UNIVERSITY COUNCIL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS COMMITTEE REQUEST FOR DECISION. Gordon Hill, Vice-Chair, Academic Programs Committee

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1 AGENDA ITEM NO: 13.2 UNIVERSITY COUNCIL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS COMMITTEE REQUEST FOR DECISION PRESENTED BY: Gordon Hill, Vice-Chair, Academic Programs Committee DATE OF MEETING: June 19, 2008 SUBJECT: DECISION REQUESTED: Agriculture & Bioresources: reinstatement of the Agronomy major That Council approve reinstatement of the Agronomy field of specialization at the major level in the Bachelor of Science in Agriculture program. PURPOSE: The Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) field of specialization in Agronomy is an academic program at the University of Saskatchewan. SUMMARY: The College revised this major in 2004, as described in the attached materials. The major in Agronomy will consist of the common core courses from the BSA degree program and from the Plant Science program in the Department of Plant Science. Students who complete the Agronomy Diploma program will be eligible to continue toward this degree. The Agronomy major integrates principles of economical and sustainable field crop production. The addition of four new courses in agronomy created out of major revisions to the Diploma in Agriculture will significantly expand the offerings in Agronomy. These courses will be approved through Course Challenge following college-level approval. ATTACHMENTS: Proposal documentation

2 Proposal for Curriculum Change to be approved by Council or by Academic Programs Committee 1. PROPOSAL IDENTIFICATION Title of proposal: Agronomy Degree(s): BSA Level(s) of Concentration: Major Degree College: Agriculture and Bioresources Department: Plant Sciences Contact person(s) (name, telephone, fax, ): Bruce Coulman, Head Dan Pennock Department of Plant Sciences Associate Dean (Academic) College of Agriculture and Bioresources College of Agriculture and Bioresources Date: March12, 2008 Approved by the degree college and/or home college: March 6, 2008 Proposed date of implementation: September, TYPE OF CHANGE Addition of a higher Level of Concentration to an existing Field of Specialization. the Plant Science major will be reestablished at the Major Level of Concentration. The Agronomy theme in 3. RATIONALE Agronomy was reduced from a Major to a Theme within the PLSC Major in response to the SPR process of Agronomy was rated as a B program in the SPR process and the course content of the program was well regarded by the reviewers. The major weakness identified was the lack of an administrative home and inconsistencies in the advising received by students (at the time of SPR there were advisors for Agronomy in PLSC, SLSC, and AGEC).

3 In response to the SPR process Agronomy, along with Majors in Crop Science, Horticulture Science, and Plant Ecology/Rangeland Resources, was reduced to a theme within a unified PLSC Major. As of Sept there were 53 students in the Agronomy theme, 5 in Horticulture, 6 in Plant Improvement, 2 in Rangeland, and 19 in general PLSC or undecided. The Agronomy theme is the 2 nd largest program in the College (following ANSC at 133 students and ahead of EVSC at 51 students). At the time that Agronomy was reduced to a theme there was a hope that themes could be listed on the transcript. This has not occurred, and is not likely to occur in the near future. We believe that Agronomy should be re-established as a Major for the following reasons: 1) The Agronomy theme is the second largest program in the College and has considerable potential for growth in student numbers. As a theme in lacks the visibility in recruitment efforts (e.g. University website, SESD print materials) that would allow it to achieve its full enrolment potential. 2) The College has recently established a Diploma in Agronomy which has been designed to ladder into a degree program. The Diploma cannot directly ladder into the existing PLSC major but the proposed Agronomy Major allows a full 2+2 laddering (i.e., 60 cu of credit for the 2 year diploma). 3) The re-positioning of Diploma-level courses as Degree-level courses lead to the creation of four new degree-level courses in Agronomy that significantly expand our course offerings in Agronomy. As well, several degree-level courses to support the Agronomy programs are under development by Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering. This significant expansion in Agronomy courses differentiates the proposed Agronomy major from the existing PLSC Major. 4) The administrative home for the proposed Agronomy major will be the Department of Plant Science. This addresses the major issue raised in the SPR document. 4. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM CHARACTERISTICS The proposed major in Agronomy includes a common core from the BSA degree as well as one from the Plant Science major in the Department of Plant Sciences. The Agronomy major integrates principles of economical and sustainable field crop production. The addition of four new courses in agronomy created out of major revisions to the Diploma in Agriculture significantly expands the offerings in Agronomy. Graduates will have practical skills in field agronomy and diagnostics along with an understanding of the biological, ecological and economic principles of crop production and soil management, and an appreciation of the short and long term effects of agricultural production on the environment. Table 1: Courses of the proposed Agronomy Major. College Core AGRC AGRC AGRC BIOL CHEM CHEM ECON cu HUM, FA, SS 3 cu HUM, FA, SS 3 cu English RCM AGRN 492.3/496.6 MATH or cu Soil/Plant/Environment Animal/Food Agri Food Issues and Institutions The Nature of Life Struct. Bonding and Prop. Materials Organic Chem Price Theory and Res. Alloc Communications Term Paper/Thesis

