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In most arenas, the expertise, facilities and funding are the criteria for [overseas students] entering horticulture programmes,' says Debbie Sehon at Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas, in the USA, which has two per cent of foreign students on its horticulture programmes.
Alex Ching, Professor of Horticultural Sciences at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, echoes this. 'International students study horticulture in the USA because of our quality programme, use of new technologies, know-how and low faculty-to-student ratio,' he says.
Programmes in horticulture vary widely, although the subject field is understood to be the art, science and business of dealing with the utilisation and maintenance of fruit and vegetable crops and ornamental plants. A horticulturalist may have as their end goal the management of plants for food, personal enjoyment or environmental enhancement.
Most degree programmes in the USA give students an insight into relevant management and business practices as well as offering opportunities for research and practical experience. Northwest Missouri State University claims that very little instruction takes place in the classroom. Its facilities include the first Missouri arboretum, eight state-of-the-art greenhouses where year-round experimentation can take place, and a university farm where crops are grown. Students progress from studying the biological principles of plant production to breeding, plant physiology, propagation and crop management.
Horticultural programmes are created and adapted with employment opportunities in mind. Brian Maynard at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, Rhode Island - which currently has no international students on its horticulture programme due to faculty downsizing - says, 'Our courses have been extensively revised in recent years to emphasise experiential learning, as a response, in part, to industry concerns about students graduating without sufficient practical knowledge of plants.'
Marvin Pritts, Professor and Chairperson of Horticulture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, points out that international students may be drawn to the USA because of its reputation in this area and because of 'the success of the horticultural industries in the States'.
According to Sehon, degree-level students at Southern Arkansas University are looking at further academic study in the field. 'One-hundred per cent of our foreign students have moved to other universities and are pursuing graduate degrees,' she says. Ching relates similar experiences. 'About 75 per cent of graduates from our horticulture programme go on to graduate school to pursue advanced degrees. They know they have a lot more opportunities [this way] to be hired as a research horticulturalist in the USA.'
Typical jobs upon completion of studies can include landscape design and service, turfgrass (including golf green) or greenhouse management, botanical garden management, wholesale and retail florist marketing, and nursery crop production. At Cornell, where there is stronger demand from overseas students for graduate programmes, Pritts says, 'Most [students] return to their country in academic positions, or sometimes join agri-business ventures. A full complement of career options is open to them.'
Despite the opportunities available, however, demand is low for this field of study, especially at undergraduate-level. 'International students comprise a small portion of our undergraduate programme - less than 10 per cent - but about 50 per cent of our graduate programme,' confirms Pritts.
Hortecus exchange
At Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, horticulture students participate in an exchange programme called Horticulture in the European Community and the United States (Hortecus). 'Our goal is the internationalisation of horticulture,' says Doug Needham, a floriculture (flower cultivation) professor working at the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. 'This is an opportunity to expose students to the horticulture experience, the expertise and knowledge on an international scale.'
The Technological Educational Institute of Crete in Greece, Hogeschool Delft in the Netherlands, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark and the University of Hannover in Germany all take part in Hortecus and offer exchange opportunities for US students. Their own students can spend a semester, or six months, at either Oklahoma State University, Purdue University in Indiana or Alabama A&M University in Alabama.
Students enrol for Hortecus through their home university. During the exchange, they participate in an internship or work on a research project while enrolled in university courses. 'This programme isn't just about the exchange of technical information,' asserts Needham. 'The cultural opportunities [for students] are tremendous.'
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