INDUSTRY EDUCATION

All photos provided by Southeast Technical College

The Sports Turf Management associate degree program at Southeast Technical College ( STC ) in Sioux Falls , South Dakota , teaches students how to work with specialized grounds maintenance equipment , and provides a background in soils , irrigation , fertilization , landscape construction , plant identification , pest management , arboriculture and more .

“ The unique thing about the Sports Turf Management program at Southeast Tech is that it ’ s a two-year associate degree within our Horticulture department ,” said Cory Borgen , Sports Turf Management instructor at STC . “ So , we ’ re able to create a curriculum that ’ s specific toward the career field versus having a Horticulture degree with a couple of classes in turf .”

According to Borgen , the curriculum for first-year students pursuing a Sports Turf Management degree is the same as those pursuing Horticulture .

“ It helps some students who don ’ t know their career path , and it gives them a better understanding of the opportunities within the careers ,” said Borgen . “ We ’ ve had several students who have changed from Horticulture to Sports Turf Management . But it gives them the one semester to decide which career direction they want to go .” According to Borgen , many STC students double major in Horticulture and Sports Turf Management . “ If they come in as a Horticulture student and they decide to double major in Sports Turf Management , it takes about 12 extra credits , and it helps to have some transfer credits in their gen eds to be able to obtain both degrees in four consecutive semesters ,” he said .

STC Sports Turf Management students are required to work 400 hours in the field for their internships .

“ I let the students decide which direction they want to go for their internships ,” said Borgen . “ I will work with each

24 SportsField Management | January 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com