The University of Georgia’s agricultural college is proposing
a new major at its Tifton, Ga., campus to take advantage of
research
and extension expertise in new agricultural technologies.
The new Agriscience and Emerging Technologies major would be
convenient
for south Georgia students. It would be available to anyone
entering
the University of Georgia.
The major will be offered only at the Tifton campus, said David
Knauft, associate dean for academic affairs in the UGA College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
“This degree will take advantage of the people, facilities
and resources at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station,” said
Knauft, who began pushing for the Tifton-based degree a year
ago.
Educational
Partnership
The CAES will work in partnership with Abraham Baldwin
Agricultural
College. Agricultural students have been able to get only an
associate
degree at ABAC. Students wanting a four-year UGA degree have had
to move to Athens to continue their agricultural education.
With the new major, though, students could take courses required
for the first two years at ABAC. Once they finish their ABAC
degree,
they could transfer to UGA and attend classes in Tifton, not
Athens.
The students would become UGA students in Tifton and would have
to meet university standards and requirements.
Knauft said most classes would be based in the National
Environmentally
Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory.
“Students will get hands-on, in-the-field and research
experience
from the Tifton faculty,” he said.
Agricultural Interest
Knauft said 80 percent of the students in the ABAC college
transfer
program expressed interest in the new program. And more than 900
high school biology students in south Georgia returned a survey,
with more than 35 percent expressing interest in the program.
Knauft felt confident the new major will do well in Tifton. But
there is no established date for the major yet.
“There is still a lot of work to do,” he said.
“There
is no university program in Tifton, and a lot has to be
done.”
Knauft said the unique major would offer an excellent opportunity
for students from around the Southeast to study the latest in
production agriculture technologies and learn new discoveries
can help the rural economy.