guymayor
Branched out member
- Location
- East US, Earth
from elsewhere in that issue, page 54 or so here http://www.tcia.org/PDFs/TCI_MAG_March_07.pdf
talks about 2-year programs:
Online college courses are one way, and they are increasingly popular. Professor Joseph Murray of Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave Virginia reports that fingers tap quickly on the computer keyboards when it’s online registration time for his online course in Biology. That offering typically fills to capacity in less than three hours. A consulting arborist, Certified Tree Worker and Certified Arborist-Utility Specialist, Murray is one of many college faculty around the country with real-world work experience worth seeking out. On the BRCC campus Murray has planted a living arboretum with a rain garden, an assemblage of historic trees, and several research plots contrasting various pruning styles and rootzone regulation regimens. Murray’s Arboriculture program offered on campus has jumpstarted its graduates to successful careers as certified arborists in the commercial, utility and municipal realms.
Online education also can work for students in states such as North Dakota where there are long distances to cover. Minot State in Bottineau’s Urban Forestry Technology program is led by another arborist with considerable field experience, Robert Underwood. Once completed, its six courses comprise a one-year diploma, and its credits can transfer to a degree program. Bob’s students have ranged from a 61-yr old lady who mailed him over a hundred samples of herbaceous plants from Philadelphia to satisfy a lab requirement to a 16-year old who tackled the Soils course, based on the same comprehensive textbook authored by Philip Craul as university courses use, so he would not have to take that course on campus. Bob has received Forestry term papers from a student in India, and his students on his North Dakota campus were treated to an hourlong description of the desparate state of forestry in the Sahara desert, where a load of firewood can cost half a year’s pay. “The huge diversity makes online education fascinating”, Bob says.
Universities and community colleges also offer other alternatives to the traditional semester-long courses. Some offer credit for weekend courses that prepare for the ISA certification test. Others are built around other special events, like a climbing class. Some manage to cover three credits of information in just one evening per week. By connecting with your local school, you may learn about courses that work for you without a long time commitment. You may be able to sit in on a course to see if it’s right for you. If you can make the time, full semester courses can feature field trips and the chance to meet and learn from other students in person, week in and week out, while you are learning together.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom…
Or maybe there will be some light sarcasm, flavoring real-life experience in the field. Not all college courses are dry as a xeriscape and boring as the EAB. For instance, the Landscape Design/Build curriculum at Columbus State Community College in Ohio was designed with the help of thirty professionals in the landscape industry. Professionals are also instructors, to ensure that the material stays fresh and graduates have skills that are needed in today’s job market. CSCC lives up to its motto of offering “Education that WORKS”. All graduates take the full curriculum, so whether they choose to specialize in Design, Construction, or Plant Health Care, they are grounded in all three..
The material evidently holds the students’ attention--78% of students who enter the program graduate in the allotted time, compared to 27% of those entering a nearby university. This hybridized, interdisciplinary approach has several advantages for both the school—steadier numbers of students to keep the program running smoothly—and the student—a broader understanding of the field, and diversified skills to boost employability. Combining arboriculture with nursery, turf maintenance, or environmental science has worked for other schools.
talks about 2-year programs:
Online college courses are one way, and they are increasingly popular. Professor Joseph Murray of Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave Virginia reports that fingers tap quickly on the computer keyboards when it’s online registration time for his online course in Biology. That offering typically fills to capacity in less than three hours. A consulting arborist, Certified Tree Worker and Certified Arborist-Utility Specialist, Murray is one of many college faculty around the country with real-world work experience worth seeking out. On the BRCC campus Murray has planted a living arboretum with a rain garden, an assemblage of historic trees, and several research plots contrasting various pruning styles and rootzone regulation regimens. Murray’s Arboriculture program offered on campus has jumpstarted its graduates to successful careers as certified arborists in the commercial, utility and municipal realms.
Online education also can work for students in states such as North Dakota where there are long distances to cover. Minot State in Bottineau’s Urban Forestry Technology program is led by another arborist with considerable field experience, Robert Underwood. Once completed, its six courses comprise a one-year diploma, and its credits can transfer to a degree program. Bob’s students have ranged from a 61-yr old lady who mailed him over a hundred samples of herbaceous plants from Philadelphia to satisfy a lab requirement to a 16-year old who tackled the Soils course, based on the same comprehensive textbook authored by Philip Craul as university courses use, so he would not have to take that course on campus. Bob has received Forestry term papers from a student in India, and his students on his North Dakota campus were treated to an hourlong description of the desparate state of forestry in the Sahara desert, where a load of firewood can cost half a year’s pay. “The huge diversity makes online education fascinating”, Bob says.
Universities and community colleges also offer other alternatives to the traditional semester-long courses. Some offer credit for weekend courses that prepare for the ISA certification test. Others are built around other special events, like a climbing class. Some manage to cover three credits of information in just one evening per week. By connecting with your local school, you may learn about courses that work for you without a long time commitment. You may be able to sit in on a course to see if it’s right for you. If you can make the time, full semester courses can feature field trips and the chance to meet and learn from other students in person, week in and week out, while you are learning together.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom…
Or maybe there will be some light sarcasm, flavoring real-life experience in the field. Not all college courses are dry as a xeriscape and boring as the EAB. For instance, the Landscape Design/Build curriculum at Columbus State Community College in Ohio was designed with the help of thirty professionals in the landscape industry. Professionals are also instructors, to ensure that the material stays fresh and graduates have skills that are needed in today’s job market. CSCC lives up to its motto of offering “Education that WORKS”. All graduates take the full curriculum, so whether they choose to specialize in Design, Construction, or Plant Health Care, they are grounded in all three..
The material evidently holds the students’ attention--78% of students who enter the program graduate in the allotted time, compared to 27% of those entering a nearby university. This hybridized, interdisciplinary approach has several advantages for both the school—steadier numbers of students to keep the program running smoothly—and the student—a broader understanding of the field, and diversified skills to boost employability. Combining arboriculture with nursery, turf maintenance, or environmental science has worked for other schools.
