CNGA LooseLeaf February March 2019

colorad o nga.org CSU Hosting National Landscape Competition By Zach Johnson, Professor, Landscape Business and Landscape Design & Contracting, Dept. of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University Colorado State University is excited to host the 43rd annual National Collegiate Landscape Competition, March 20-23, in Fort Collins, Colo. This will be the fourth time CSU has hosted the event, the last time being just five years ago. This year’s event promises to be the biggest and best, with more than 70 colleges and universities expected to attend. Over 700 students will compete on real-world landscape projects and network with top companies from around the nation at the largest career fair in the profession. Competing schools determine their own selection process for their teams. Team sizes from each school can range from just a few students to more than 50 students, who are attending undergraduate programs in horticulture, design and contracting. With 29 events to compete in, students prepare with provided materials such as plant identification lists, review materials from their course work, and work with their instructors and professors. Individual event winners and the schools with the most acquired points during the event are recognized at the closing award ceremony. In addition to the competitive event portion of the National Collegiate Landscape Competition, more than 100 companies from across the nation will attend the career fair. These employers hope to fill important roles in their companies—both full- time employment as well as internships. Additionally, tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships from a multitude of individuals and companies will be awarded to students. This event, of course, would not be possible without the support of many corporate and individual sponsors. Additionally, individuals play a critical role in this event, from volunteering to judging. Come join us in Fort Collins this March to experience a great town and a wonderful event, with many activities to keep everyone engaged. We will need many volunteers to help with all kinds of activities. If you would consider volunteering, please contact us at csu-landscape@colostate.edu . For more information, please visit landscapecompetition.org. Almost half of our enrollment growth these last two years has been in a new online degree program in horticulture with a concentration in horticulture business management. CSU opened the program in fall 2017, after years of preparation. Its rapid growth with students from across the country and around the world shows that the program is meeting a previously unmet need. Our online students are often older and have families and jobs, which limits their mobility and time availability for formal studies. They need the flexibility of studying from their homes when they have time free from other responsibilities. In addition to the online program, we are seeing a lot of growth in the horticulture major, specifically in the floriculture and food crops programs. Many of our floriculture students are interested in cannabis production and in controlled environments like greenhouses and plant factories. Our society’s growing interest in where food comes from and in consuming healthy foods has contributed to the growth in our food crops program, which focuses on fruit and vegetable production and also offers an organic agriculture minor. As a whole, our undergraduate students are about 62 percent male and 38 percent female. This proportion has not changed much in recent years, and the numbers are similar in horticulture programs nationwide. We are eager to attract more women and people of color into our programs. Please contact me ( jessica.davis@colostate.edu ) if you have ideas for collaboration or recruiting. *Reed, D.W., M.A. Arnold, R.D. Lineberger, and T.D. Davis. 2016. Challenges of higher education in the U.S. – what will horticulture of the future look like? Acta Hortic. 1126. ISHS 2016. DOI 10.17660/ActaHotic.2016.1126.27. “Our society’s growing interest in where food comes from and in consuming healthy foods has contributed to the growth in our food crops program...” » continued from page 8 LooseLeaf  February/March 2019 10 Photo courtesy of National Association of Landscape Professionals