CEE DOG
Well-Known Member
AAMU Forestry program first HBCU accredited
AAMU Forestry Program Receives
SAF Accreditation
Huntsville, Ala. ---- Alabama A&M University has positioned itself as a major portal of entry for African Americans pursuing careers in forestry, a distinction that could greatly impact the diversity of one of the country?s most important professions.
The professional forestry degree program at AAMU made history recently when it was notified of its accreditation by the Society of American Foresters? Committee on Accreditation. The distinction makes the AAMU forestry program the first and only SAF-accredited forestry program on a historically black college/university campus in the nation and one of only 49 accredited forestry programs in the U.S.
University officials submitted a formal request to have the forest curricula reviewed for candidate status four years ago. The forest management curriculum received candidate status in 1999, while the forest science curriculum was granted candidate status in 2000.
?Forestry has historically been a predominantly white male profession,? commented Dr. George Brown, director of AAMU?s Center for Forestry and Ecology. According to Brown, about 21 years ago, a dedicated effort was made to diversify the profession. This effort attracted many females, but met very limited success with other minority groups. Only 0.29 percent of the membership of the Society of American Foresters is African American. Nearly half of these are graduates of AAMU, Brown says.
Over half of the African-American foresters currently serving in the Forest Service, Alabama Forestry Commission and International Paper Company graduated from AAMU, reports Dr. Brown. ?This accreditation is a validation of the quality of their education and will create more opportunities for many more African American students to enter and succeed in this dynamic profession.?
AAMU President John T. Gibson agrees. Gibson immediately praised the collaborative efforts of the program?s faculty, staff, administrators and supporters, adding that accreditation of the premier program will aid the university in marketing itself better in forestry as well as in numerous other programs.
?Southern forests have shorter timber cycles than in other parts of the U.S. and produce a variety of hard- and softwoods,? says Dr. James W. Shuford, dean of the School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. ?Therefore, professional opportunities in this region was also a significant factor in investing our limited resources in this program.?
In making its decision to grant accreditation to the forestry degree program, the SAF accreditation committee considered the program?s missions, goals and objectives; curriculum; organization and administration; faculty; students; institutional support; physical resources and facilities; and public service.
Moreover the accreditation visiting team commended AAMU?s forestry program on its leadership and overall team work, identification of an ?educational niche,? student placement capabilities, and employer/alumni evaluation process.
The notification is ?the greatest thing that has happened? to any group of African-American students interested in a professional career in the vast area of natural resources management, says Louise Wyche, national program manager for student employment at the USDA Forest Service Office at AAMU for the past 11 years. ?I see this as a way of really enhancing our academic credibility, not only throughout the agency, but with private industry and other state and local forestry-related organizations. I am just as proud of my students as I can be. It has been a long time coming.?
One of the first students of the forestry program, Phil Witherspoon, graduated with about eight other colleagues in 1979. A forester for International Paper, where he has worked for the past 23 years, Witherspoon says one would have to know how far the program has evolved to truly appreciate this news of accreditation.
?It is a dream come true for me,? comments the Uniontown, Ala., native. ?Without having come from an accredited program, you?re not seen as really being a first-rate forester.?
Dr. Govind Sharma, chair of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at AAMU, notes that forestry is the number one or number two most vital industry in most Southern states. Trained foresters from this region can provide ?a more professional work force? for industrial and public forestry.
Minorities are ?grossly underrepresented in forestry,? exclaims Sharma. Of the more than 17,000 members of the Society of American Foresters, only 51 are African American. ?This first accredited program will continue to provide trained professional foresters for the USDA Forest Service, industries in the U.S. and beyond, but especially to Southern forest and forest product industries.?
Sharma further notes that ?one of the strongest partners in this effort has been USDA/Forest Service. Visionaries from this agency saw a need for this accredited program and have unflinchingly supported forestry academic and research programs at AAMU.?
Witherspoon adds that ?the program has grown tremendously, and the quality of the students is excellent. We have about seven forestry graduates who are working with International Paper,? which also sponsors scholarships at AAMU.
?We are elated about it, because most of the people we?ve hired from a diversity perspective have been products of Alabama A&M,? commented Augustus Townes, executive assistant to the state forester, Alabama Forestry Commission. ?It?s the only accredited black land-grant school in the country, and we look forward to building on our relationship.?
The AAMU forestry program traces its beginnings back more than 30 years ago with the first Summer Logging Course taught by Estell Ezell, a practicing logger and woodland owner who directed the Choctaw County Vocational School in Lisbon, Ala. A B.S. program in timber harvesting management was formed in 1975. It was renamed Forestry Operations Management Program in 1985. Three years later, Dr. Brown, with significant USDA Forest Service support, helped to revise the program to a B.S. in Forestry with options in forest management and forest science.
?A lot of credit goes to George Brown for helping the program to grow like it has and for sticking with the program as it overcame many of its obstacles,? Witherspoon says.
