National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1971. Undergraduate Education in the Sciences for Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources: Summary of Proceedings of Regional Conferences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/20460.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1971. Undergraduate Education in the Sciences for Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources: Summary of Proceedings of Regional Conferences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/20460.
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Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1971. Undergraduate Education in the Sciences for Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources: Summary of Proceedings of Regional Conferences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/20460.
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Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1971. Undergraduate Education in the Sciences for Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources: Summary of Proceedings of Regional Conferences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/20460.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1971. Undergraduate Education in the Sciences for Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources: Summary of Proceedings of Regional Conferences. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/20460.
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Page R5

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION IN THE SCIENCES FOR STUDENTS IN AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES NAS-NAE MAR 21972 l!IBRARY S U M M A RY O F P R O C E E D I N G S O F R E G I O N A L C O N F E R E N C E S Commission on Education i n Agricu ltu re and Natural Resou rces NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WASHINGTON, D.C. 1971

The work of the Commission on Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources was sup­ ported through a contract between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation. ISBN 0-309-Q1921-4 Available from Printing and Publishing Office National Academy of Sciences 2101 Constitution Avenue Washington, D.C. 20418 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 77-169177 Printed in the United States of America

Preface In November 1966 the Commission on Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources, with the Commission on Undergraduate Education in the Biological Sciences, sponsored a national conference under the title "Undergraduate Education in the Biological Sciences for Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources."* It was cosponsored also by the Resident Instruction Section, Division of Agriculture, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and by the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. As a follow-up to this conference, four regional conferences were held in the ensuing few years, bringing together teaching faculty mem­ bers from agriculture, forestry and other natural resource areas, and biology. While the participants were different at each conference and reflected slightly different emphases, they were individuals consid­ ered to have appreciable influence upon undergraduate programs in their respective institutions and included the chairmen or members of college or department curriculum committees. •commission on Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources. 1967. Under­ graduate Education in the Biological Sciences for Students in Agriculture and Natural Resources. Publ. 1495, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. 86p. i i i

iv Preface The Commission recognized two general objectives of the regional conferences: ( l) to acquaint the instructional staffs in agriculture and natural resources with the changes that are taking place in their areas of concern and with the opinions of various study groups as to the education in the sciences needed by their students over the next few decades, and (2) to inform biologists of the needs of students in agri­ culture and natural resources, for their consideration in planning core curricula and service courses. There were four conferences in all: • The Western Region Conference was held at the University of Nevada, Reno, February 22-23, 1968, under the chairmanship of Darrel S. Metcalfe, University of Arizona. • The Northeast Region Conference was held at the Hotel America, Hartford, Connecticut, May 2-3, 1968, under the chair­ manship of Russell E. Larson, Pennsylvania State University . • The North Central Region Conference was held at the Univer­ sity of Wisconsin on March 13- 14, 1969, under the chairmanship of Carroll V. Hess, Kansas State University. • The Southern Region Conference was held at the University of Georgia on October 2 1-22, 1969, under the chairmanship of Hal B. Barker, Louisiana Tech University. The general similarity of the regional conferences suggests that the most practical way to organize the proceedings is to consolidate like topics within a given chapter and to maintain the integrity of the individual presentations as essays within that chapter. This approach has the virtue of eliminating a certain amount of duplication and making all the various viewpoints conveniently available. Where two speakers on the same general topic approach it from different view­ points or take opposite points of view on particular facets, both statements have been retained essentially as initially presented. The Commission is grateful to the very substantial number of per­ sons who participated in organizing the regional conferences, ap­ peared as invited speakers on the platform, or joined the informal discussions as attending invitees.

1 Trends in Agricultural Curricula I A. L. KO HLS I I propose to discuss some guidelines in curricula improvement from the viewpoint of a professor who has been teaching undergraduates for nearly 20 years, who has had charge of departmental faculty cur­ riculum development activities for many of these years, who has had a brief exposure to departmental administration and who now finds himself viewing the university as assistant to the academic vice president. We must cease "running scared" in agriculture. A primary handi­ cap to constructive thought and change is the continuing debate about whether or not the school of agriculture-call it by any name you choose-has an educational role to play in the future. Change is not unique to agriculture. Anyone who observes the university scene today sees the challenge of change in almost every area. Questions are being asked in almost all the professional schools-home eco­ nomics, engineering, and pharmacy, to name several-as to roles and curricula. Institutions do not die unless they refuse to adapt, and I strongly urge that we accept the proposition that the better agricul- 1

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