Contents - UPRM

Undergraduate Bulletin of Information 2001-2002COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCESCOLLEGE OFAGRICULTURALSCIENCESORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTUREIn accordance with Public Law Number 1approved January 20, 1966, better known as theUniversity Law, and Certification No. 13 of theCouncil of Higher Education, dated September11, 1968, the College of Agricultural Sciences isthe unit within the Mayagüez Campus whereformal teaching, research, and extension inagriculture are integrated. The three functionsare mutually complementary and are includedunder a central scheme of three-dimensionalorganization that includes the Faculty ofAgriculture, the Agricultural Experiment Station,and the Agricultural Extension Service.A management team, including the Dean andDirector of the College of Agricultural Sciences,the Associate Dean and Assistant Director of theAgricultural Experiment Station, the AssociateDean and Assistant Director of the AgriculturalExtension Service, and the Associate Dean of theFaculty of Agriculture imparts direction to theplans and programs of the College ofAgricultural Sciences. The Coordinator ofInternational Programs in Agriculture adds a newdimension to the College of AgriculturalSciences.AREAS OF STUDYFormal university teaching in the field ofagriculture started in Puerto Rico in 1911 withthe establishment at Mayagüez of the College ofAgriculture and Mechanic Arts. The Faculty ofAgriculture is responsible for higher learning inthe agricultural sciences and its basic function isperformed at three different levels. Theemphasis is on the Bachelor's program, but itincludes a non-degree program in Pre-Veterinaryand graduate studies at the Master's level.At the undergraduate level, the Faculty ofAgriculture offers programs of studies leading tothe Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences in variousoptions. Students are trained in all areas relatedto the science and art of modern agriculture, aswell as in the knowledge and abilities to expressthemselves. In addition, the student is providedwith opportunities for the development of ananalytical, critical, and reflective mind.In order to accomplish these aims, the Faculty ofAgriculture offers eleven programs or optionsleading to the Bachelor's degree:(1) Agribusiness,(2) Agricultural Economics,(3) Agronomy-Crops,(4) Agronomy-Soils,(5) Animal Industry,(6) Crop Protection,(7) Education in Agricultural Extension,(8) General Agriculture,(9) Horticulture,(10) Mechanical-Agricultural Technology, and(11) Vocational Agriculture Education,In addition, the Faculty offers a non-degreeprogram of study in Pre-Veterinary for thosestudents who will be pursuing studies inVeterinary Medicine.The Faculty follows an interdisciplinaryapproach in its programs of study, which inaddition to the various specialties in theagricultural sciences, encompass teaching in thenatural sciences, social sciences, the humanities,and languages. The goal of formal teaching is toprepare the scientists and professionals needed inPuerto Rico for the development and progress ofits agriculture and of its rural areas, and toprovide them with the knowledge andcompetence essential to their field ofspecialization as well as with the indispensablebackground in sociohumanistics and the positiveattitudes necessary to serve the country well.The first year of study is the same for all theoptions in the Faculty of Agriculture, with theexception of the Pre-Veterinary Program. Fromthe second year on, the student takes the requiredcourses and the professional electives of his orher fields of specialization. All the programsrequire the student to enroll at the end of thethird year of study in a summer practicum underthe supervision of a professor of the department.The Faculty of Agriculture also offers graduatecourses leading to the Master of Science Degree.The student is able to specialize in one of thefollowing disciplines: (1) Agronomy-Crops, (2)Agronomy-Soils, (3) Horticulture, (4) CropProtection, (5) Animal Industry, (6) Agricultural58