AAMU Forestry Program Receives
SAF Accreditation
Huntsville, Ala. ---- Alabama A&M University has positioned itself as a major portal of entry for African Americans pursuing careers in forestry, a distinction that could greatly impact the diversity of one of the country?s most important professions.
The professional forestry degree program at AAMU made history recently when it was notified of its accreditation by the Society of American Foresters? Committee on Accreditation. The distinction makes the AAMU forestry program the first and only SAF-accredited forestry program on a historically black college/university campus in the nation and one of only 49 accredited forestry programs in the U.S.
University officials submitted a formal request to have the forest curricula reviewed for candidate status four years ago. The forest management curriculum received candidate status in 1999, while the forest science curriculum was granted candidate status in 2000.
?Forestry has historically been a predominantly white male profession,? commented Dr. George Brown, director of AAMU?s Center for Forestry and Ecology. According to Brown, about 21 years ago, a dedicated effort was made to diversify the profession. This effort attracted many females, but met very limited success with other minority groups. Only 0.29 percent of the membership of the Society of American Foresters is African American. Nearly half of these are graduates of AAMU, Brown says.
Over half of the African-American foresters currently serving in the Forest Service, Alabama Forestry Commission and International Paper Company graduated from AAMU, reports Dr. Brown. ?This accreditation is a validation of the quality of their education and will create more opportunities for many more African American students to enter and succeed in this dynamic profession.?
AAMU President John T. Gibson agrees. Gibson immediately praised the collaborative efforts of the program?s faculty, staff, administrators and supporters, adding that accreditation of the premier program will aid the university in marketing itself better in forestry as well as in numerous other programs.
?Southern forests have shorter timber cycles than in other parts of the U.S. and produce a variety of hard- and softwoods,? says Dr. James W. Shuford, dean of the School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. ?Therefore, professional opportunities in this region was also a significant factor in investing our limited resources in this program.?
In making its decision to grant accreditation to the forestry degree program, the SAF accreditation committee considered the program?s missions, goals and objectives; curriculum; organization and administration; faculty; students; institutional support; physical resources and facilities; and public service.
Moreover the accreditation visiting team commended AAMU?s forestry program on its leadership and overall team work, identification of an ?educational niche,? student placement capabilities, and employer/alumni evaluation process.
The notification is ?the greatest thing that has happened? to any group of African-American students interested in a professional career in the vast area of natural resources management, says Louise Wyche, national program manager for student employment at the USDA Forest Service Office at AAMU for the past 11 years. ?I see this as a way of really enhancing our academic credibility, not only throughout the agency, but with private industry and other state and local forestry-related organizations. I am just as proud of my students as I can be. It has been a long time coming.?
One of the first students of the forestry program, Phil Witherspoon, graduated with about eight other colleagues in 1979. A forester for International Paper, where he has worked for the past 23 years, Witherspoon says one would have to know how far the program has evolved to truly appreciate this news of accreditation.
?It is a dream come true for me,? comments the Uniontown, Ala., native. ?Without having come from an accredited program, you?re not seen as really being a first-rate forester.?
Dr. Govind Sharma, chair of the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at AAMU, notes that forestry is the number one or number two most vital industry in most Southern states. Trained foresters from this region can provide ?a more professional work force? for industrial and public forestry.
Minorities are ?grossly underrepresented in forestry,? exclaims Sharma. Of the more than 17,000 members of the Society of American Foresters, only 51 are African American. ?This first accredited program will continue to provide trained professional foresters for the USDA Forest Service, industries in the U.S. and beyond, but especially to Southern forest and forest product industries.?
Sharma further notes that ?one of the strongest partners in this effort has been USDA/Forest Service. Visionaries from this agency saw a need for this accredited program and have unflinchingly supported forestry academic and research programs at AAMU.?
Witherspoon adds that ?the program has grown tremendously, and the quality of the students is excellent. We have about seven forestry graduates who are working with International Paper,? which also sponsors scholarships at AAMU.
?We are elated about it, because most of the people we?ve hired from a diversity perspective have been products of Alabama A&M,? commented Augustus Townes, executive assistant to the state forester, Alabama Forestry Commission. ?It?s the only accredited black land-grant school in the country, and we look forward to building on our relationship.?
The AAMU forestry program traces its beginnings back more than 30 years ago with the first Summer Logging Course taught by Estell Ezell, a practicing logger and woodland owner who directed the Choctaw County Vocational School in Lisbon, Ala. A B.S. program in timber harvesting management was formed in 1975. It was renamed Forestry Operations Management Program in 1985. Three years later, Dr. Brown, with significant USDA Forest Service support, helped to revise the program to a B.S. in Forestry with options in forest management and forest science.
?A lot of credit goes to George Brown for helping the program to grow like it has and for sticking with the program as it overcame many of its obstacles,? Witherspoon says.
