INDUSTRY EDUCATION

EDITOR ’ S NOTE : The following is next in our series delving into colleges and universities that offer programs devoted to turfgrass management , turfgrass science , and related disciplines . In this issue of SportsField Management , we examine the turfgrass programs at The Ohio State University and Virginia Tech .

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY The Ohio State University ( OSU ) offers a four-year Turfgrass Science specialization within its Sustainable Plant Systems major . as well as a two-year Turfgrass Management degree program at the OSU Agricultural Technical Institute ( ATI ) in Wooster , Ohio ( about an hour north of OSU ’ s main campus in Columbus , Ohio ).

According to Dominic Petrella , Ph . D ., assistant professor and program coordinator , Turfgrass Management program , OSU ATI , the ATI program offers two different degree options : “ One is the associate of Applied Science in Turfgrass Management ,” said Petrella . “ Those are students who come here , get the two-year degree , and leave to go directly into the industry . Then we have a two-year degree that is an associate of Science , for students who plan to go to Columbus and get a four-year degree .”

Petrella added that students at ATI get hands-on experience mowing , grinding reel mowers , fertilizing , operating GPS sprayers , and delving into precision turfgrass management .

“ We obviously can ’ t cover everything , but we try to get a really well-rounded student in two years ,” he said .

ATI is also in the process of building a soccer pitch on campus and a 3- to 4-hole golf facility that the students will maintain start to finish .

Currently there are approximately 10 students pursuing the four-year Turfgrass Science specialization at The Ohio State University main campus , and another 19 students in the Turfgrass Management program at ATI .

“ One challenge we have is that it ’ s very difficult to get into OSU Columbus as an incoming freshman ,” said Doug Karcher , Ph . D ., professor and chair of the Horticulture and Crop Science department at OSU . “ The average ACT score has been 28 to 29 during the past couple of years . That ’ s limiting our ability to recruit new freshmen .”

Karcher added that his department is working to address the issues with student numbers in the four-year program and develop alternate pathways for students to enter the program .

“ Ideally that would be through ATI , but if that ’ s not an option , we are working on 1-plus-3 pathways with our regional campuses ,” he said , noting that OSU has four regional campuses . “ We are also working with admissions to lower the threshold for students declaring a major in under-enrolled programs , which would be a lot of the majors in the agriculture college .”

12 SportsField Management | May 2023 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com