**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** ADVANCED APPLICATOR TECHNICIANS (AAT) ARE CRITICAL TO RETAIL AGRIBUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS AND LARGE-SCALE CROP PRODUCTION GROWERS. A RECENT STUDY FUNDED BY USDA-AFRI HIGHER EDUCATION CONCLUDED THAT 89% OF RETAIL AGRIBUSINESSES SURVEYED INDICATED IT WAS DIFFICULT TO FIND QUALIFIED CUSTOM APPLICATORS. IN ADDITION, RESULTS OF THE NEEDS ASSESSMENT CONDUCTED ON RETAIL AGRIBUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS INDICATED THAT 79.6% DEEMED OBTAINING A CLASS A CDL AS ESSENTIAL/IMPORTANT. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO SUPPORT THE AAT ASSOCIATE DEGREE AT PARKLAND COLLEGE BY ENHANCING THEIR AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT SAFETY COURSE THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF ADAPTIVE VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) SIMULATIONS. A TOTAL OF FOUR MODULES WILL BE DEVELOPED FOCUSING ON IMPROVING STUDENTS EXPERIENCE AND SKILLSETS ON 1) PRE-CHECKLIST SURVEY, 2) INSTRUMENT PANEL GAUGES, 3) CARGO SECUREMENT, AND 4) DRIVING UNDER VARIOUS CONDITIONS. A CORE COMPONENT OF THIS PROJECT IS UTILIZATION OF DECISION-TREE ALGORITHMS, PROVIDING STUDENTS WITH AN INTERACTIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT THAT CAN ADAPT THE TRAINING MODULE BASED ON THE STUDENT KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL SET. ANOTHER CORE FEATURE IS UTILIZATION OF PORTABLE VR HEADSETS THAT ALLOW PROJECT TEAM TO CONDUCT TRAININGS AT PARKLAND AND AT INDUSTRIAL PARTNERS SITES (ILLINI-FS AND UNITED PRAIRIE). THIS PROJECT MEETS THE GOALS OF THIS GRANT BY IMPROVING AND EXPAND EXISTING TRAINING PROGRAM (AAT) AT COMMUNITY COLLEGE (PARKLAND) BY UTILIZING CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY (ADAPTIVE VR) IN TEACHING EQUIPMENT SAFETY. THIS IS A FOUR-YEAR PROPOSAL FOCUSING ON AFRI FARM BILL PRIORITY: AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY. ANTICIPATING 50 PARTICIPANTS PER YEAR STARTING AT YEAR 2 OF THE GRANT AT A 1:15 FACILITATOR TO PARTICIPANT RATIO.