Purdue News
Purdue News
October 4, 1996
Student numbers increased to 2,476 from 2,412 last fall, with food science and agricultural economics leading in new students. Enrollment universitywide at the West Lafayette campus also increased, by 471 students, to 35,156.
Many of the new students in the School of Agriculture are transfers from other schools at Purdue and other universities.
"It appears you first have to go to college to really appreciate the learning environment and the career opportunities in the School of Agriculture," said Karl Brandt, director of the office of academic programs, who has seen enrollment rise steadily for eight of the nine years since a low of 1,655 in 1987.
The Department of Agricultural Economics remains the largest department in the school, with 359 students. Award-winning teachers, a 94 percent placement rate for graduates and a diversity of well-paying jobs available are the main reasons students continue to sign up, said Department Head Wally Tyner.
"We supply graduates to the entire agricultural system, from the people who sell seed to farmers to the grocery store managers," Tyner said. One of the hot fields for his students is sales and marketing, led by Professor Dave Downey, who also directs advanced seminars for executives through Purdue's Center for Agricultural Business. "Because of CAB, the students are working with professors developing materials businesses need right now. It's the most up-to-date curriculum a student could have," Tyner said.
He said counseling often is a deciding factor with students. "Here students get personal attention from faculty and staff counselors. We're providing a small school feel on a large campus."
The Department of Food Science has 30 more students this fall, the largest increase of any of the departments. Department Head Phil Nelson credited a 100 percent placement rate and average starting salaries of more than $30,000 with attracting more students. He also said a graduating class of 40 students has put Purdue on the short list for industry recruiters. "That's enough people to interest companies that only plan to interview at four or five colleges this year. For some, we'll be the only stop they make," Nelson said.
He said the department has been sending materials to all Indiana high-school juniors who show an aptitude for science, telling them about career opportunities, fields of study and the department's nationally recognized research faculty. "The fact that we'll have a brand new state-of-the-art research and teaching facility in two years didn't hurt either," he said. Construction has begun on a $29 million food science building at Purdue that Nelson expects to galvanize Indiana food industries.
Brandt said student competitiveness in the job market is due to a curriculum that blends technical subjects with courses in business and liberal arts. For example, the faculty made two semesters of international courses or foreign language a staple of the core curriculum to ensure that Purdue students got a good look at the globe.
"We wanted to do something to get our students thinking outside their shell," Brandt said. "International understanding was identified as deficient in many of our students."
Tyner conducts exit interviews with all graduating students and said many students express regret about not taking a language or studying overseas. "Largely it's because employers are asking about international experience," Tyner said.
Brandt said during the last eight years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Purdue Agriculture students picking up two or more semesters of foreign languages or taking off to study in Japan, Hungary or Honduras for a semester or a summer.
"In 1988, 15 percent of our graduates had taken a year or more of classes in French, German and Spanish," Brandt said. "In 1996, that number was 42 percent, with students also taking Arabic, Japanese and Russian." Study abroad went from 1 percent of 1988 graduates to 7.5 percent of the May 1996 baccalaureates.
"As society changes, different skills come into demand. Today's graduates have a different, higher-order set of abilities, a different set of experiences," Brandt said.
Five years ago, nobody thought to ask about international experience in college job interviews because nobody had any. Ten years from now, Brandt said, he'd be surprised if you could get a top job without it.
ACS code/961004 Ag Brandt/9610f11
Sources: Karl Brandt, (317) 494-8472
Phil Nelson, (317) 494-8256
Wally Tyner, (317) 494-4205
Writer: Chris Sigurdson, (317) 494-8415; e-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
