WSU Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture: Green Up Your Horizon
The Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture provides post-baccalaureate students with an interdisciplinary understanding of practices and current issues in sustainable agriculture, along with the science that makes it work. Students who earn the Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture may take these skills into all industries and agencies involved in the food chain; from production, processing, and delivery to policy, regulation, and education.
Students in any WSU graduate degree program are eligible for the certificate if they meet the prerequisites of the courses needed for the certificate. Students pursuing a graduate certificate may only accumulate 6 credits toward a master’s degree and 9 credits towards a Ph.D. degree.
Students not in degree programs are also eligible to earn the certificate by enrolling as non-degree students, again providing that they meet the prerequisites of the courses needed for the certificate. Apply for admission to an academic department, indicating your intention to be classified as a part-time, certificate graduate student. See below for more information
Course Requirements:
The Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Agriculture requires a minimum of 9 graded credits. Two core courses provide 6 credits, and 3 credits must be earned from courses in relevant disciplines outside the student's primary degree program. No more than 3 of the graded credits toward the certificate may be undergraduate credits.
Certificate Core (6 credits)
- AFS 501: Current Research in Organic and Sustainable Agriculture (3 credits)
- AFS 545: Field Analysis of Sustainable Food Systems (Soils 545) (3 credits)
Scientific Breadth Component (3 credits)
Because sustainable agriculture is inherently interdisciplinary, the Breadth Component ensures that students gain knowledge of a relevant discipline outside their primary degree department. The student is required to complete at least 3 graded credits in disciplines other than the home department. For instance a student seeking a Ph.D. in Crop Science may complete 3 credits in Entomology or 3 credits in Sociology, or 1 credit in Animal Science plus 2 credits in Plant Pathology. The course(s) must be clearly and directly relevant to the practice or understanding of sustainable agriculture.
Students may choose from this list
- AgTM 453: Agricultural Waste Management (2 credits)
- A S 472: Dairy Cattle Production (3 credits)
- A S 473/573: Advanced Dairy Management (3 credits)
- A S 474: Beef Cattle Production (3 credits)
- A S 476: Sheep Science (3 credits)
- CRS 336: Agriculture, Environment, and Community (3 credits)
- CropS 413/513: Biology of Weeds (3 credits)
- CropS/ Pl P 403/503: Advanced Cropping Systems (3 credits)
- English 597/Hort 503: Rhetorics of Sustainability (3 credits)
- Entom 340: Agricultural Entomology (3 credits)
- Entom 361: Honey Bee Biology (1 credit)
- Entom 362: Fundamentals of Beekeeping (1 credit)
- Entom 375: Fundamentals of Orchard Ecology (3 credits)
- Entom 377: Biological and Bio-Rational Tactics (2 credits)
- Entom 439/530: Taxonomic Entomology (2 credits or 4 credits)
- Entom 441: Insect Ecology (3 credits)
- Entom 447/547: Introduction to Biological Control (3 credits)
- ES/RP 402/502: Human Health and the Environment (3 credits)
- ES/RP 504: Ecosystem Management (3 credits)
- FSHN 331: Nutrition in the Human Life Cycle (3 credits)
- Hist 325: Food in the United States (3 credits)
- Hort 310: Pomology (3-4 credits)
- Hort 313: Viticulture and Small Fruits (3 credits)
- Hort 320: Olericulture (3-4 credits)
- Hort 340: Nursery Management (3-4 credits)
- Hort 421/521 Fruit Crops Management (3 credits)
- IPM 462/562: Systems of Integrated Pest Management (3 credits)
- NATRS 452: Range Development and Improvements (3 credits)
- NATRS 556: Foraging Ecology of Herbivores (2 credits)
- Pl P 300: Diseases of Fruit Crops (2 credits)
- Pl P 429/529: General Plant Pathology (3 credits)
- Pl P 513: Nematodes and Nematode Diseases of Plants (2 credits)
- Pl P 551: Epidemiology and Management of Plant Diseases (3 credits)
- Soc 531: Human Ecology (3 credits)
- Soc 532: Environmental Sociology (3 credits)
- SoilS 431/531: Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry (3 credits)
- SoilS 441: Soil Fertility (3 credits)
- SoilS 345: Sustainable Agriculture (3 credits)
- SoilS 404: Small Acreage Farming and Ranching (AFS/CRS 416) (3 credits)
- SoilS 480/502: Practicum in Organic Agriculture (1-6 credits)
- SoilS 498: Professional Internship (1-6 credits)
- SoilS 490: Composting (2 credits)
- Other courses may be accepted upon request.
Advising
Prospective students must apply to a disciplinary department for admission. Primary affiliated programs are:
- Crop and Soil Sciences http://css.wsu.edu/
- Horticulture and Landscape Architecture http://www.hortla.wsu.edu/
- Entomology http://entomology.wsu.edu/
- Community and Rural Sociology http://www.crs.wsu.edu/
- Animal Science http://www.ansci.wsu.edu/
- M.S. Agriculture http://msag.wsu.edu/ (Recommended route for non-degree-seeking students)
- Plant Pathology http://plantpath.wsu.edu/
More information for students not enrolling in M.S. or Ph.D. programs:
To qualify as a part-time certificate student, a prospective student must
- Have a bachelor's degree from an accredited post-secondary institution,
- Meet all prerequisite course requirements or be able to demonstrate equivalent knowledge and understanding for courses prior to enrollment,
- Be part-time student,
- Enroll in eligible courses on a space-available basis,
- Complete the Graduate School application form prior to enrollment in their first course, indicating their intention to be classified as a part-time, certificate student and their area of study,
- Be admitted, upon recommendation from the academic unit, to the Graduate School as a certificate student.
- Pay existing graduate tuition and fees.
- Students on academic probation and students suspended from the university for any reason are not eligible to enroll in certificate courses.
- Because the certificate programs are designed for part-time study without formal admission to a degree program, international students in the US on student visas are not eligible to enroll solely in certificate courses.
Students enrolled in certificate programs
- Are expected to meet all course requirements, to fully participate in all course activities, and to complete all assignments, exams, projects, and other requirements to earn credit and a grade.
- Maintain minimum GPA requirements (>3.0) while enrolled as a part-time certificate student
- May use such university services as the library, computing, and bookstore
- Are not eligible for all services provided to degree students who pay comprehensive fees, i.e. enrolling in independent study, research and project course credit, research/dissertation credits, final examinations and/or similar course work designed for degree-seeking students (i.e. 600, 700, 702, or 800 credits).
- Are not eligible for graduate assistantships, fellowships, or scholarships.
- May obtain federal and state aid if eligible.