AG*IDEA: A Distance Education Program in Soil Water and Environmental Science.

A new graduate degree program in Soil, Water and Environmental Science in final stages of preparation will offer non-traditional students opportunities for Master’s degrees with wide course choices offered by six universities.  The program is offered through the Agricultural Interactive Distance Education Alliance (AG*IDEA) which is an affiliate of the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance, and involves North Carolina State, Texas Tech and Auburn Universities, as well as Universities of Georgia and Kentucky.  The graduate degree program (36 credit hours) requires 12-15 hours selected from core courses in biology, chemistry, physics, hydrology, and pedology, a statistics course and seminar.  Students may select from a wide array of elective courses related to soil science, resource management, technology, analytics and environmental law.  Students enroll in one of the participating universities but may take courses from all participating universities.  Each participating university is obtaining curriculum committee approval for courses taught at other universities, such that courses are treated as if they were from the home university. At the University of Georgia, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is providing two scholarships to kick-start the program.