DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURAL
AND INDUSTRIAL SCIENCES
Program Links: MS in Agriculture, MBA in Agribusiness, Technology Program
The Department of Agricultural and industrial Sciences consists of two major programs of study, Agricultural Sciences and Industrial Technology. Specific requirements for each degree offered are outlined under the respective program headings. For more information on the Department of Agricultural and Industrial Sciences, please visit www.shsu.edu/agr or contact the graduate coordinator, Dr. Stanley Kelley at sfkelley@shsu.edu.
Requirements for Admission
MS and MA ProgramsStudents seeking admission to the graduate program in Agriculture or Industrial Technology must:
- Submit a Graduate Studies Application for Admission with the application fee to Graduate Studies .
- Submit official transcripts of all college-level work, including the transcript that shows the date the undergraduate degree was conferred.
- Submit GRE scores.
- Submit two letters of recommendation from faculty in the undergraduate major field of study.
- Complete an undergraduate degree in agriculture, industrial technology, technology or related field from an accredited four-year institution. (Applicants without an acceptable background in agriculture or technology must complete 12 hours of undergraduate stem work earning a minimum GPA of 3.0).
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES PROGRAM
Master of Science in Agriculture
The graduate program in agricultural sciences is designed to further the professional competence of those individuals engaged in production agriculture, careers in agricultural and related agencies, businesses and industries, and/or agricultural education and extension.
The Agricultural Sciences prorgam maintains four locations with working laboratories. The Agriculture Center is home to the Indoor Arena, Meat Science Lab, Soils Lab, Horse Husbandry Lab, and a greenhouse. Nearby is the Horticulture Center with two greenhouses and a classroom. The Ag Mechanization and Technology Center provides excellent advanced teaching and research opportunities in the areas of power and machinery, electrification, geomatics, soil and water conservation, irrigation, drainage, landscaping, and wood/metal construction and fabrication. The 1600-acre Gibbs Ranch is home to purebred and crossbeed beef cattle herds and meat goat flock, along with additional plant, soil, and animal resources used for instruction and research purposes.
Agricultural Sciences Option: 37 Semester Hours
This degree is designed to be a broad-based degree including thirty-seven hours of course work. Fifteen hours will be from agribusiness, agricultural education, agricultural mechanization, animal science, horticulture, and agronomy. In addition, the curriculum includes a course in research methodology and a course in agricultural statistics. Fifteen semester hours are designated as electives and can be taken in agriculture or from a related field. The degree is designed to provide comprehensive knowledge and capabilities in several fields of agriculture.
Required Courses:
| AGR 575 Statistical Methods in Agriculture | 3 SCH |
| AGR 635 Techniques and Interpretation of Research | 3 SCH |
| AED 576 Personal Leadership and Organizational Dynamics | 3 SCH |
| Five courses can be selected from the following areas: | |
| Agribusiness (500-level) | |
| Agricultural Education (500-level) | |
| Agricultural Mechanization (500 level) | |
| Animal Science (500-level) | |
| Horticultural/Crop Sciences (500-level) | |
| For a total of: | 15 SCH |
| Electives (may be 400- [6 hours], 500-, or 600-level) | 15 SCH |
Non-thesis and thesis options are available. The non-thesis option includes the thirtyseven hours listed above followed by written comprehensive exams of all course work. The thesis option must have prior approval by the chair of the thesis committee and includes oral comprehensive exams. Six of the fifteen electives hours are used for research and thesis preparation. Once enrolled in a thesis class, a student must be continually enrolled until graduation.
MBA Program with a Specialization in Agribusiness
The Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Agribusiness prorgam requires a core of twenty-one graduate semester hours and fifteen hours of graduate electives. The specialization in agribusiness option allows students to obtain a masers degree in business, but specialize in abribusiness. This specialization requires 12 of the 15 hours in electives be in agribusiness. Specific courses will be taken in agricultural management, finance, marketing, government policy, and quantitative methods. The combination of business and agriculture courses create an innovative degree for a candidate interested in pursuing a career in agricultural business. This program is administered by the College of Business Administration, but electives in agribusiness are administered by the Department of Agriculture and Industrial Sciences. For more information on the program, contact Dr. Roger Hanagriff at rhanagriff@shsu.edu.
For application forms or further information, contact:
Coordinator of Graduate Studies
College of Business Administration
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX 77341-2056
Telephone: (936) 294-1246
www.shsu.edu/~coba/
Senior Courses Open to Graduate Students
| AGR 431 | Animal Growth and Performance |
| AGR 432 | Fruit and Vegetable Production |
| AGR 433 | Soil Fertility Management and Fertilizers |
| AGR 434 | Agribusiness Marketing |
| AGR 436 | Stocker and Feedlot Management |
| AGR 461 | Agribusiness Organization and Management |
| AGR 463 | Agricultural Sales and Consulting |
| AGR 464 | International Agriculture |
| AGR 465 | Agricultural Law |
| AGR 468 | Landscape Design II |
| AGR 470 | Forage Crops and Pasture Management |
| AGR 471 | Agricultural Safety and Health |
| AGR 472 | Sports Turf Management |
| AGR 474 | Agricultural Market Analysis and Prices |
| AGR 475 | Advanced Agribusiness Management |
| AGR 477 | Economics of Land Use and Planning |
| AGR 480 | Beef Cattle Production and Management |
| AGR 481 | Advanced Agricultural Mechanics |
| AGR 483 | Range Management |
| AGR 485 | Applied Electronics/Hydraulics in Agriculture |
| AGR 486 | Agriculture and Government Programs |
| AGR 487 | Agricultural Engines and Tractors |
| AGR 488 | Principles of Agricultural Leadership and Community Development |
| AGR 489 | Animal Reproduction |
| AGR 491 | Advanced Horse Production and Management |
| AGR 494 | Animal Feeds and Feeding |
| AGR 495 | Animal Breeding and Genetics |
| AGR 497 | Integrated Pest Management |
A maximum of six hours of 400-level courses may be taken toward the completion of the master's degree. Course requirements in 400-level courses will be appropriately modified for graduate credit.
