N.C. State Starts Two-Year Agricultural Degree Program, 1959

From the 1959 Annual Report of the School of Agriculture, North Carolina State College.

Students in the new Agricultural Institute will use the same facilities and have the same instructors as students in the four-year program.

The North Carolina Agricultural Institute—a new two-year educational program—will become a reality for students in the fall of 1960.

Provision for the Institute was made by the 1959 North Carolina General Assembly. Instruction offered will be designed to train men and women for jobs in agriculture that require technicians with education beyond the high school level but which do not necessarily require four years of college.

The Institute rolled into gear during the year with the appointment of Dr. Homer C. Folks as its first director. Under his guidance curricula have been set up and the first steps toward attracting qualified students have been made.

A unique feature of the Institute is that all of its courses will be administered and taught by personnel within the School of Agriculture.

Addition to Current Program

The Institute is an addition to and not a substitute for the regular degree-granting program of the School of Agriculture. However, the use of the present School faculty to teach the courses will assure Institute students of getting the best technical training.

The Institute will attack two present-day problems. One is the critical need for technicians in agriculturally-related businesses. Many of our farm youth either can’t or don’t want to return to the farm but would like to remain in agriculture. The second problem is educating beyond the high school level the men who choose to stay on the farm. Many of these men can attend two years of technical training but not four years of college.

Initially the Institute will have five programs of instruction. These will be added to or altered to meet the demands of the time. At present the programs are Farm Equipment Sales and Service, General Agriculture, Livestock Management and Technology, Poultry Technology and Pest Control.

The Farm Equipment program is designed to train men in the selection, demonstration, installation and maintenance of agricultural equipment. Training also prepares the student for work in the fields of production, processing and distribution of agricultural products.

The General Agriculture program is designed to provide technical training for those who will be taking part in agricultural production in the years ahead.

Students completing the course of study in Livestock Management and Technology can serve as herd managers, farm managers, meat salesmen, livestock buyers, dairy equipment servicemen, feed salesmen, dairy herd improvement technicians, artificial breeding technicians, field servicemen, dairy plant fieldmen, and in other technical jobs within animal industry.

The curriculum in Pest Control is designed to provide men with technical knowledge needed to control insects, diseases, weeds or other pests. At present pest control operators usually confine their efforts to control of household pests or pests affecting structures, but there are opportunities for broadening this area into the area of custom treating in agricultural production.

The Poultry Technology course is designed to meet the growing demand for young men trained in the production, processing and marketing of poultry. It has been developed to furnish the poultry industry with field servicemen, salesmen, processing plant operators, hatcherymen, inspectors and regulatory officials.