07/25/1997

Growth of AU's Poultry Science Department Mirrors Alabama's Poultry Industry

AUBURN, Ala. - Because Alabama's poultry industry generates an economic impact close to $8 billion for the state, Auburn University's Department of Poultry Science in the College of Agriculture strives to provide well-trained and well-rounded graduates to maintain and build the industry further.

To keep up with the growth of the industry, the department is getting aggressive in its efforts to recruit students, and will do even more in the future.

The poultry science program has about 70 undergraduates now, but Roger Lien, associate professor of poultry science, predicts that number will reach 100 or more in the next few years.

"Enrollment has tripled in the last eight years, following the rise of the poultry industry in Alabama and the Southeast," Lien said. Every two years, the department invites 20 to 40 high school and junior college teachers and counselors to Auburn University for a two-day program that introduces them to the opportunities in the poultry industry and the poultry science curriculum, Lien said.

"Our attitude is if you can inform the people who are influencing students, you can reach the students," he said. "Our job in recruiting is just to get the word out there."

In an effort to recruit more students, the department also visits career fairs, sends brochures to prospective students and invites individual high school students or groups to visit the department.

As the poultry industry grows, the poultry science department must evolve to reflect that growth. The industry is fully integrated, meaning a company controls production of the chicken from the hatchery to the grocery store.

Lien said the poultry industry may be more comparable to the auto industry than to typical agricultural production because the focus is on "manufacturing" a product. Therefore, the poultry science curriculum is beginning to shift away from primarily a science focus to a more product and business oriented emphasis.

"More than half of what this business does happens after the processing plant receives the birds," Lien said. "As the industry has evolved, we're becoming more and more processing and product oriented."

Students in the department now take classes in poultry processing, food safety and business, in addition to the science and production courses, Lien said.

Graduates in poultry science are prepared for management positions in all phases of the industry, from broiler production to meat processing to sales.

"We could place several times the number of students we graduate," Lien said. "Most of the time, when an employer calls me looking for someone to hire, I don't have anyone to send them because our graduates already have jobs waiting for them before they graduate."

Though internships are not required, many of the students participate in one or more, and all who do, benefit from the experience.

"There's nothing a student can do that will help them more. They get to see what's out there in the industry, meet people in the business and establish a name for themselves before leaving Auburn," Lien said.

Another plus for the program is the $30,000 to $40,000 in scholarships offered to poultry science majors each year.

"The Alabama Poultry and Egg Association and the industry as a whole have been very active in raising scholarship money to assist in the education of their next generation," Lien said.

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News from:

Office of Ag Communications & Marketing

Auburn University College of Agriculture
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
3 Comer Hall, Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849
334-844-4877 (PHONE) 334-844-5892 (FAX)

Contact Jamie Creamer, 334-844-2783 or jcreamer@auburn.edu
by Anna M. Lee

July 25, 1997