Educational opportunities and challenges in poultry science: impact of resource allocation and industry needs

Because the number of Poultry Science departments in the U.S. has declined dramatically, and because scientist years and research funding for poultry, relative to other commodities, have also declined, a survey of poultry meat companies was conducted. Objectives of the survey were: to evaluate corporate concern over the status of Poultry Science departments, to categorize hiring patterns, to determine expectations for prerequisite skills of graduates, and to ascertain attitudes toward hiring of Associate-degreed students (A.S.). A two-page survey was distributed to corporate Vice Presidents or Directors of Human Resources of the 17 largest broiler and 10 largest turkey companies. When asked to gauge the difficulty they encountered in locating adequate numbers of Poultry Science graduates, 83% noted at least some difficulty. All respondents indicated concern over the loss of poultry programs in the U.S. and 44% noted "extreme" concern. There appears to be little resistance to hiring 2-yr A.S. degree graduates in Poultry Science. The relative scarcity of these programs is demonstrated by the fact that only one-third of the respondents had ever hired A.S. degree graduates. However, greater than 80% of the firms indicated they would hire these students. Finally, communication and business skills were more highly rated by human resources management than technical ability in Poultry Science. Given these results, academic programs must: develop curricula that reflect market-place expectations, enhance the efficiency of resource utilization, embrace new technologies that provide novel methods for information delivery, and reassess cooperative linkages among industrial and governmental organizations.