SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/338693
24 SportsTurf | July 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com F a c i l i t y & O p e r a t i o n s | B y P a t r i c k D . What have been some significant changes in your program over the past 5 years? What are the biggest challenges facing 2-year programs in the next 5 years? How does your internship program operate? How can the sports turf industry best support 2-year turfgrass programs? MT. San anTOniO COllege, Walnut, Ca From Brian Scott, Professor of Horticulture & Agricultural Sciences Department Chair: We offer a 2-year degree in Park and Sports Turf Management, which is a comprehensive program for both indus- tries. Along with Park Management, Turf Management and Sports Turf Management classes, students also are required to take other courses including IPM, Landscape Design, Plant ID, Soil Science, Landscape Equipment Operations, Irrigation Design and Installation, Arboriculture and Landscape Construction, as well as work experience classes. The core course requirement is 46-49 semester units (we are on 16-week semesters). We also offer a Certificate in Sports Turf Management which consists of 18 semester units (6 courses). These are Turf and Sports Turf, IPM, Soils, Irrigation Design and Installation and Irrigation Management. I would say the most significant change has been overhauling our certifi- cate system. Most of our certificates in the past have been 24-30 units (8-10 courses). Our Advisory Committee (made up of industry professionals) recommended that we make our certificates fewer units and more special- ized. As a result, we went from offering 9 certificates to 12 certificates, all of which are 18 units (6 courses). They are all very specialized now. Specifically in the Turf Program we are starting to see more students who are recently out of high school becoming interested in Sports Turf Management as a career. Up until about 5 years ago the majority of the turf students were already working in the industry and trying to increase their knowledge base in order to promote to more prominent positions. One of the biggest challenges in California is the Student Success Initiative. There has been a recent mandate to look at student success pri- marily on completion of certificates and degrees, which is reasonable. The issue for us is that many students tend to 'job out' one or two classes short and never come back to finish, but they have been very successful at meet- ing their educational goals. We also have students who finish certificates but do not apply for them for unknown reasons. We have been working diligently to do educational plans and orientations to make sure students complete and apply for the degrees and certificates they have earned. The other challenge is always the budget, just like anywhere else. We are asked to keep students on the cutting edge of technology and information, which can be expensive. Updating tools and equipment on a regular basis is costly, and there is no ongoing budget line to replace aging tools and equipment. Therefore we have to be aggressive in pursuing outside sources such as industry partners, grants and donations. One final challenge is how long it takes to get a new course added, or existing courses, certificates and degrees modified. Even if all goes well, it can take 2 years to get changes approved. That is an internal issue that will probably never go away. [Our internship program] is where we can make big improvements. Currently we have no specific internships set up. Students sign up for work experience and then they work here on our sports turf lab or at our nursery. Recently several have gone to UCLA to work with Chris Romo at Jackie Robinson Stadium, but that is quite a ways from campus. I would like to develop more opportunities close to campus, or even on campus. We get great support from our local STMA chapter who help students find part-time work and donate to the Turf Team. It would be great to have companies who could possibly loan us equipment for demonstration pur- poses for a semester or year at a time. This would keep our costs minimal and keep the most updated equipment available. Offering scholarships for stu- dents is another great way to support the program. Be available and flexible to start internship programs in order to give students hands on opportunities. MiChigan STaTe, east lansing, Mi From Dr. John N. Rogers, III, Professor of Turfgrass Management, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences: The 2-year Sports and Commercial Turf program at MSU is an 18-month, 54-credit program that is on campus only. Students attend classes for the first fall semester (15 weeks), then a short 10-week spring semester. From April through August they conduct an internship. The second year is the same as the first, with students graduating in late March. The importance of 2-year turfgrass programs Facility & Operations Editor's note: We asked some of the people in charge of 2-year turfgrass programs at colleges and universities across the country to update us on those programs. Here are the responses: Brian Scott, Mt. San Antonio College