIVE SELF-REPORT MEASURES, THESE OFTEN DO NOT CAPTURE NUANCED INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES, AND IS A POTENTIAL WEAKNESS OF OUR PROGRAM EVALUATION BATTERY. IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THIS WEAKNESS, WE WILL CONDUCT INTERVIEWS WITH THE GROW PROGRAM PARTICIPANTSIN ORDER TO COLLECT QUALITATIVE DATA. THIS WILL NOT ONLY PROVIDE US WITH ADDITIONAL DATA TO EVALUATE OUR STATED OBJECTIVES BUT WILL INFORM FUTURE ITERATIONS OF THE ONE-DAY WORKSHOPS, MENTORSHIP CALLS, OUTREACH ACTIVITIES, AND WEBINARS. RESEARCHERS HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THE ADVANTAGE OF USING A MIXED METHODS APPROACH TO DATA COLLECTION BECAUSE IT MINIMIZES THE WEAKNESSES ASSOCIATED WITH USING ONLY QUALITATIVE OR QUANTITATIVE DATA (JOHNSON, &AMP; ONWUEGBUZIE, 2004).