HORTiculture in EC
and US
“HORTECUS”
The program will establish academic links through student
and faculty mobility among the members of the consortium in the fields of
horticulture, including but not limited to floriculture, turfgrass management,
public garden management, plant breeding, preservation of biodiversity,
etc. Four European educational
institutions (TEI of Crete in Greece, Hogeschool Delft in the Netherlands, KVL
in Denmark, and the University of Hannover in Germany) and three educational institutions
in the United States (Purdue University in Indiana, Alabama A&M University,
and Oklahoma State University) will form the consortium. The participating universities on both
sides of the Atlantic are all taking an active role in the internationalization
of their curricula and seek to expand their horticultural contacts on a global
scale. In addition to their
combination of language and cultural diversity, the cooperating educational
institutions’ geographical locations provide a unique palette of
horticultural industries, and thus experiential opportunities, for exchange
students and faculty to interact.
Horticultural crop breeding, production, post harvest
handling, processing, and marketing are increasingly important industries that
have transcended national frontiers and become international businesses. With the removal of national trade
barriers and the expansion of membership, the European Union has become a major
economic force with community policies affecting this large horticultural market. Individual horticultural businesses are
expanding their production centers into numerous member states with
horticultural products marketed throughout the EU. A similar situation exists in the United States where, long
before European member States opened their borders, the interstate cooperation
has thrived in all areas of agricultural production and distribution.
It is with this background that the present consortium will
provide ideal opportunities for young people majoring in horticulture to learn about
horticulture on both sides of the Atlantic. This will be accomplished by the exchange of students among
the participating Institutes of the consortium and by the work placements
(practical training internships) in horticultural businesses or by participation
in research projects at the host institution. Faculty with specific expertise
or interest in another institutional member of the consortium will have an
opportunity to guest lecture in the classroom and/or organize short courses on
horticultural topics of current importance. This will enable educationally
diverse faculty members of the consortium to share their expertise with the
place bound students of their host institutions.
The
seven Consortium universities will jointly develop a web-based course on
International Horticulture (3 credit hours). The course will be
administered by one university in both the United States and Europe, and made
available to all of the consortium partners via the WWW. Faculty members of the
Consortium institutions will contribute course content and expertise from their
respective areas of specialization. The course will be offered for a fee to
students from universities not of the Consortium after the initial trial among
the consortium partners during the grant period. The development of a course on International Horticulture is
of great interest in our horticulture departments, and the expertise of this
consortium group will be used to develop a course with content and delivery
superior to that which could be developed by one institution, alone.
US Lead:
Dr. Paul Allen Hammer, Professor
Purdue University
Department of Horticulture and Landscape
Architecture
1165 Horticulture Building,
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1165
Telephone
765-494-1335
Fax
765-494-0391
E-mail pah@hort.purdue.edu
US
Partners:
Dr.
Douglas Needham, Professor
Oklahoma
State University
360
Ag Hall, Stillwater, Oklahoma
74078-6027
Telephone 405-744-6462
Fax 405-744-9709
E-mail needham@okstate.edu
Dr.
Caula A. Beyl, Professor.and Dr. Govind C. Sharma, Professor
Alabama
A&M University
Plant
and Soil Sciences
Normal,
Alabama 35762
Telephone 256 858-4193
Fax 256 851-5429
E-mail cbeyl@aamu.edu
EC Lead:
Dr. Ioannis C. Vlahos
Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of
Crete
Department of Horticulture
Stavromenos, 71500, Heraklion, Crete
Telephone
+30 81 254103
Fax
+30 81 250548
E-mail
yvlahos@lyttos.admin.teiher.gr
EC
Partners:
Dr.
Arne Skytt Andersen, Professor
The
Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (KVL)
Agricultural
Sciences/Section Horticulture
DK-1958
Frederiksberg-C, Copenhagen
Denmark
Telephone +45 35 28 3403
Fax +45 35 28 3400
E-mail Arne.Skytt.Andersen@agsci.kvl.dk
Dr.
ir. H. W. M. Fuchs
Hogeschool
DELFT
Horticulture
Brasserkade
1, PO Box 3190, 2601 DD Delft
The
NETHERLANDS
Telephone +31 15 215 02 15
Fax +31 15 215 02 99
E-Mail hw.fuchs@hsdelft.nl
Dr.
Hartmut Stuetzel, Professor
University
of Hannover
Horticulture
Herrenhauser
Str. 2, D-30419, Hannover
Germany
Telephone +49 511 762 2634
Fax +49 511 762 3606
E-Mail stuetzel@gem.uni-hannover.de