Southern Comfort: CALS bachelor's program in Twin Falls graduated 50th student

Southern Comfort: CALS bachelor's program in Twin Falls graduated 50th student

class Graduates of a nine-year-old CALS bachelor’s of science program in Twin Falls now number 50, with 25 more enrolled in fall 2003 classes. They juggle fulland part-time jobs, marriages and families, homes, and farms to take classes with on-site faculty or by videotape, videoconference, or the Web.

Photo above: Jodie Mink works with Rebecca Conner (seated, at left) and other UI CALS students in AVS 404, Genetics in Farm Animals, taught by Benton Glaze in a Twin Falls compressed video classroom. Videos in the background show Moscow students sharing Glaze's instruction. Photos by Cory myers, Twin Falls Times-News.

What drives them? “A degree!” says assistant program coordinator Jodie Mink, whose position is funded by both CALS and the College of Southern Idaho (CSI). Mink guides UI juniors and seniors who are working toward a B.S. in Agricultural Science and Technology, as well as CSI freshmen and sophomores who indicate an interest in this or any other UI degree. Every week, she meets with counterparts down the hall who work for Idaho State University and Boise State University, which also offer degrees at CSI. “We’re constantly sending students back and forth, just trying to find where they fit best.”

Not only does Mink evaluate transcripts and help students apply for financial aid, but she is their “home base away from Moscow”—always ready to counsel, congratulate, or console. She even flips on the compressed video system and proctors exams.

What really works is flexibility
Tania Rodrigues, who graduated in December 2001, says both Mink and her predecessor, Paula Bell, “were with me every step of the way.” Rooted by family to the Twin Falls community, Rodrigues worked 25 to 35 hours a week while earning her degree. Coursework in both business and agriculture was the perfect fit for her.

For Rodrigues and many other students, the cooperative degree program builds on CSI’s Associate of Arts in Agribusiness. Until a few years ago, junior- and senior-level classes— which average 15 students per semester—were typically taught by Moscow-based instructors. Now classes like Genetics in Farm Animals, Potato Science, and Waste Management in Agriculture are taught by CALS faculty in southern Idaho and beamed up to the Moscow campus. Live instruction is tailored to late afternoon and evening, while students participate in videotape and web classes as their schedules permit. “What really works for our students is flexibility—in a bunch of different ways,” says Mink.

Mink’s students get better jobs right where they’re working— at Lamb-Weston or Glanbia Foods plants in the Magic Valley, for instance—or they find such new jobs as laboratory technicians, veterinary assistants, feedlot managers, or fertilizer sales representatives. Some start their own businesses or enroll in graduate programs at Moscow.

class Rodrigues was promoted at Glanbia Foods from clerical work in the accounting department to service coordinator for specialty ingredients. The degree made the promotion possible and Rodrigues says she “wouldn’t change a thing” about her education. “Yes, you had to be more self-disciplined, especially with the videotape classes, but even the instructors on the Moscow campus were readily available to answer any questions that you had. That made it a lot easier to accomplish your day-to-day homework and projects.”

While most of the students earn all of their credits off campus, some spend several mid-degree semesters in the Twin Falls program before finishing degrees in agricultural education, plant science, animal science, or ag business in Moscow. Mink even gets some students from Moscow—particularly if they live in the Magic Valley and have just a few straggling credits to go before they graduate.

Erik Kriwox, a range technician for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Burley, was one of those students who earned the bulk of his credits in Moscow. Then he married Amanda Moore, who graduated in public communication in May 2002, and he landed his current job back in his native Magic Valley. “I enjoyed being on campus, but it worked out great for me to finish here,” he says. “For the time in my life and for our situation, it fit right in and worked well.” He added a temporary USDA Wildlife Services job to his resume in spring 2003 and completed a paid internship—which Mink helped arrange—with both federal agencies.

“I can’t say enough about what Jodie does,” says Kriwox. “She makes the program work.”

--Marlene Fritz