Institutions of a Horticulture Curriculum at College of the Ozarks

Abstract

College of the Ozarks is a private, liberal arts college in southwestern Missouri, and the Agriculture Dept. has recently begun instituting a variety of horticulture courses in an effort to meet the increasing student interest in horticultural science. The objective is to educate and train students in the horticulture fundamentals and specific production areas (advanced courses). Also, the College is in the process of constructing teaching and demonstration gardens to be used in conjunction with classroom instruction. These gardens will include a plant materials collection and horticultural crop production areas. Additionally, as the College requires that students work part-time at any of several work “stations” on campus, students have the opportunity to gain experience in landscaping or in production greenhouses on campus. Currently, the college has 10,000 ft2 of greenhouse space that is operated for the purposes of producing plants for campus landscaping, maintaining a ≥6000 orchid collection, and producing plants for seasonal sales. The college intends to integrate the classroom instruction, experiences in the teaching gardens, and the required work experiences to provide students with a complete horticultural education. Comments and suggestions for this budding endeavor are highly sought after.