DEVELOPING EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN URBAN AND COMMUNITY HORTICULTURE

Urban agriculture is expected to be a significant part of the US food system over the next 50 years and provide business opportunities and economic stimulus for cities. North Carolina A&T State University officially started (fall 2013) an undergraduate degree program "Urban and Community Horticulture" (UCH) to educate and train future professionals for the urban food system. This projectwill help provide students witha revised curriculum based on experiential learning opportunities to receive the necessary "hands-on" exposure to be successful in the new urban food system, in addition to state-of-the-art classroom instruction for a well-rounded educational approach. This project will help develop the infrastructure necessary to recruit and retain high quality students, improve education quality, and improve experiential learning opportunities, andhelp students develop their technical skills, critical thinking and leadership.