Washington State U Offers Sustainable Ag Graduate Certificate

[S.Annadana]

Washington State U Offers Sustainable Ag Graduate Certificate
Compiled By Staff
January 1, 2008


Washington State University's Graduate School is offering a new opportunity to ag students to obtain a certificate in sustainable agriculture. Students are eligible to pursue the certificate if they meet prerequisites for course required.

The certificate course work will provide students with an interdisciplinary understanding of practices and issues in sustainable agricultural practices, says Lynne Carpenter-Boggs, coordinator of the WSU Biologically Intensive Agriculture and Organic Farming program.

"Sustainable agriculture is inherently interdisciplinary and the courses required will provide knowledge of science that makes it work," says Carpenter-Boggs.

She says the certificate program which was approved by the WSU Faculty Senate last October, came about due to demand.

"We've had a lot of graduate students tell us that they want more programs in sustainable agriculture," she reports. "This came about because of strong support from both students and faculty."

To obtain the certificate students must obtain a minimum of nine graded credits. The program's two required core courses provide six of these credits, and students must earn three additional credits from courses in disciplines outside of their primary degree programs.

In 2006, WSU began offering the nation's first undergraduate major in organic agriculture as one of the five majors for earning a degree in Agriculture and Food Systems.