curriculum
The Certificate, open to enrollment by all UGA students, will allow students to emphasize one of the following four areas as they relate to agrosecurity:
- Food and agricultural policy
- Animal agriculture
- The food processing industry or
- Plant sciences.
Courses in the Certificate Program curriculum will be supported by instruction designed to lead to effective learning by emphasis on development of critical thinking skills by participating students.
Drawing upon multiple disciplines, primarily within agricultural science but also complemented by material from other colleges of the university, the Agrosecurity Certificate Program will help students integrate insights from each to work together in pursuit of a common goal to a complex problem. By sharing information and data used as an empirical basis in each discipline, along with modes of interpreting information and specialized concepts and ideas used to organize disciplinary data, students will be better equipped to probe into the nature of agrosecurity problems and issues.
Several academic units were involved in the planning and initiation of this Certificate Program within the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences of the University (see Certificate Development Committee). The Departments/Divisions that are responsible for instructional delivery of coursework include:
Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication
Agricultural and Applied Economics
Animal and Dairy Science Department
Crop and Soil Science Department
Entomology Department
Food Science Department
Plant Pathology Department
Poultry Science Department
And the
College of Veterinary Medicine
Along with representation and administrative interest by:
Office of Global Programs
Office of Security and Emergency Preparedness
Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Given the emphasis on foreign animal disease and engagement of the School of Veterinary Medicine, activities of the School for Public and International Affairs and Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, it is evident that other academic units within the University have convergent goals and will become involved in the certificate program curriculum in the future.
Diverse Faculty and Expert Participation
Faculty from all of the departments, divisions and Schools listed above will be invited to participate in the three core courses developed for the Certificate Program in Agrosecurity. Several additional experts will be drawn from the private sector to assist with practical training and as quest experts to address students in the capstone seminar course.
The proposed Agrosecurity Certificate Program provides a framework for curriculum development and content based on principles of agricultural production, agricultural and social policy, and evolving need to secure food system infrastructure. The developed academic-state-federal partnerships and training efforts serve as a foundation and springboard for the university educational program. This foundation of working relationships and how they operate can be held up as a model for other educational institutions as well as cooperative state and federal efforts in agricultural emergency management and agrosecurity.