Muskegon Community College will host a Program Signing/Information Fair on Tuesday, March 22 at noon in the Blue and Gold Room to celebrate a new agriculture program that is a partnership with Michigan State University’s Institute for Agriculture Technology (IAT).
The new program agreement, which will be formally signed by MCC President Dale Nesbary and Randy Showerman of MSU’s IAT, will create an associate’s degree program at MCC in Agriculture that will include an agriculture-related certificate provided by MSU.
Students will be co-enrolled at MCC and MSU and will take courses at each institution. The degree is earned from successfully completing the combined coursework. The MSU courses will be offered locally at MCC’s area locations, and online, as appropriate.
Three MSU certificates will be available to study locally: Agriculture Operations, Landscape Management, and Fruit and Vegetable Crop Management.
“Agriculture is an important industry in MCC’s service area of Muskegon, Ottawa, Newaygo, and Oceana counties,” stated Teresa Sturrus, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Finance at MCC.
“Agriculture producers from each of these areas have indicated that they need to hire employees who have technical skills related to agriculture and that are offered by these programs. Michigan State University is well known for it agriculture-related programs and we are extremely pleased to partner with them to make them available locally.”
“MSU is eager to provide more access to our coursework and faculty, particularly in areas that have a large agricultural sector,” stated Randy Showerman, who directs the Institute for Agriculture Technology at MSU. “There are many producers in MCC’s service area, and we believe there are students who may not be able to access our programs in East Lansing, but will be able to participate in this program locally and will fill much needed positions in the greater Muskegon area.”
For more information about the program signing event or about the new agriculture program in general, please contact Dan Rinsema-Sybenga, Dean of Workforce & Talent Development at Muskegon Community College at (231) 777-0569, or by email at dan.rinsema-sybenga@muskegoncc.edu. More information is available at www.muskegoncc.edu/agriculture.