Proposal for Initiating an Equine Business Management

							          Proposal for Initiating an Equine Business Management
        Undergraduate option in the Agriculture Degree program and
                       an Equine Extension Program
       The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources would like to establish greater
linkages with the equine industry within the state of Delaware through its academic and
extension activities. As part of the proposal, we would like to develop an option within the
Agriculture degree in Equine Business Management. The degree would encompass a
combination of business courses and the appropriate animal and plant science courses that would
be essential for an individual working in the equine industry.

       In addition to the undergraduate degree option, the department would also like to develop
a strong outreach component through its cooperative extension mission to address the needs of
horsemen throughout the state. It is envisioned that the person hired to perform these duties
would survey the industry to determine its needs for educational programs before organizing and
implementing conferences and short meetings to address the identified needs.

       We also intend that this individual would be able to identify individuals currently at the
University who could address the needs of horsemen within the state and involve those
individuals in the organized programs. As examples, areas that may be included could be forage
management, personal financial management, animal health, etc.

       In order for this program to be realized, we will need to secure the necessary resources to
hire a faculty member (or perhaps a part time faculty member) who would have the sole
responsibility of implementing the program. This individual would be responsible for teaching
two specific courses in the undergraduate option, Introduction to Horse Science and Equine
Management (Both of these courses would be new to our program and would need to be
developed by the individual hired).

        Additionally, funds will need to be secured to provide the hired individual to travel across
the state to meet with industry representatives and to bring in expert speakers for programs when
necessary. The Department is seeking $100,000 to make this program a reality, however it
should be noted that if a tenure-track faculty member is sought, we will need assurances that the
funds will be permanent. Otherwise, the individual hired would have to be hired on a non-tenure
track or part-time basis. Additional funds would allow for the expansion of the program.



       The proposed curriculum for the equine business management degree option follows:
                                    Equine Business Management Proposed
                                                  Curricula
 Freshman Fall Semester                                          Freshman Spring Semester

Course   Course Name                  CR      Semester   Grade    Course    Course Name                    CR   Semester   Grade
01-101   English Composition I        3                           01-102    English Composition II         3
16-100   Fitness & Wellness           2                           23-102    Gen. Biology II & Lab          4
23-101   Gen. Biology I & Lab         4                           25-122    Trigonometry                   3
25-121   College Algebra or A/ B      3-4                         29-102    AG & NR Science                1
29-191   University Seminar           1                           29-192    University Seminar             1
34-20_   History (201,202,203,204)    3                           41-105    Management Processes           4

         Total Credits                16-17                                 Total Credits                  16


 Sophomore Fall Semester                                         Sophomore Spring Semester

Course   Course Name                  CR      Semester   Grade    Course    Course Name                    CR   Semester   Grade
01-20_   Literature I (201, 205)      3                           01-20_    Literature II (202,206)        3
23-205   Ecology                      4                           24-102    Gen. Chemistry II & Lab        3
24-101   Gen. Chemistry I & Lab       4                           29-207    Animal Nutrition               4
29-206   Animal Science               3                           29-208    Soil Science                   3
42-201   Accounting I                 3                           42-203    Account. for Decision Making   3



         Total Credits                17                                    Total Credits                  16


 Junior Fall Semester                                             Junior Spring Semester


Course   Course Name                  CR      Semester   Grade    Course    Course Name                    CR   Semester   Grade
         Foreign Language             3                                     Foreign Language               3
29-***   Intro to Horse Science       3                           01-200    Speech                         3
29-463   Forage Crop Prod. & Mgt.     3                           29- ***   Equine Management              3
29-409   Weed Science                 3                           40-202    Microeconomics                 3
30-321    Biometrics                  3                           46-300    Marketing                      3
40-421    Macroeconomics              3

         Total Credits                18                                    Total Credits                  15


 Senior Fall Semester                                             Senior Spring Semester

Course   Course Name                  CR      Semester   Grade    Course    Course Name                    CR   Semester   Grade
         Humanities Elective          3                            29-304   Marketing Ag Products          3
29-309   Farm Management              3                           29-404    Sustainable Ag                 3
30-449   Apply Jobs & Grad School     1                           30-349    Scientific Writing             1
34-395   Global Societies             3                           40-414    Money & Banking                3
42-302   Legal Enviro. Of Business    3                            46-303   Professional Sales & Selling   3



         Total Credits                13                                    Total Credits                  13