Off-Campus Work and Study Experience Programs for Undergraduate Students in Agricultural Economics and Agricultural Business Management

HE CONCEPT of integrating occupationally based study and work experiences as part of the curriculum for undergraduate students in higher education is not a new idea. However, there has been a resurgence in the awareness and use of the concept for agricultural students in recent years. Defined broadly, the concept encompasses any off-campus work or study experience with a private business or government agency which is organized by the university for which academic credit and/or pay is received by the student. Some of the more common names given to these efforts include "workstudy programs," "internships," "sandwich programs," and "cooperative education programs." This paper will discuss the usage of such programs in historical perspective, discuss their philosophical basis, discuss the place of programs in the curriculum, describe the nature of programs currently in use by departments, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such programs to the student participant, the university, and the participating business or agency, and detail an operational framework for program implementation. Long before the development of today's extensive educational system, Francis Bacon in the 17th century said that "studies teach not their own use; there is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation." In these words we find a philosophical root for work-study programs. In early times society depended upon apprentice programs to teach craftsmen the trades necessary for society to subsist. The little theory a craftsman needed could easily be taught along with his practical training in the apprentice program. However, as time went on and society's demands for technological progress increased, the complexity of the educational process increased beyond the scope of the apprentice programs which were not able nor designed to cope with equipping the rising class of engineers and scientists for their professions. In the late 1800s, recognizing the need for the integration of theory with practical application, engineering schools, in particular, tried various ways to combine them. Some colleges introduced regular shop courses into their curriculums to give their students a practical feel for what they would encounter once they were in industry. Worcester Polytechnic even went so far as to operate a shop on a commercial basis producing articles for sale. Others advised work for a period of 15 months in industry between their junior and senior years. Some colleges also required students to do summer work in approved industrial plants. The educator given formal credit for combining work and study as an integral part of the educative process in higher education is Dean Herman Schneider who inaugurated cooperative education at the University of Cincinnati in 1906. He believed that if college students would spend a portion of their time working in industry, applying the knowledge and theory gained in school to practical work situations, their education would become richer and more meaningful. While originally his students alternated between the classrooms and industry on a weekly basis, the periods of alternation have since lengthened so that most universities using the so-called co-op program now use alternating quarters or semesters. On a somewhat less structured basis, institutions have also established what may be re* The author acknowledges the helpful comments of W. D. Gorman, D. L. Costley, and L. B. Catlett.