Abstract
Charles E. (Charley) Hess was born on December 20, 1931 in the Garden State of New Jersey, which may have been the stimulus for his horticultural career. His parents were natives of The Netherlands and owned and operated Hess' Nurseries in New Jersey.
Abstract
Horticultural Therapy (HT) is a dynamic and expanding profession (3) using plants during the training or rehabilitation of persons with mental or physical disabilities (1, 4). Although it is an old concept (5), only recently has horticulture become recognized as a therapeutic treatment for patients (7). The special feature of HT is adapting horticultural activities to therapeutic goals (2). Traditional horticulture strives to produce healthy plants, whereas, in HT, plants may be allowed to die if this meets a client's needs. This Note describes the structure of one HT program that was used with very positive results.
Abstract
A system of two-year agricultural technology programs was established in South Carolina in 1966. These programs were designed for persons having a high school diploma or its equivalent, who do not plan to pursue studies leading to a college degree, and who are otherwise qualified to profit from such instruction. The technical program complements and does not duplicate the educational programs in agriculture now being offered. Courses completed in the two-year technical programs do not count toward a bachelor’s degree.
This study was conducted to determine if there is a difference between the career advancement of alumni of ornamental horticulture associate (terminal) degree and nondegree programs. A survey of the alumni of three associate degree and three nondegree training programs was administered, using guidelines from career advancement validation research conducted at Alverno College, Milwaukee. Wis. (Ben-Ur and Rogers, 1994). Six programs were selected from North Carolina, Maine, Ohio, and southeastern Canada, including parts of Ontario and Quebec and all of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The programs were selected because of their perceived high reputations, as based on a survey sent to eight selected Longwood Gardens staff (Kennett Square, Pa.) and six professors in the Plant and Soils Science Department at the University of Delaware (Newark). Survey respondents were initially chosen based on their knowledge of the field of horticulture and of ornamental horticulture educational programs. The statistical analysis of the data did not support the presupposition that there would be a significant difference between the career advancement in favor of graduates from horticultural associate degree programs.
Nursery personnel certification programs are designed to advance professionalism throughout the nursery and garden center industry. Certified nursery personnel may be perceived more favorably by their employers, peers, and, most important, by the public they serve. Certification programs currently are conducted in 39 states. Many state nursery or related organizations also offer landscape certification programs; however, such programs are not addressed here.
Abstract
The 6-month student intern program offered by the Department of Horticulture at Iowa State University assists rural and urban Iowans in home food production through extension programs, mass media, and community projects. Advanced undergraduate horticulture students are granted internships at the county/area level and receive credits and a salary for their work. An extension horticulture associate based in the department provides the overall leadership and coordination.
Intern training sessions concentrate on the type of questions to expect and problem diagnosis methods. More than 50% of homeowner concerns are related to home food production. The intern program has been received enthusiastically and has reduced the summer workload of county staff and state specialists.
ePortfolios are gaining popularity in academic communities worldwide. Purposes of ePortfolios include: converting student work from paper to digital format, thereby allowing it to be centrally organized, searchable, and transportable throughout their academic lives and careers; promoting student centered learning and reflection; improving advising; and career planning and resume building. Pennsylvania State University is investing in the use of ePortfolios in course work throughout the university system. To facilitate these efforts, the university provides all students and faculty with 500 MB of hosted web space to create and share their portfolios. One of the courses using ePortfolios is Horticulture 120, Computer Applications for Landscape Contracting, in the Landscape Contracting program. Outcomes of implementing ePortfolios include increased availability of student work to potential employers, enhanced recruiting through displays of student work, and enabled reflection on completed work. Students showed improved quality in project work because their projects would be publicly available through the Internet to potential employers, faculty, family, and other students.
Currently, in the United States, the greenhouse industry covers more than 15,000 acres and is supported by a diverse number of firms with employee expertise that includes greenhouse manufacturing, engineering, irrigation, horticulture, IPM, sales, marketing, and business management. The growing greenhouse industry continues to be in need of highly trained undergraduates that have mastered an amalgam of scientific and business concepts necessary to be competitive in today's agricultural marketplace. Using a multidisciplinary approach we are creating a multimedia instrument for utilization in a variety of greenhouse related courses. This instrument ultimately will be available on the web for anyone to access. To ensure that our vision matches need, we have reviewed the courses offered throughout the United States at 1862, 1890, and 1994 land grant institutions. Course information collected includes; college, Dept., title, level, description, website (if available) and instructor e-mail (if available). Interestingly, there are at least 84 courses offering some aspect of greenhouse science in the U.S. Most are offered in Colleges of Agriculture or Engineering, but are housed in 17 diverse Dept.s. Examples include Dept.s of Horticulture; Agronomy and Horticulture; Agricultural Biosystems and Engineering; Plant, Soil, and Entomological Science; and Horticulture, Forestry, Landscape & Parks. This information will be utilized to focus the instructional design phase of the multimedia instrument, to contact current course instructors for feedback, and to frame future development of the resource.