AGRICULTURE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
AGR 530 Techniques for Joining Metallic and Nonmetallic Materials. Principles and techniques of bonding and fusing metallic materials by the electric and oxyacetylene processes. Study of fluxes, chemicals, and oxidants used in joining metal. Joining of non-metallic materials by mechanical and chemical means.
AGR 531 Mechanized Harvesting and Handling of Agricultural Products. Fundamentals of selection, service, and operation of agricultural harvesting machines. Analysis and development of mechanical systems to feed and care for livestock. Storage and handling facilities for agricultural products.
AGR 533 Advanced Rural Utilities. Selection and use of electrical equipment as related to effi ciency and economy in agricultural production, processing and storage of feeds, forage crops and grain in connection with livestock enterprises.
AGR 535 Advanced Principles of Livestock Management. Survey of current knowledge and concepts of beef production with emphasis on the stocker/feedlot segment. Includes feeding, management, marketing and disease control of stocker and feedlot cattle.
AGR 536 Contemporary Issues in Agricultural Business. Analysis and discussion of current issues in agricultural business with appropriate principles and theories. Issues may include marketing, management, finance, policy, international, legal and ethical topics. Student participation is expected via reports throughout the semester or term reports.
AGR 560 Agricultural Policy. Advanced analysis of government policies and programs important to agriculture. Topics include: the policy making process and leaders, interest groups, organization and functions of federal and state agencies, policies relevant to production agriculture and natural resources, rural development, consumer and food safety, international marketing and food distribution.
AGR 562 Principles of Crop Protection. Diagnosis, epidemiology, and control of plant pests. Causative and limiting factors are stressed. Designed for prospective or practicing teachers and technicians in the agro-chemical industry or in federal or state plant pest control agencies.
AGR 564 Agricultural Internship. A directed study utilizing industry to develop an understanding of agricultural production and management principles.
AGR 570 Food and Fiber Crops. A study of traditional plant breeding techniques and an overview of contemporary crop improvement methods. The physiology, adaptation, classification, taxonomy, and utilization of major crop species used for production of food and fiber are covered. Genetic and environmental influences on crop quality are discussed.
AGR 575 Statistical Methods in Agriculture. Applications of statistical methods for making meaningful interpretations of qualitative and quantitative data from experiments in agriculture. Instruction includes sampling and randomization, correlation and regression, analysis of variance and testing of hypotheses of means and variances, and design of experiments in agriculture.
AGR 582 Nutritional and Physiological Inter-Relationships. Physiological functions of various body processes in domestic animals with emphasis on the metabolic relationships among minerals, vitamins, amino acids, fats, carbohydrates, enzymes, hormones and non-nutritive feed additives and the effect of nutritional antagonists.
AGR 586 Capital Management in Agricultural Business. This course provides an in-depth understanding of capital marketing, capital budgeting, financial planning, and appraisal principles important in the field of agribusiness.
AGR 598 Economics of Agricultural Production. Agricultural production principles applied to the use of resources; cost analyses of production enterprises; linear programming of enterprises for maximizing returns; elements of depreciation schedules; evaluation for income tax purposes.
AGR 614 Graduate Seminar. This course is designed to provide students a forum for presentation of their graduate project and to provide an opportunity for faculty to present seminars relative to contemporary issues in agriculture. The project is an agreement between student and his/her committee. Course cannot be repeated.
AGR 635 Techniques and Interpretation of Research. A course designed to develop the competencies needed to interpret and utilize agricultural research. Topics will include: the philosophy of the scientific method, formats for agricultural research data, interpretation of data, and application of information to specific situations.
AGR 698, 699 Thesis. In addition to the preliminary study of the techniques of research, these courses involve completion of a bibliography, organization of material, selection of a suitable problem, a digest of related literature, selection of appropriate procedures, formulation of a plan of investigating and reporting, collection and organization of data, and the writing of the thesis.
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
AED 564 Advanced Problems in Vocational Education. A directed individual investigation of advanced problems in Vocational Education.
AED 576 Personal Leadership and Organizational Dynamics. Concepts and practices in planning and presenting materials to agricultural groups. Includes leadership skills, concepts of community development, and dynamics of technological change.
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
VED 564 Advanced Problems in Vocational Education. A directed individual investigation of advanced problems in Career and Technology Education.
VED 585 Planning and Organizing Problems of Vocational Guidance. Placement and educational opportunities for secondary and post-secondary students are studied under various career and technology situations. A historical resume of the guidance movement is presented.