Crop Science promotes commercial crop production expertise through interdisciplinary and inter-college instruction.

College of Agriculture: Plant Science and Plant Pathology, Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Education, Land Resources and Environmental Science, Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

Core Faculty:

Alan Dyer, Mac Burgess, Perry Miller.

Crop science students seek preparation for careers in:

Commercial Farm Practice-Agricultural Support Industries-Integrated Cropping Systems Research

Learning Outcomes:

Students who graduate with a Crop Science option will master:

Core Outcomes:

1. Effective communication. Students will achieve mastery in written and oral communications. In public settings, students will engage audiences and convey positions in an effective, organized manner. Student compositions will convey clear, thoughtful arguments.

2. Critical Thinking. Students will assess situations from a multi-positional awareness. They will critically evaluated positions for benefits and costs. They will actively identify problems, understand underlying dynamics and evaluated solutions.

CS Specific Outcomes:

3. Leading Agricultural Public Discourse. Students will understand the roles local, state, federal and international policies play in agricultural production. They foresee changes in agricultural production through shifts in public opinion and will lead effective change.

4. Designing effective cropping systems. Students will master the design of cropping systems to make efficient use of system resources. They will understand the underlying factors that restrict production potential and how changes in production practices shift resource use patterns.

5. Financially assessing cropping practices. Students will master the skills necessary to financially appraise cropping decisions. They will identify markets forces and market conditions. They will appraise accounting spreadsheets to identify potential cost savings and profit gains.

6. Addressing production problems. Students will master troubleshooting of agricultural systems. They will be able to identify diverse causes. They will evaluate potential solutions relative to system benefits and challenges.

Curriculum Map for Outcome Instruction:

Eighty percent of Program Curriculum provides opportunities for Core Development and at least 3 courses address each CS Specific Outcome. The program will conduct annual reviews to assure content coverage of outcomes and assessment thresholds.

Table 1. Outcome map displaying the outcome instruction relative to program courses. (I=introduce, D= develop, M= mastery).
Course Number   Course Titles  Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
Core :
WRIT 101 Colege Writing I          
 US 101 University Seminar I I        
BMGT 205, WRIT201, WRIT221 (2 courses) Prof. Business Com. College Writ. II /Technical Writing M I        
 BIOB 318 or STAT216 Biometry/ Intro Stats.   I   D   D
Business Man. :
 ECSN 101 Economic Way of Thinking         D  
Accounting and Business1 (2 courses) (ACTG, AGBE, ECNS, BMKT, BMGT, BGEN)   D D   M D
Cropping Challenges :
AGSC 356 Plant Nutrition and Soil Fert.   M D      
BIOO 262 Introduction to Entomology   D       X
ENSC 443 Weed Ecology D   D D   D
BIOM 421 Concepts in Plant Pathology D M D     M
Integrated Crop Sys. :
AGSC 341 Field Crop Production D D D D D D
AGSC 342 Forages D D M M    
AGSC 428 Sustainable Cropping Systems M M M M M M
Agriculture :
Special Topics in Agriculture1 (2 courses) (BIOE, AGSC, ENSC, HORT, ERTH, GPHY)   D M M    

1Restricted electives provide for specialization based on students chosen career interest while still providing vital instruction in a particular area

Program Assessment: Data Sources

The Crop Science Program will conduct multi-stage and multi-source assessment of program performance (Table 2.1). Students will evaluate curricula quality (during studies) and Program Performance (at graduation). Program leaders will evaluate curriculum content (survey of content), and outcome performance of students (Entrance and Exit). During studies, evaluation of student outcomes will occur in specified classes (Table 2.2). A core faculty meeting will provide overall input on program status and program response to needs.

 

Table 2.1 Assessment Design: Source, Description, Program Goals
SOURCE
Description
Program Goals
Student Evaluation of Course Quality

Semiannual student evaluations of courses conducted at faculty advisor meetings

Running Average >4.3

no course below 4.0
Graduate Evaluation of Program

Survey of graduating seniors of program quality

>90% satisfaction scores

(3 year running average)

Survey of Course Content

Survey of course syllabi to establish relevance to program

>80% Curriculum provides opportunities for Core Development.

≥3 courses address each Specific Outcome.

Core Faculty Meeting

Spring meeting of core faculty for program evaluation and response to needs

Active management of program needs

 

 

Table 2.2 Proposed map of student assessments by course and outcome
Course 
Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes
1
2
3
4
5
6
AGSC 341
 

 

X
X
X
 
BIOM 421
X
X
 
 
 
X

 

Performance Reporting and Response Plan:

Student Outcome Performance as well as Crop Science Program Performance will be compiled and distributed to core faculty prior to Core Faculty Meeting. At the meeting, core faculty will discuss the assessments and provide additional input with regards to program performance as well as recommendations with regards to program needs. The latter may include curriculum and content adjustments, alternate course substitutions, and augmented instruction (Invited Speakers, Extracurricular Instruction, and Student Organization). The program leaders will combine a final student outcome performance, Crop Science program performance and the program response to identified needs into an Annual Crop Science Assessment submitted to the Provost’s Office in the HHD Department’s Annual Assessment Activities report.

Reporting for 2016-2017:

Leadership for Crop Science concentration changed in April due to the retirement of the past faculty advisor, Dr. Jack Martin. The new faculty advisor Dr. Alan Dyer along with the new co-leader Dr. Mac Burges will initiate program assessments starting this fall.

 

Download the original Assessment Plan document (PDF)