Department Briefs
Financial Planning –
From the Farm to the Household –
A New Option in AAEC
The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AAEC) will soon offer its students a new degree option, Financial Planning, which focuses on how households, and small business owners, choose to use their financial resources to maximize well-being. Financial Planning will also increase the course offerings available to students in the departmental options of International Trade and Development, Environmental Economics, Management and Policy, Community Economic Development, Veterinary Business Management, and Agribusiness Management.
The Financial Planning option will prepare students to enter the rapidly growing (a 30 percent growth rate expected over the next six to ten years) financial planning profession, as well as the more traditional financial services careers in insurance, banking, brokerage, and retirement planning.
According to Kevin Boyle, department head of AAEC, “the Financial Planning option will attract new students to the department and allow us to better serve existing students. New classes in retirement and employee benefit planning, as well as managing relationships with financial services clients, will benefit other options.” Students in the Agribusiness Management option, many of whom are employed in traditional agricultural finance, lending, or banking positions, should find these courses and others within the Financial Planning option useful additions.
As one of nearly 100 undergraduate degree programs registered with the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board of Standards, Inc., the AAEC Financial Planning option will graduate students who have met the education requirement to sit for the CFP exam. Courses will cover the process of financial planning as well as the six fundamental topic areas, including income taxes, investments, insurance, employee benefits, retirement planning, and estate planning.
Students will also gain practical experience with a required internship. Compared to graduates with other degrees, CFP Board-registered programs graduates receive two distinct advantages because of the program registration. First, graduates meet the education requirement to sit for the exam. Second, graduates are eligible to sit for the exam prior to completing three years of related work experience. Those who pass the rigorous ten-hour, two-day comprehensive exam will then carry the title CFP® designee until they have completed the requisite three years of work experience. At that time they will become CFP® certificants – the premier credential for financial advisors. In other words, graduating from a registered program offers a career jump-start!
“This is an example of the leadership and commitment to quality professional education for which the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is known,” says Sharron Quisenberry, dean of the college. “We have the opportunity to build on a long history of agricultural finance applications in the relatively new profession of financial planning that has emerged over the past 30 years.”
More information about the new Financial Planning option is available from Ruth Lytton, rlytton@vt.edu or (540) 231- 6678, or Kevin Boyle, kboyle@vt.edu or (540) 231- 6301.
Program Keeps Virginia Beaches Safe
Since the summer of 2003, Chuck Hagedorn, professor of crop and soil environmental sciences, and personnel in his microbial source-tracking (MST) program have worked closely with specialists in the Virginia Department of Health to monitor and evaluate of water quality at Virginia’s 16 public beaches.
A major focus of the program has been the presence of unacceptably high levels of fecal coliform bacteria. These bacteria originate in the gut of humans, domesticated animals, wildlife, and waterfowl and are introduced into to the environment in manure and feces. Their presence in water indicates that these wastes are not being properly treated prior to coming in contact with water sources, and as a result, other pathogens which pose significant health risks may also be present.
When fecal pollution is found at elevated levels, beaches must be posted and closed for public use. Five beaches were identified for more intensive investigations during the first season of monitoring, based on repeated occurrences of fecal pollution at levels exceeding water-quality standards. During the following season, MST was used to determine the actual sources of fecal pollution in the water at these five problem beaches. Human-origin pollution was identified at three of the five beaches. Sewage leaks were eventually identified at all three beaches and subsequently corrected by local officials.
Continued use of MST in subsequent seasons has validated the success of the remediation efforts, with human-origin pollution absent from all three beaches. Birds (shore and waterfowl) were the primary source of pollution at the remaining two beaches. Regular beach cleanings to remove trash and debris reduced the influence of birds and water quality has subsequently improved.
Rudd Takes the
Helm of AEE
 |
| Rick Rudd |
Rick D. Rudd from Gainesville, Fla., has been named head of the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education. Rudd fills the vacancy left by Professor Emeritus John H. Hillison, who retired after serving Virginia Tech since 1976.
“Dr. Rudd’s strong background in agricultural education complements his experience developing academic and leadership programs,” said Dean Sharron Quisenberry. “I am confident that the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education will prosper under his leadership and become a national leader in agricultural education and leadership.”
Rudd, a native of Ohio, said he was excited to start his new position with the college. “The dean is committed to making the department the best that it can be, and I, along with the faculty, am looking forward to creating excellent programs in agricultural and Extension education,” he said.
Previously, Rudd was a professor of agricultural education and communication at the University of Florida where he served as the director of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Teaching Resource Center. In addition to coordinating student teaching and graduate programs, Rudd developed and managed a center for volunteer leadership development.
Before working at the University of Florida, Rudd conducted research on college recruitment and the associate degree program as a graduate research assistant at Virginia Tech. He also worked as a high school agriculture teacher in Ohio for six years.
In 1994, Rudd earned his Ph.D. in vocational and technical e master’s degree in agricultural education and bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Ohio State University.