By:
Chuck Woods (352) 392-1773 x 281Source(s):
Michael Martin mvm@mail.ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-1971
Gwendolyn Stephenson gstephenson@hcc.cc.fl.us, (813) 253-7050
Jimmy Cheek jgcheek@ufl.edu, (352) 392-1961
Don Poucher info@mail.ifas.ufl.edu, (352) 392-0437
John Huerta (813) 253-7158
PLANT CITY, Fla.—Grand opening ceremonies for a new joint teaching program of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) and Hillsborough Community College (HCC) will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the college’s Plant City campus.
The ceremonies begin at 10:30 a.m. with opening remarks by Gwendolyn Stephenson, president of HCC, and Mike Martin, UF vice president for agriculture and natural resources.
Other speakers at the event include UF Trustee Carlos Alfonso and Jimmy Cheek, dean of the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
“The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is Florida’s only comprehensive academic program of its kind, providing academic programs in food, agriculture, natural resources, and human and life sciences,” Martin said. “The UF/IFAS has a mandate to teach courses and offer academic degree programs throughout the state.”
He said the new joint teaching program, which begins in January 2002, is supported by $400,000 appropriated by the 2001 Florida Legislature.
Cheek said the joint teaching program at HCC will be designed to meet the needs of time- and place-bound students. The program also will attract students from outside the region and state.
“The teaching programs will draw upon the academic expertise of faculty at nearby UF/IFAS facilities such the Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka,” he said. “Programs leading to bachelor’s degrees in environmental horticulture, urban pest management, agricultural business, and natural resources and conservation management will be offered at the Plant City campus.”
In addition, Cheek said professional master’s level programs will be available to the existing UF Master of Agriculture Distance Education Program, agriculture business management, natural resource management, and agricultural education and communication.
Martin said the statewide UF/IFAS mission in teaching, research and extension is to develop knowledge in agricultural, human, and natural resources and life sciences, to make that knowledge accessible to people to sustain and enhance the quality of human life.
Stephenson said HCC is an accredited, public, comprehensive community college, providing a “leadership role in technological training, economic development and community service in the global marketplace.”
She said the joint HCC teaching program with UF/IFAS is “an outstanding example of cooperative programs and partnerships that fulfill local needs.”
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