College adds applied agricultural and food studies major, new online option for RN-to-BSN program
The new applied agricultural and food studies program combines a broad liberal arts background with direct, hands-on training in a specific field. Minors in new areas such as sustainable agriculture or food safety or in well-established programs like biology and chemistry or business administration and economics will help students to specialize. Photo by Doug Burg, Burg Studios.
This fall the college will begin offering a new major in applied agricultural and food studies and a new online option for the RN-to-BSN program in nursing.
These programs eventually will be housed in the new classroom building that is part of the college’s $50-million fundraising campaign.
The applied agricultural and food studies major is a liberal arts program that will prepare students for work in a variety of fields, from an executive at Tyson Foods to an editor at Successful Farming magazine.
Industry leaders have said there is a need for employees with a strong background in the liberal arts.
“What we have heard loud and clear is they want graduates who are able to think critically, communicate effectively and analyze quantitatively,” said Dr. Susan Burns, associate dean for academic affairs. “We have the ability to create a program that builds those kinds of skills.”
Burns said the curriculum combines a broad liberal arts background with direct, hands-on training in a specific field. Minors such as environmental policy and law, sustainable agriculture, and food safety will help students to specialize.
Students also will complete externships similar to the student teaching experience for education majors. For example, a student minoring in business might do an externship at a bank and learn to do ag lending.
And while the college has had an RN-to-BSN program for many years, this fall the college will begin offering a new online option to help registered nurses complete a bachelor’s degree.
“We are making it more convenient for registered nurses to complete a BSN degree through a combination of interactive online courses and some face-to-face contact with instructors,” said Dr. Mary Kovarna, professor and chair of nursing at Morningside.
Kovarna said earning a BSN not only promotes advancement in nurses’ careers; research has shown it also helps improve patient outcomes.
“The trend nationwide is that employers are asking nurses to advance their education to at least the BSN,” she said. “It’s a nationwide push backed by strong research that we need to have highly educated nurses at the bedside and in the workforce.”