Virginia Tech to offer new undergraduate Agricultural Sciences degree
Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will offer a new undergraduate Agricultural Sciences degree program beginning in the Spring 2006 semester. Students majoring in Agricultural Sciences will prepare for careers in agricultural and agricultural-related disciplines such as business, training, education, Extension, and international programs.
The new degree curriculum will provide education in multiple agricultural disciplines and specific course work on communications and leadership.
“This new degree will assist students in preparing for careers in the dynamic agricultural and life science industries,” said Sharron Quisenberry, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “Students will gain a broader background in multiple disciplines giving them the flexibility to adapt to their future careers.”
The Agricultural Sciences degree will also allow students to obtain the competencies necessary to become teachers of agricultural education, said John Hillison, head of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education. “Currently there is a shortfall in fully qualified Extension agents and agricultural education teachers. This program will allow the college to continue to support this demand.”
Virginia Tech is the principal source of agents for Virginia Cooperative Extension and the primary source of teachers for the Virginia agricultural education program.
Approved by the State Council of Higher Education (SCHEV) in September 2005, the new undergraduate degree will be implemented in the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Students will be able to select at least two minors (or specializations). The minors include Agricultural and Extension Education; Agricultural and Applied Economics; Animal and Poultry Sciences; Biochemistry; Biological Systems Engineering; Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences; Dairy Science; Environmental Science; Food Science and Technology; Horticulture; Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise; Entomology; and Plant Pathology and Weed Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Minors in Fisheries and Wildlife, Forestry, Wood Science, and Geography will be offered through the College of Natural Resources and Biology through the College of Science. In addition, students will have the opportunity to select an additional 15 hours from the previously named departments. Also, there is a minimum of 13 hours of free electives.
For more information about the undergraduate Agricultural Sciences degree, contact John Hillison at hillison@vt.edu or call (540) 231-8187.
Ranked 11th in agricultural research expenditures by the National Science Foundation, Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences offers students the opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading agricultural scientists. The college’s comprehensive curriculum gives students a balanced education that ranges from food and fiber production to economics to human health. The college is a national leader in incorporating technology, biotechnology, computer applications, and other recent scientific advances into its teaching program.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech’s eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus in Blacksburg, and centers in Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.
