Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/418083
www.goodfruit.com GOOD FRUIT GROWER DECEMBER 2014 31 More four-year graduates are needed by Washington's wine industry in the next few years. by Melissa Hansen T he number of students enrolled in Washington State University's viticulture and enology program is not growing fast enough to keep up with demand for grad- uates trained in the state, according to a recent employment needs assessment. But help will come soon from the univer- sity's new wine science center scheduled to open next fall. In the five years that Dr. Thomas Henick-Kling has led the viticulture and enology program from WSU-Tri-Cities, Richland, he's been busy building a foundation for the relatively young pro- gram. When he started in 2009, WSU-Tri- Cities didn't even offer four-year degrees and was primarily known as a post-doc- torate school for nearby Hanford Site professionals. The campus began offer- ing bachelor's degree programs in 2011. WSU's viticulture and enology program was created in 2002 to help fill a shortage of trained employees in the wine industry. Industry members wanted an educational program tailored to growing grapes and making wine in the cool climate of the Pacific Northwest, a region that often experiences vine-killing cold temperatures. Three students received their diploma from the program's first graduating class in 2004. Today, the program has almost 30 faculty members, with 12 full-time equivalents. Nearly 20 students grad- uated in 2014, counting those slated for a December graduation. Fine-tuning of the program has included the addition of a wine business major and minor. Henick-Kling is pleased with the viticulture and enology program's growing enrollment. "I've seen a very strong upward trend in student numbers," he said. "The current number of students in the program is way more than we've ever had." For the 2014 fall semester, 67 students were certified majors and 22 students were undeclared. At WSU, students must declare a major by their third year. Nearly 30 stu- dents are in the viticulture and enology postgraduate program. For those interested in growing grapes or wine- making who don't want a four-year degree, WSU Extension offers 1.5-year continuing education certif- icate programs in viticulture and enology. The popular programs, offered through on-line courses, have been filled to capacity of 30 students each (viticulture and enology) for many years and have waiting lists. Shared campuses WSU's undergraduate viticulture and enology program is unique because it's split between two cam- puses—Pullman and Tri-Cities. General education and lower division classes are offered at Pullman, upper division classes are taught through distance learning from Tri-Cities. "Sharing campuses is definitely not the easy way to run a program," said Henick-Kling. But there are benefits. "For first and second-year students, Pullman has great infrastructure and provides the full college experience," he said. "The downside to Pullman is that students are more than two hours away from anywhere, including the state's wine industry." The wine program was centered at Tri-Cities for its proximity to the wine industry, internships, and researchers at WSU's Prosser field station. Henick-Kling noted that in recent years, more viticul- ture and enology students are moving to Tri-Cities for their final and sometimes third year because they can work in the industry while attending school and be close to researchers. Recruiting Washington's wine industry is vibrant, and the state is recognized as a world-class wine region. But that doesn't make drawing students to WSU's wine pro- gram easy. "Recruiting efforts are a bit difficult," said Henick- Kling. "Most students in the program are older, so traditional recruitment efforts targeted at high schools don't necessarily work." Reaching high school students who aren't of legal age to drink wine has its own challenges. Until state legislators recently passed the "sip and spit" law, underage students were prohibited from taking wine- making courses. The law allows students age 18 to 20 taking winemaking and culinary courses to sip and spit wines as part of their curriculum. The wine industry is unique from other industries because first-time winemakers or vineyard owners are often starting a second career or retired. Many of the viticulture and enology students at the community colleges are older and work full-time, which is why classes are usually offered at night. Most wine program students at Yakima Valley Community College are 30 years and older. A step that should help recruitment was approval of articulation agreements in 2014 between WSU and the community colleges of Yakima Valley and Walla Walla. The guiding documents spell out exactly what courses students must take at the two community colleges for seamless transfer to WSU. Education officials are in the process of developing an agreement with South Seattle Community College. "This is better for students wanting to transfer from community colleges to receive a bachelor's degree," Henick-Kling said, noting that in the past, transfers were handled on a case by case basis. Identity Henick-Kling is pinning his recruitment hopes on the new wine science center being built at WSU-Tri- Cities. The center opens for classes next fall. "The Wine Science Center, in addition to providing needed classroom space and state-of-the-art wine- making and wine research facilities, will be a place for undergraduates to meet, hang out, work in groups, and even allow undergraduates to do research," he said. The new center will have room for double the number of current students. Moreover, it gives the viticulture and enology pro- gram an identity. "We've heard from students and industry that our program didn't have a face, didn't have an identity," said Henick-Kling. "Because we're diffused over two campuses, there wasn't a 'go-to' place. No one knew where the program was." He thinks the center's location will be one of its biggest selling points when comparing WSU to other major wine programs. "The advantage we have over Davis (University of California, Davis) or Cornell University is that we're in close proximity to vineyards, wineries, and research." Henick-Kling believes Washington's wine program stacks up against wine programs in other states. The viticulture and enology program at University of California, Davis, graduated approximately 60 bache- lor's degree students last spring, but it's been around for 130 years. Cornell graduated five bachelor's degree students last spring. Viticulture and enology became an official major in 2008. "We're in good shape," he said, adding that the state has developed a solid grape and wine education foun- dation between WSU and community colleges. "Now, it's a matter of recruiting more students. We're way ahead of where we were ten years ago." • Viticulture and enology education Enrollment figures at colleges in Washington State. AA/AAS = ASSOCIATE'S OF ARTS, ASSOCIATE'S OF APPLIED SCIENCE / BS = BACHELOR'S OF SCIENCE (*Includes those completing program but not applying for graduation) School Areas of focus Average number of graduates per year Current students Contact information Yakima Valley Community College Vineyard and winery technology 8 AA/AAS 40 Trent Ball tball@yvcc.edu Walla Walla Community College Enology and viticulture, wine marketing and management 24 AA/AAS 55 Timothy Donahue timothy.donahue@wwcc.edu South Seattle Community College Winemaking, wine marketing and sales, food and wine pairing *30 AA/AAS 150 Regina Daigneault regina.daigneault@seattlecolleges.edu Central Washington University Global wine studies, wine trade and tourism 20 BS 20 John Hudelson hudelson@cwu.edu Washington State University Viticulture and enology 15 BS 67 Dr. Thomas Henick-Kling thk@wsu.edu Wenatchee Valley College Viticulture program in Spanish GIVXM½GEXIW 35 Leo Garcia lgarcia@wvc.edu TABLE 2 enology educators) visit with prospective students and parents who want to know what employment opportunities there are in the wine industry," he said. "This is good evidence to show them that Washington has a viable wine industry and there is strong demand for educated workers." Also, he said the numbers are valuable for college administrations, especially if more program capacity is needed. Although the viticulture and enology program at Yakima Valley Community College has room for more students, the wine program at Walla Walla Community College has a waiting list. • The study was commissioned by the Washington Wine Education Consortium, which includes educators from colleges that have a wine program, and funded by industry trade groups, including the Washington Wine Commission, Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers, and Washington State Grape Society. WSU's grape and wine program is growing Thomas Henick-Kling