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
Classes are oriented to a career in turfgrass man- agement, covering all aspects of turf (13 classes with turfgrass in the title). All ancillary subjects have direct preparation for the career as well, such as computers, Spanish, botany, and soils. There have been no real program changes in past 5 years; most changes were in place before that. However, this year we began to allow stu- dents to take the online course offered at MSU taught by David Gilstrap (CSS 202 World of Turf ), to better prepare them for school and introduce them to the subject. This may help stoke a passion but it is too early to tell results. The challenge is having enough students to fill demand. This is still a very hands-on vocation that you cannot know if you like until you get experience. The beauty of this vocation is that you can get entry level jobs to begin to explore the business. It is here and only here where you will gain heart and passion for the job. School is interesting and fun at this point, as the students are quite successful. The issue is finding the people at the beginning and employing them so they catch the passion Re internships, our students work closely with advisors to determine their needs and then we find the right spot for them. We stay involved the whole way. We visit the student during the internship and this gives us valuable information to pass on to the next classes as well as forges relationships with employers. The industry can best support 2-year turfgrass programs by employing young people to give them the heart; 15-20 hours per week, as this is often all the time they can and will give. Contact athletic directors and coaches and let them know you are willing to hire and mentor. This will go a long way. Horry GeorGetown tecHnical colleGe, conway, Sc From Ashley Wilkinson, Professor, Golf & Sports Turf, and Golf Course Management: HGTC has had a 2-year associate degree program in turfgrass since 1972. Our initial goal was to offer an education for the expanding golf course market here in Myrtle Beach and the Carolinas. The Golf Course Management program quickly found favor with employers which led to students, like me, coming from around the United St a t e s a n d o t h e r countries. Today, our alumni can be found around the country and world. We have placed a strong emphasis over the past 10 years in the expanding market of sports turf. HGTC created a new major, Sports Turf Management, to ensure that our students who desire a career in sports turf will receive the knowledge and experience needed to quickly be successful in this rapidly expanding market. Our graduates have found excellent opportunities in numerous major league sports facilities, which only excites the next class of incoming students. Our gradu- ates can also work on dual turf degrees while at HGTC. We can modify the curriculum to help students pursue both degrees in golf and sports turf with minimal disruption to the goal of finishing in 2 years. Perhaps the greatest strength of HGTC is the amount of on the job training that can be found in the area. We have excellent relation- ships with both golf and sports turf facilities along the Grand Strand. This is something that brought me here as a student and what so many of our graduates say has given them an edge in the work place. To be sports turf specific, we have classes at the Myrtle Beach Pelicans facil- ity, a Texas Rangers affiliate. The Sports Turf Manager and adjunct faculty member, Corey Russell, shares both introductory and advanced field management strategies with HGTC stu- dents. Being part of the real deal helps HGTC students in ways that classroom lectures can't mimic. Our biggest change at HGTC has been the opening of a new state of the art building for turf study that allows us to expand both scientific and collaborative learning outcomes. We have also invested in new turf specific technology to expand the students understanding of how advances in technology will improve manage- ment strategies. Things like geothermal cameras, advanced salinity and moisture monitoring devices, and GIS technology are just some of 26 Sportsturf | July 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com Facility & operations Ashley Wilkinson, Horry Georgetown Technical College