UW College of Agriculture diversifying with ag industry

If near-record student enrollment and the multitude of degree options in the College of Agriculture are indications of the importance of agriculture to the state and nation, the industry remains vibrant and is broadening in scope.

There were 882 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the college last academic year only four students shy of breaking the record set in 1998-99.

Jim Wangberg, associate dean in the college and director of Academic and Student Programs, attributes the strong enrollment figures to several factors.

"We have an aggressive college recruitment program, give personalized attention to prospective and current students and have a high-quality academic program with diverse curricula. Our faculty and staff members are excellent, and there are diverse job opportunities following graduation," Wangberg said.

Mike Smith, a professor in the Department of Renewable Resources, said Wyoming is a state with a large agriculture presence, both traditionally and non-traditionally.

"Everywhere you go, you see land rangeland being used for livestock production, cropland, land being used for golf courses and rural subdivisions, land for energy development and land set aside for wildlife," he said.

In each case, Smith noted, graduates of the College of Agriculture are involved in the management of those lands or are working to help the people associated with them.

Smith said graduates are managing ranches and farms in Wyoming, helping to restore lands affected by energy development, working to improve wildlife habitat, providing guidance to private landowners on issues ranging from weed control to establishing windbreaks and managing golf courses.

"The curricula and the faculty members set people up to be thinkers, and, when you do that, there are lots of places they can go," Smith said. "As an example, the graduates in our department learn how plants grow."

This may seem insignificant until Smith pointed to the parallels of many jobs directly or indirectly associated with agriculture.

"Look at the similarities of running golf courses and rangeland livestock operations," Smith said. "Both involve the management of grass. One manager uses livestock while the other uses a lawn mower."

The diversity in agricultural-related jobs is reflected in the majors and degree options in the College of Agriculture from traditional ones like animal and veterinary sciences, wildlife habitat management, farm and ranch management and molecular biology to non-traditional ones like agroecology, international agricultural economics and Geographic Information Systems.

One of the departments attracting a large number of students each year is the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS), which offers such subject areas as textiles, merchandizing, dietetics, human nutrition and food, professional child development and family and community services.

"I believe part of the success of our department is because individuals see the relationship of our programs to our place in the missions of the UW Cooperative Extension Service and the College of Agriculture: strengthening rural families and communities," said Professor Karen Williams, FCS department head.

"Wyoming is facing many challenges due to the impacts of energy development on communities, obesity and its impacts on diabetes and heart health and the need for creating a diverse economy," Williams said. "Our department helps individuals start their own businesses to strengthen local economies. We help them contribute to early education, youth development and family resiliency, and there's the importance of nutrition, health and wellness issues and the arts."

An agricultural-related field seeing dramatic growth across the United States is agroecology, and UW was the first university in the country to form a degree program in this field, said Dave Wilson, an associate lecturer and adviser in the Department of Plant Sciences.

Shared between the departments of Plant Sciences and Renewable Resources, the agroecology degree program started in 1992 and has been growing since.

"We're pulling students from all over the country," Wilson said. "The degree is broad-based enough students have a lot of choices. The U.S. Forest Service hires agroecology students for grazing or timber management, while some work for the Bureau of Land Management."

Wilson added, "Other graduates are employed by private companies as crop consultants, crop inspectors, golf course and greenhouse managers, landscapers and sales representatives. Some return to the family farm."

While the trend of non-traditional fields of work such as urban horticulture and landscaping is growing, Wilson explained, there are still ranchers who have a great deal of knowledge about cattle but need experts to help them understand the best methods of growing feed for their livestock.

"Good-quality forage and crops are the basis for high-quality livestock," he said.

Most recently, the College of Agriculture helped develop and now shares four concurrent majors with the College of Education.

The concurrent majors with agricultural education are in agricultural business, agricultural communications, animal/veterinary sciences and rangeland ecology/watershed management.

"Graduates with concurrent majors can market themselves as secondary teachers with a core specialization in one of the four agricultural majors they choose," Wangberg said.

On the Web: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/UWAG/.

Posted on Monday, June 25, 2007

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