A&M Program Sows Seeds for More Agriculture Grads
Posted on: Thursday, 6 October 2005, 21:00 CDT
By San Antonio Express-News
Oct. 7--Declining enrollment in the agriculture school and a looming agricultural worker shortage have convinced officials at Texas A&M University to fight back with a marketing program showing students how the industry has changed.
"We need to give the public and students an opportunity to learn about our industry, to learn about career opportunities here and in the United States," said Edward Romero, assistant dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who helped develop the marketing and educational tool called AgForLife.
The program, available both on the Internet and in written form, centers on an industry map that shows how many professions and industries are linked to agriculture. Romero said students who might have shied away from agriculture because of its rugged, unsophisticated image can be shown in AgForLife that agriculture also means jobs in labs, with marketing firms, as engineers or in other professional capacities.
"Agriculture is much more than production. It's nutrition, food safety issues and trade issues," said Elsa Murano, A&M's vice chancellor and former U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary. "These are the disciplines we need to train students in so Texas agriculture can provide consumers what they need and want." The USDA predicts that agriculture will experience a shortfall of 2,700 workers through 2010 even though 32,300 students graduate from the nation's agriculture schools each year, according to a report by A&M's Agriculture News.
Undergraduate enrollment at A&M's school of agriculture grew through 2003 but since has fallen off by a few hundred, Murano said. AgForLife will be taken to high schools and colleges the next year in hopes of reversing that trend.
-----
To see more of the San Antonio Express-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mysanantonio.com.
Copyright (c) 2005, San Antonio Express-News
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
Source: San Antonio Express-News
Related Articles
- Media Advisory: San Diego Software Industry Council 'Forum on Analytics' Conference for Healthcare, Web 3.0 and Social Networking November 12, 2009
- San Diego Software Industry Council Presents 'Forum on Analytics' Conference Exploring Analytics in Healthcare, Web 3.0 and Social Networking
- San Diego Software Industry Council Launches 'Sweat Shop,' a Job Bank and Sweat Equity Marketplace for Software and IT Companies
- Energy Industry Icon Calls U.S. Equity Market Rally Overdone: U.S. Energy Industry Vulnerable
- Dominion Completes Market Equity Needs for 2009
- Market Analysis US Petrochemical Industry is the Comprehensive Intelligence Guide on the Potential of This Industry
- Peter Young Named Director of Program Helping Students With Special Needs Attend College in Monterey
- Agricultural Consultants - Portfolio Analysis Consultants Is a Comprehensive Evaluation of the UK Agricultural Consultants Market
- Student Marketing Group: America's #1 Choice for Student Lists and Marketing Services
- Preservice Teachers' Predictions, Perceptions, and Actual Assessment of Students With Special Needs in Secondary General Music
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds