College continues to build agriculture programs

By Marlene J. Bohr
mbohr@steelcountrybee.com

The board of trustees at Northeast Texas Community College was presented a report on the status and future plans of the agriculture department at its Feb. 25 meeting.
Dr. Kevin Rose reported that Northeast Texas Community College seeks to build an agriculture department that melds together sustainable agriculture theory and practice to produce graduates, of courses or degrees, who understand modern agri- business from the commercial side and the small farms side. It seeks to become a place where all persons with ag interests interact with each other as well as being exposed to new and traditional methods of ag management. The department will focus most directly on credit students bound for transfer to baccalaureate degree agriculture programs and non-credit students interested in learning small farm agriculture business.
According to Dr. Kevin Rose, Associate Vice President for Workforce Development,
 “We believe the NTCC Agriculture program is on the right path; one which recognizes the need for change as the program transitions from conventional to more sustainable agricultural approaches, as well as the importance of nimble and responsive leadership as those new approaches is implemented,” said Dr. Kevin Rose, associate vice president for Workforce Development. “The simple infusion of the term ‘sustainability’ into the ag department has already had a great impact on the department and has afforded us the opportunity to look at the entire operations with both a fresh set of eyes and a new set of lenses. 
“Although the philosophy of sustainability will not change our fundamental passion for agriculture at its core, we believe it will change how we go about our daily decision-making as we continue to provide high quality instruction that meets the needs of the students, our local community, and the broader state-wide and national interests we serve. We also recognize that success will require the concerted effort of our entire team (board, administration, faculty, and students) each with diverse interests, but with common goals.  And although we still have a distance to go, we are confident that we are well on our way.”
Dr. Ron Clinton presented information on a new graphic design program.

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