Ag Biz faculty member shares program benefits in radio interview

College of Business lecturer Mike Rogel was featured last week on the Ag Information Network to talk about CWU’s growing Agricultural Business program.

The two-part interview centered around what CWU is doing to meet the needs of industry and students who are interested in pursuing a future in “Ag Biz.”

In the first part of the interview with host Bob Larson, Rogel explained that there are a number of directions students can go in the program, which was launched in 2021. CWU currently offers a minor and a certificate in Food and Agribusiness Management and Marketing.

“For your minor, it really aligns with your full degree here at CWU,” he said. “So, you get a CWU business major, in whatever specialization or kind of general business that you want, and you can attach to that a minor by doing some of our required and elective credits for the Food and Agribusiness.”

The certificate can also be used in other ways. The College of Business’ goal is for the training to mean something for those who invest the time to learn the intricacies of Ag Biz.

“We’ve been really fortunate to have a few groups of great students come through our programs so far, and they’re really setting the reputation for what that certification means for the industry,” Rogel said, adding that the program has seen consistent growth every year since its inception.

In part two of the interview, which aired on Saturday, Rogel provided more detail about what the program intends to do to align with industry needs.

“We’re trying to do our best to balance the strengths of academia with also the strengths of connecting the market,” he said. “Sometimes it’s tough to change in academia, but Claudia (Dumitrescu) and our department chair and our dean have done a great job. Our provost and president … have also done a great job to try to make sure that we’re first and foremost connected to markets.”

In order to meet changing demands, Rogel says Ag Biz students need to be able to adapt so they can provide the most value to prospective employers once they graduate.

“Everything that we do, we’re trying to target to help students to provide value when they enter an organization within the agricultural space,” he said. “So that means that we’ve got to be connected to the industry and what we learn there we try to bring back into the classroom as well.”

More information about CWU’s Ag Biz program can be found on cwu.edu.