E-Mail IMAGE: A coffee plant nursery in the state of Veracruz, Mexico, is one of many experiential learning sites featured in a pilot academic exchange program at the University of Tennessee Institute... view more Credit: Image courtesy UTIA. KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA) and Colegio de Postgraduados (ColPos) Campus Cordoba in Mexico have received a $25,000 grant from the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund to launch a pilot academic exchange program, the first of its kind in Mexico to be offered to UT students. The Innovation Fund supports the U.S. Department of State's signature hemispheric-wide education initiative, 100,000 Strong in the Americas, to increase partnerships between higher education institutions in the United States and the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Co-sponsored this year by the Mexican institutions Fundación Banorte and Fundación Gruma, the Innovation Fund provides students with access to new models of academic exchange and training programs.