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College of Agriculture

Mission

To prepare young men and women for entry and career advancement in the food, fiber and natural resources industry, which involves production (farming), agribusiness and value added processing, public service and rural leadership.

To conduct problem-solving research related to crop and livestock production, natural resource management, and value-added processing in collaboration with private and other public sector entities.
To provide educational opportunities and experiences for transfer of knowledge in classrooms and adult continuing education.

All within environmentally sound and sustainable systems.

Programs of Study

The College of Agriculture offers coursework leading to the Master of Science in Agriculture degree with majors in agriculture and agricultural education, the Master of Science degree in vocational-technical administration, and the Specialist in Community College Teaching degree in agricultural education.

The Master of Science in Agriculture degree program requires the student to complete a general core of courses as well as a selection of elective courses which give options of specialized training in the areas of animal science, plant science, agricultural education or agricultural business and economics. Electives will be selected with the approval of the faculty adviser. The core requirements are designed to expand the student’s knowledge of agricultural research, technology, and policy as well as to provide a broad and general view of the latest developments in agriculture. The elective courses selected are intended to provide the student with specific training to enter employment or advanced graduate study in the selected field. The degree requirements include a total of 33 semester hours. The thesis or non-thesis option is available to students.

The master's degree requires either six credits of thesis, or three credits of non-thesis research experience plus three hours of electives. The thesis vs. non-thesis option is decided by the student on advice of the faculty major advisor. A student may count three hours of non-thesis research experience toward completion of the degree if they convert from a non-thesis to thesis option; if the thesis is an extension of the research experience, the student's thesis committee may approve the three hours of non-thesis research experience to be counted as part of the six hours total required for the thesis. The thesis or the non-thesis research experience topic is developed and approved by the student's thesis committee or graduate advisory committee, the same as for the thesis committee as defined by the Graduate School. The non-thesis research experience may be conducted on-campus or off-campus, as approved by the student's graduate advisory committee, and will typically require a minimum total of 150 hours student activity on the project.

The Master's in Agricultural Education is a 33-hour degree program. In addition to the above, the program is designed to expand the student’s knowledge of educational issues, developments and processes, and to further prepare teachers of agricultural education. The thesis or non-thesis option is available to students.
The Master of Science in Vocational-Technical Administration is a 33-hour degree program intended to prepare persons seeking careers as administrators of vocational-technical education programs or schools. The thesis or non-thesis option is available to students.

The Specialist in Community College Teaching is a 60 semester hour, intermediate graduate degree designed to prepare teachers for the community college.

All general requirements of the Graduate School are applicable to the degree programs and the student should refer to these requirements which are listed elsewhere in the Graduate Bulletin.
 


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