Abstract
The Industry Liaison Committee of the American Society for Horticultural Science conducted a survey of the horticulture industry to systematically determine: 1) industry's perception of university training of recent graduates and 2) industry's perception of educational needs for future graduates. A Delphi survey was sent to experts in the fruit, ornamental, greenhouse, turf, and vegetable industry. The respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the level of competence of recent university graduates in personnel management and marketing. The lack of hands-on training in university courses was viewed as a major problem, but the respondents agreed that internships should provide university students with the necessary practical experience and universities should concentrate on the science of horticulture. The respondents indicated that business management and marketing expertise will be more important in the future than knowledge of production techniques; however, they would not be more likely to hire a business major instead of a horticulture major. The following areas of study were ranked for relative importance to be included in the university curriculum (from most important to least): communication skills, horticultural technology, business management, personnel management, plant nutrition and soil fertility, pest control, plant physiology, environmental awareness, plant physiology, plant pathology, accounting, and equipment use and maintenance. A second round of questioning for this Delphi survey is being conducted and results will be presented to verify preliminary results.
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