Abstract:
Today's graduates from colleges of Agriculture and Natural Resources, much like people involved in production agriculture, are waiting to hit a"hot market". Just like farmers and ranchers who get ready to market their commodity for a profit, college graduates with diplomas in hand, head to where they can cash in on profitable careers.
But for many graduates, the opportunity to find a "hot market" and cash in on profitable careers has not yet opened up. These available markets are not accessible, because college graduates are unprepared to fulfill the needs of the employers. Many graduates did not acquire the knowledge, competencies, skills and abilities to accommodate employers' needs while in college.
According to Klein (1990), educating students for a career in agricultural and natural Resources demands greater technical skills, plus a more holistic perspective on its interaction with society. Two profound changes have dramatically altered the landscape confronting today's agricultural graduates. First, very few of today's graduates will work directly with the farm production sector; instead they will increasingly work more closely with the final consumer. Second, the food and agricultural sector, at all levels, will operate in the context of an integrated world market system.
According to Broder and Houston (1986), colleges of agriculture have long been committed to quality education. The quality of an undergraduate degree program cannot be separated from the successes and failures of its graduates in the marketplace. The task of producing marketable graduates requires an on-going sensitivity to the changing needs and perceptions of prospective employers.
Keywords:
employer assessment, skill preparation, graduating students, college of agricultural sciences, teaching, curriculum
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