Improving Pathways in Sustainable Agriculture Education for the North Bay Region of California.

 This project focused on improving the quality and accessibility of education in sustainable agriculture at Santa Rosa Junior College, a two-year community college in northern California.  Our goal has been to develop a model for excellence in training students to work in agriculture and to contribute to a more sustainable food system. This project’s primary outcome is that our program has been enhanced as a model of serving three distinct education pathways in sustainable agriculture: (1) we have developed and offered unique opportunities to study agricultural sciences at the community college level to high school students; (2) we have enhanced opportunities for our students to transfer on to sustainable agriculture programs at four year universities; and (3) we have developed a robust technical training program for students to build skills and enter the agricultural workforce.  We have completed several specific projects over the past four years that have served these goals.  We created a summer academy that introduced high school students to a number of agricultural disciplines during a two-week immersion focused on local food systems at SRJC’s Shone Farm facility.  Over 100 students completed the program during the life of this project and many went on to complete college level classes in agriculture.  We established collaborative networks with faculty and staff at sustainable agriculture programs at four-year universities in California and beyond to improve our students’ ability to transfer into those institutions to continue their education.  We launched a transfer model curriculum that guides our students through a two-year course of study that maximizes the credits that can be transferred to universities to pursue a four-year degree in plant science. We also revised the introductory course in our sustainable agriculture program so that it better aligns with courses at universities. We worked with advisors from our local agriculture industry to review and revise the learning outcomes and curriculum for the core classes in our sustainable agriculture program to ensure that we are providing students with skills desired by employers.  We evaluated and improved all of the classes in our sustainable agriculture program. We increased the number and rigor of student internships and work experiences in sustainable agriculture at our Shone Farm facility.  A new cohort of students completed extensive hands-on training in organic vegetable farming and sales methods at the farm during each of the past four years.  One result of these improvements has been that the number of students completing degrees and certificates in sustainable agriculture has increased steadily during each year of the project. Another result of our work is that we have been recognized with national and regional awards for our commitment to providing education with a focus on sustainability and experiential, on-farm learning. This project has led directly to enhanced education for hundreds of students at both the high school and community college level. It has directly strengthened our capacity at Santa Rosa Junior College to be a leader in providing technical training in sustainable agriculture. Ultimately, our project has led to larger numbers of students receiving high quality training, pursuing employment, and contributing to the vitality of the agricultural economy and food system in our region. 

Last Modified: 09/28/2017
Modified by: Joshua Beniston