Monday, November 13, 2006
70-8
Recent trends with baccalaureate degree turfgrass students and implications for employment in the green industry.
Michael Fidanza, PO Box 7009, Penn State University-Berks Campus, Penn State University-Berks Campus, 2080 Tulpehocken Rd., Reading, PA 19610, Mark Carroll, 1112 H.J. Patterson Hall,, University of Maryland, University of Maryland, Dept Plant Science & Landscape Architecture, College Park, MD 20742-4452, James Breuninger, Dow AgroSciences, 9330 Zionsville Rd., 9330 Zionsville Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46268, United States of America, and Christopher Forth, TruGreen-ChemLawn, 8800 Kelso Drive, Baltimore, MD 21221, United States of America.
A recent survey was conducted among land-grant universities in the USA that offer a baccalaureate (i.e., four-year) degree in turfgrass science or turfgrass management. A range of 300 to 325 students will graduate with a baccalaureate degree in 2005, and that trend is forecast to continue in 2006. In the 2005 and 2006 academic year, one university will graduate a range of 40 to 50 students and several universities will graduate less than ten. Primary employment opportunities for baccalaureate students include jobs in golf course, sports turf, lawn and landscape, and sales and service sectors within the green industry.