The Certificate in Sustainable Agricultural Systems will require a minimum of 15 credit hours of course work. There are 12 hrs. of set courses and then the student will select one additional class to help focus on a specific area of sustainable agriculture. Required courses are: AFE 334 Soil Science, AFE 340 Environ Sci. and Agroecology, AFE 425 Organic Agriculture, and AFE 445 Agriculture and & Energy. Any of the following courses could be taken as an elective for this certificate: AFE 407 Agroforestry, AFE 435 Urban Agriculture, AFE 442 Plant Propagation, or AFE 443 Apiculture/Pollination Biology. This certificate program will complement other degree programs within the academic unit. It will also provide an interim degree for those pursuing the Agriculture System option within the AFE degree. Interim degrees have been shown to impact retention by providing an intermediate goal that can be achieved by students while pursuing the B.S degree, this also benefits graduation rates and helps keep some students on track for graduation with the full degree on time.
The Certificate in Environmental Measurements will require 14 credit hours of course work. It is designed to give experience to students a broad array measurement techniques and protocols. There are 14 hrs. of required courses. The following 14-credit hour curriculum ladder will be offered: AQU 480 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), AFE 489 Remote Sensing of Environment, AQU 460 Water Quality Management and AFE 461 Water Quality LAB, and BIO 417 Ecological Field Methods. This certificate program will create educational opportunities for KSU students and non-traditional students as well as high school teachers and government and private industry employees to earn a certificate in Environmental Measurements. These audiences can utilize the earned certificate for science teacher certification or as an educational/professional development credits towards their professional skills development. This certificate provides an interim degree for those pursuing the Option in Environmental Systems Students will develop basic skills in acquiring, analyzing and interpreting field data. The overall impact of this certificate program will enable students to develop unique skills to increase their chances to be recruited in special skills-oriented and high-salaried professional jobs.
One of our goals is to establish a Certificate in Geospatial Technology and Application for KSU undergraduate and other non-traditional students within the College of Agriculture, Communities, and the Environment AFE program. The following 12-credit hour curriculum ladder will be offered: AQU 480 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), COS 364 Data Storage & Data Mining, AFE 489 Remote Sensing of Environment, and AFE 366 Climate Change Studies. This certificate program will create educational opportunities for KSU students and non-traditional students as well as high school teachers and government and private industry employees to earn a certificate in geospatial technology application. These audiences can utilize the earned certificate for science teacher certification or as an educational/professional development credits towards their professional skills development. This certificate provides an interim degree for those pursuing the Option in Environmental Systems. Students will develop basic skills in acquiring, analyzing and interpreting spatial databases and prepare standard cartographic maps using 21st century mapping and visualization techniques. The overall impact of the certificate program is for students to develop unique skills and increase their chances to be recruited in special skills-oriented and high-salaried professional jobs.
The Certificate in Agriculture Business and Management will require a minimum of 12 credit hours of course work which includes the following classes: ACC 201 Principles of Accounting, AFE 215 Ag Management, AFE 426 Principles of Ag Econ and Marketing, and MGT 465 Entrepreneurship. All four of these classes are part of the Agriculture Business option within the AFE degree. This certificate is being offered in conjunction with the KSU School of Business and Technology. This degree program will complement our other degree offerings. The Certificate program also provides an interim degree for those pursuing the Agriculture Business option in the Agriculture, Food, and Environment, B.S. degree. Interim degrees have been shown to positively impact retention and graduation rates.