Title: Symposium--What’s in a Name? Majors, Courses and Careers for the Undergraduate Turfgrass Management Student

Session Description: As ‘traditional’ Agronomy and Soil/Crop Science departments often merge into departments with titles such as Plant Science, Plant and Environmental Science, or Landscape Horticulture, the requirements for a degree in turfgrass management have begun to shift. Additionally, many of our turf programs are no longer (or they never were) housed in a crop-based department – they are part of a Horticulture Department, or everyone in Plant Sciences is housed in one department. As a result, the course requirements for turfgrass students varies widely, with some programs requiring intensive scientific work (multiple chemistry courses, calculus) while others have significant specialty course requirements for turfgrass students (equipment maintenance courses, athletic field maintenance). While these differences in course requirements might be greatest in turfgrass programs, they are also an issue in agronomy, especially when an agronomy program is part of a larger plant science program. There is no recent literature which examines the ‘typical’ agronomy or turfgrass management major across the United States, and little collected knowledge of the typical course requirements to get a BS in agronomy, crop science and/or soil science.

Reviewer's Comments: