Academics
Ag Tech Program Reaches Milestone
Fall 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the two-year Agricultural Technology Program. In recent years, numerous changes have occurred to enhance the quality and support of the program.
Two years ago, the program received significant support from the college and university, which allowed it to double the number of full-time faculty members and increase its operating budget. With these increased resources, the program implemented new admissions criteria that include a placement test and a personal interview, launched an attendance policy and weekly coaching sessions, and adopted a one-to-one computing initiative. All students are required to purchase a tablet PC to use in all of their classes. This year 118 students are enrolled in the program.
Please mark your calendars for Saturday, April 12, 2008, and join fellow alumni, faculty and staff members, and students as they celebrate the accomplishments of the 20th graduating class during the program’s annual banquet. More information will be coming soon. For more information about the Agricultural Technology Program, visit www.cals.vt.edu/agtech or contact Stephanie White, director, at (540) 231-7649 or e-mail swhite@vt.edu.
Beal Receives Sporn Award
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| Bill Beal |
Bill Beal, professor of animal and poultry sciences, was presented with the university’s 2007 Sporn Award for Excellence in Teaching Introductory Subjects.
The award was made possible by gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Philip J. Sporn and the alumni of the university. It is presented to a teacher of introductory subjects nominated by students from the freshman and sophomore classes. Committees of students and faculty members make final selections and recommend them to the appropriate deans and the president.
Beal has made a career of outstanding teaching at Virginia Tech over the last 28 years, earning a Certificate of Teaching Excellence in 1984, the Wine Award in 1990, and the Purina Mills National Teaching Award from the American Society of Animal Sciences in 2003. He is a specialist in teaching the Introduction to Animal and Poultry Sciences course, which is recognized by his colleagues as a very important course in the APSC curriculum and a challenging course to teach successfully.
Beal’s students deeply appreciate his contagious and invigorating enthusiasm for the course material – one student called his enthusiasm “addictive.” But what students really value and respond to are Beal’s explicit social objectives for the course, his effort to create an atmosphere of freedom, accountability, and trust, which students know lays the foundation for their success both here at Virginia Tech and beyond.
As one student put it, “I used to be the kind of person to merely go to class, receive my grade, and leave, without any other interest. But after having Dr. Beal as a professor, I now realize the importance – and the ease – of walking up to my professors and talking to them after class, thereby encouraging a relationship that will help me long into the future.”
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Hokies In Transition
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences student ambassadors are hoping that their efforts are a big HIT with incoming transfer students this fall. To help transfer students make a smooth transition to Virginia Tech, the ambassadors launched Hokies In Transition (HIT).
The HIT program provides an opportunity for transfer students to be paired with college student ambassadors. These ambassadors serve as mentors for the new students, providing them with guidance, support, and hospitality, as well as general information about Virginia Tech, the college, and the local area.
“We realize the needs of transfer students are much different than a typical freshman coming to Virginia Tech,” said Jamie Lucero, ambassador program advisor.
The ambassadors provided personal campus tours and are available to answer questions pertaining to campus life, social activities, organizations, etc. A social gathering the weekend prior to the start of classes gave the transfer students an opportunity to meet their mentors and fellow transfer students.
“Transfer students are looking for “insider information,” like what professors and courses to take,” says Amy Fannon, student mentor majoring in crop and soil environmental sciences. “They have already been to college so they want more specific information.”
This year the college welcomed 126 transferees into the college. More than 20 students signed up for the HIT program with another 35 students participating in existing new-student orientation programs and classes in the dairy science and animal and poultry science departments.