4 Required SLSC BIOL BIOL BIOL PLSC PLSC PLSC PLSC PLSC SLSC BPBE PLSC PLSC Restricted Electives 6 cu from BIOL EVSC PLSC PLSC PLSC SLSC ANSC cu from SLSC SLSC ABE SLSC ABE cu from BPBE BPBE BPBE BPBE cu from PLSC PLSC PLSC PLSC PLSC ANSC Minor Open Electives 39 cu Agricultural Soil Science The Living Plant Genes to Genomics Introductory Plant Physiology Principles of Plant Ecology Fundamentals of Horticulture Introduction to Field Crops Statistical Methods Integrated Pest Management Soil Fertility and Fertilizers Introduction to Farm Business Management Sustainable Crop Production Crop Physiology 15 cu Introductory Plant Pathology Env. Fate and Transport Toxic. Sub. Weed Biology and Ecology Pesticides and Crop Protection Weed Control in Organic Agriculture Environmental Soil Chemistry Animal Agriculture and the Environment Applied Soil Physics Soil Microbiology Water Management Agroforestry for Environmental Management Agricultural Machinery Management I Grain and Livestock Market. Farm and Agric. Business Operations Management Agricultural Finance and Appraisal Principles of Selling Management of Arable Grassland Grain Chemistry and Technology Rangeland Ecology and Management Fruit Science Vegetable Science Grazing Animal Production 18 cu (minors in Field Crop Production, Horticulture, and Rangeland resources are not permitted) 9 cu

5 Calendar Entry First Year (30 credit units) AGRC 111.3, Agricultural Science I; BIOL 120.3,The Nature of Life; ECON 111.3, Price Theory and Resource Allocation; CHEM 112.3, General Chemistry I; CHEM 250.3, Intro to Organic Chemistry; AGRC 112.3, Agricultural Science II; AGRC 113.3, Agri-Food Issues and Institutions; BIOL 222.3, The Living Plant; 6 cu chosen from Social Science, Humanities or Fine Arts. Second Year (27 credit units) RCM 300.3, Effective Professional Communication; SLSC 240.3, Agricultural Soil Sciences; MATH 101.3, Elementary Calculus OR MATH 110.3, Calculus; BIOL 226.3, Genes to Genomics; PLSC 220.3, Introduction to Horticulture; PLSC 213.3, Principles of Plant Ecology; PLSC 222.3, Introduction to Field Crops; one of ENG 111.3, 112.3, or 114.3; PLSC 314.3, Statistics; plus a 3 cu open or restricted elective chosen from the third and fourth year of the program Third and Fourth Year (63 credit units) Required (36 cu): PLSC 335.3, Integrated Pest Management; BIOL 331.3, Plant Physiology; SLSC 312.3, Soil Fertility and Fertilizers; BPBE 320.3, Intro to Farm Business Management; PLSC 401.3, Sustainable Crop Production ; PLSC 417.3, Crop Physiology; AGRC or 494.6, Thesis, plus 15 credit units from the following: 6 cu chosen from BIOL 345.3, Introductory Plant Pathology EVSC 420.3, Environmental Fate and Transport of Toxic Substances PLSC 340.3, Weed Biology and Ecology PLSC 345.3, Pesticides and Crop Protection PLSC 234.3, Weed Control in Organic Agriculture SLSC 313.3, Environmental Soil Chemistry 3 cu chosen from SLSC 322.3, Applied Soil Physics SLSC 343.3, Soil Microbiology ABE 309.3, Water Management SLSC 430.3, Agroforestry for Environmental Management ABE 205.3, Agricultural Machinery Management I 3 cu chosen from BPBE 343.3, Grain and Livestock Marketing BPBE 420.3, Farm and Agricultural Business Operations Management BPBE 435.3, Agricultural Finance and Appraisal BPBE 346.3, Principles of Selling 3 cu chosen from PLSC 418.3, Management of Arable Grassland PLSC 420.3, Grain Chemistry and Technology PLSC 422.3, Rangeland Ecology and Management PLSC 441.3, Fruit Science PLSC 451.3, Vegetable Science ANSC 375.3, Animal Agriculture and the Environment ANSC 410.3, Grazing Animal Production

6 Restricted Electives (18 cu): Students can choose to complete a minor (not including Field Crop Production, Horticulture or Rangeland Resources) or a selection of courses approved by an advisor. Open Electives (9 cu) 5. RESOURCES No new resources will be required. Repositioning Agronomy as a major in the BSA can be accomplished within existing departmental resources. New courses available to students in agronomy are the result of repositioning diploma-level courses as part of the major revision to the Diploma in Agriculture. 6. RELATIONSHIPS AND IMPACT OF IMPLEMENTATION The College believes that Agronomy can be much more effectively marketed as a Major and that significant growth in student numbers can be achieved by joint marketing of the Agronomy Diploma and BSA Agronomy Major. Since the SPR process new Minors in Food and Bioproduct Entrepreneurship and in Agribusiness have been approved in the College and we believe that the combination of an Agronomy major and one of these two Minors will be very popular with students. 7. BUDGET Please indicate if budget allocations within the department or the college will change due to this program. Consult with the College s Financial Analyst (Financial Services Division) and submit the Budget Consultation form if allocations are required. No there are no new courses associated with this change.