University of Mount Olive starts agriculture division
By Staff Reports
Published in News on June 14, 2015 1:50 AM
MOUNT OLIVE -- As a result of the growth in its agriculture curriculums over the last few years the University of Mount Olive (UMO) has created a Division of Agriculture.
"The university has witnessed growth in student numbers interested in agriculture, and it is anticipated this will continue," said Dr. Sandy Maddox, division chair of agriculture and director of the Lois G. Britt Agribusiness Center.
She said the creation of the Division of Agriculture enables faculty to work together to develop curriculum and tp participate in outreach efforts that provide UMO students unique opportunities for learning and networking within the agricultural community.
"Through these partnerships the agriculture division has achieved 100 percent placement of ag graduates," she said. "The majority of these graduates are placed in eastern N.C. or in their respective local communities in other areas of the state.
"It is essential to the sustainability of our local communities for these graduates to return to their local communities to serve as educators and leaders in the agricultural industry."
The creation of the Division of Agriculture will allow for continued relationship building within the agricultural and educational communities, she said.
"The division will allow faculty to work collaboratively to expand degree offerings to meet the educational needs of students and the employer needs within the changing agricultural industry across the state," she said. "Precision agriculture, agronomic principles, sales and marketing, and agricultural education will remain at the forefront of educating students for careers in agriculture."
One of the challenges is continuing to provide students the hands-on learning experiences that take the classroom principles and theories and allow them to be applied in the field, she said.
"Through the gracious and generous donations of both individuals and farm families in the region, we are beginning to successfully develop facilities that will allow for a participatory learning experience to occur," she said.
Three of those additions include the Goodson-Wells Agricultural Mechanics Shop, an arboretum and the Kornegay Farm.
The addition of the Goodson-Wells Agricultural Mechanics Shop has been an essential learning tool for the university's students, many of whom will be agriculture educators in the future, she said.
The facility has been equipped by funds from individual donations allowing for the purchase of welding and other needed equipment for teaching and training.
An arboretum, currently under construction, will serve as a teaching tool for UMO students and green industry professionals.
"Numerous local nurseries are committed to providing materials to help us bring this teaching tool to fruition for the benefit of UMO students and for residents of the region to enjoy," Ms. Maddox said.
The George R. Kornegay family's donation of a 70-acre farm for a student learning laboratory will help the university's agriculture faculty teach students animal husbandry techniques, traditional production and organic production techniques and principles, soil and water, environmental and natural resource principles and do so at a realistic scale of production, she said.
The farm resource will additionally allow students the opportunity to develop sales and marketing strategies and business planning models for the farm and farm products as well as to conduct undergraduate research projects, she said.