571 Undergraduate and Graduate Curriculum in Public Horticulture at The University of Tennessee

Abstract

Students wanting to prepare for a career in public horticulture can now enroll in a new undergraduate and graduate curriculum at the Univ. of Tennessee. Beginning fall semester, 1999, students enrolled in the Dept. of Ornamental Horticulture and Landscape Design (OHLD) can opt to follow the new Public Horticulture concentration in the ornamental horticulture and landscape design major. The Public Horticulture concentration was the result of a year-long curriculum revision that reflects growth in career options in horticulture. The goal of the Public Horticulture concentration is to prepare students for careers that promote horticulture and emphasize people and their education and enjoyment of plants. Such careers include director of a botanical garden, arboretum, or park; city or urban horticulturist; extension agent, teacher, educational director, or program coordinator; professional garden writer/editor or publication manager; horticulture therapist; public garden curator; and plant collections manager. The Public Horticulture concentration allows students to take a breadth of ornamental horticulture courses, five of which are specific to public horticulture, along with supporting course work in soils, entomology, plant pathology, and botany, while providing the opportunity for students to take electives in education, extension, public administration, grant writing, museology, psychology, information sciences, journalism, and management. Students also complete an internship for graduation and have the opportunity to work in the Univ. of Tennessee Inst. of Agriculture Gardens.