The College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University have implemented the Integrated Plant Sciences (IPS) degree program this August. The program will provide students with a depth of knowledge in crop and soil sciences, horticulture, landscape architecture, entomology, plant pathology and food science not previously offered in a single program.

“It’s now a better degree for students because we revised, consolidated and restructured content and created more courses, which are a better fit for a modern plant science degree,” according to Rich Koenig, crop and soil science department chair.

Three degrees – horticulture, crop science and soil science – have been combined into one degree with numerous options.  Students in the IPS degree program can look forward to jobs in research, consulting, winemaking and more. Collaboration began in fall 2008 during a  review of programs on campus. The dean and associate dean of the College of Agriculture, Human and Natural Resources met with a committee multiple times to discuss how the different degree programs fit together, how they could mesh better and which majors were redundant.

IPS majors explore the science of plant development and production from the perspectives of a variety of disciplines. All students in the program take a core set of interdisciplinary courses selected specifically to give them a solid foundation on which they can build expertise in a specific discipline.

• Agricultural Biotechnology
• Field Crop Management
• Fruit and Vegetable Management
• Nursery and Greenhouse Management
• Landscape Design and Implementation
• Turfgrass Management
• Viticulture and Enology

Viticulture and Enology

The Viticulture and Enology major was created for students interested in wine-grape growing and winemaking, as well as contributing to critical research and development opportunities in the wine industry. This program offers the technical, scientific, and practical experience needed to gain the essential skills for producing high quality grapes and premium table wines.

While this is not specifically a wine related post, I have enjoyed this video so much and there is a great lesson here about employee engagement.

I recently received a recommendation by a colleague to view this video.  It is a great little film that has been receiving high praise and winning awards. The video is titled  “Validation” and is a fable about the magic of free parking.  Written, directed and composed by Kurt Kuenne, it stars T.J. Thyne and Vicki Davis.  It has been shown at the Tribeca Film Festival and is the winner for Best Narrative Short, Cleveland Int’l Film Festival.  If you are like me it will give you pause to think about yourself, customer interactions we all experience and how they effect us.  Enjoy the film, as I’m sure you will have a smile on your face as the story ends.