University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University offer dual poultry science degree program

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by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) April 5, 2017 4:22 pm 253 views 

The University of Arkansas and Arkansas State University now offer a dual transfer bachelor’s degree where students can earn a degree in poultry science from the UA and a degree in animal science from ASU.

The four-year program requires three years at ASU’s College of Agriculture and Technology and a minimum of 30 hours in poultry science for the final year at the UA Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

The two schools on Feb. 15 signed a partnership agreement, with aims to help fill an industry need for more graduates in poultry science, according to a UA press release. The agreement will be reviewed and potentially revised every three years.

“With only six remaining universities offering bachelor’s degrees in poultry science in the U.S., we must do everything possible to recruit students into our program so the Arkansas poultry industry has a pipeline of future leaders,” Mike Kidd, head of Bumpers College’s Department of Poultry Science and director of the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, said in the release. “This agreement is a testament to the joint collaborative efforts that created a program to support our largest agricultural commodity — the Arkansas poultry industry and its family farmers.”

Ozark Mountain Poultry of Rogers and Peco Foods of Batesville have established scholarships to the program.

“The poultry industry is very important to the agricultural community in Arkansas and beyond, and this program meets an industry need,” Bumpers College interim Dean Lona Robertson said in the release. “We are pleased to work with ASU and its students. When they complete the 3-plus-1 poultry science program, they will be prepared to assume important positions in this industry.”

In 2013, Bumpers College signed a similar 3-plus-1 agreement with the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. Students may earn bachelor’s degrees in agriculture from UAPB’s School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences while earning a Poultry Science Undergraduate Certificate of Excellence from the UA.