WINNIPEG (Staff) – Mixing farmers and environmentalists can be a little like mixing oil with water. But a new University of Manitoba agriculture degree will educate a new generation of farmers in environmental theory and practices.
Starting this fall, students will be able to start a Bachelor of Science (Agroecology) degree, learning about what happens in ‘agroecosystems’ and how to protect resources without losing money.
Associate dean Bernie Dronzek said the undergraduate degree is part of an overhaul of the faculty’s curriculum, based partly on a survey of alumni and employers.
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He said survey results showed the faculty’s work is well-received in the community, but needs to focus more on computer literacy, communications skills and agribusiness skills.
Separate programs
The overhaul means the existing degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture with a number of different majors will be replaced by three separate degree programs:
- B.Sc. (Agriculture), specializing in either plant systems, animal systems or agronomy.
- B.Sc. (Agribusiness), specializing in either agribusiness or agricultural economics.
- B.Sc. (Agroecology).
Dronzek said existing courses have been repackaged rather than dropped.
“It’s more of a shift (in focus) and we’re actually trying to teach in more of a systems approach … by looking at the whole agricultural system instead of spending time in one small discipline.”
He said the changes were planned to run at no cost to the system, other than computer upgrades, which would be necessary even without changes.
The faculty has an operating budget of approximately $11 million. There are 525 students in the degree program, 200 graduate students and 200 students in the diploma program.
