A new distance degree plan from Texas A&M University is allowing more people to pursue professional and career development without leaving home.

The master of agriculture in plant protection provides graduate training in integrated pest management. This degree plan is part of an interdepartmental program with the departments of entomology, plant pathology and microbiology, and soil and crop sciences.

“In other words: insects, pathogens and weeds,” said Dr. Marvin Harris, professor of entomology with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station.

Many people who want such a degree find it difficult to come to classes on campus in College Station for two years, said Dr. Pete Teel, also a professor with the Experiment Station.

“It’s for people who are interested in the application and delivery of technologies that are related to integrated pest management,” Teel said.

“The goal of this (degree plan) is to get as much of this online so they can complete this degree from their home base. If they can do these courses from their homes, and still maintain their employment, it provides them an avenue to build on their educational backgrounds and their career goals without having to give up an awful lot,” he said.

The new degree plan, like the overall master of agriculture degree offered at Texas A&M,  has a business component. “We’re not going to produce a master of business administration, but we should produce people who are comfortable talking with M.B.A.’s,” Harris said.

Plant protection is not only needed for traditional crops, but also the greenhouse industry and organic production as well, Teel said.

Prospective students include managers of agricultural operations, Extension agents, those in product development and sales in the agri-chemical or pharmaceutical industries, or agricultural consultants in the private or governmental sectors, Teel said.

A minimum of 36 hours is required for the new degree option. Some of the courses, depending on the student’s degree plan, may have to be taken on campus, but many will be available as distance courses.

And, Harris said, “It isn’t all interactive Internet/Web.” Sometimes the student may  complete courses through email, digitized information bases, or by using the postal service.

“One has access to the same course materials, the same requirements, as if they were on-campus,” he said. “The only thing missing is the classroom atmosphere.”

Both the overall master’s of agriculture and the master of agriculture in plant protection  degrees require a professional internship. Upon completion of the courses, the student will write a paper that will be reviewed by his or her committee.

The internship will be designed to help the student solve problems in real-world work context, Teel said.

“We view the internship as a way to expand one’s learning opportunities,” Harris said. Rather than give someone credit for past work, it gives credit for solving present problems,” he explained.

The new degree plan “gives us the ability to reach beyond the physical campus here at College Station,” Teel said.

Further information is available online at http://www.tamu.edu/admissions/catalogs or by contacting Rebecca Hapes, senior academic advisor, department of entomology, Room 404, Heep Center, College Station, TX 77843-2475, telephone (979) 845-9733, email rhapes@tamu.edu.