Miller speaks at Mexican commencement

Ed Miller of the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources was invited to participate in the second annual conference on agricultural sciences at the Universidad Popular Autonoma del Estado de Puebla.

Students at UPAEP, a small private university, organize events that include invited speakers and three days of planned activities for their commencement.

Miller said students spend a year planning and then actually take leadership of the conference to encourage development of leadership traits in students at UPAEP.

It is a concept David Henneberry, OSU director of international programs, said allows students to “give back to the university” at the end of their studies.

“It is such a great example.” Henneberry said. “Agriculture is where they need us the most.”

UPAEP, founded in 1973, has a small but growing division of agriculture.

Miller, who spent one day at the conference, came away impressed with the efforts of the students.

“They had their undersecretary of agriculture come and speak,” Miller said. “They had two or three individuals from the agricultural industry come and speak, and they had outside individuals come.”

Miller’s comments to UPAEP’s agriculture graduates listed leadership as one of the important qualities students need to succeed in agriculture today. Skills employers are looking for were included in Miller’s presentation.

“About seven of the 10 skills from surveys are not technical but soft skills,” Miller said. “They are things you learn by leadership and service. Ethics is on the list.”

Miller said students who were putting on the agricultural conference were exemplifying many of those skills.

In his address, he told UPAEP students about traditional OSU programs in soil science, animal science and agricultural economics.

UPAEP’S students heard from Miller that new areas of study are emerging at the forefront of agriculture in food sciences and safety, microbial forensics, agricultural security and other areas.

Miller said many areas of study will continue to place agriculture at the cutting edge in what he considers to be “forward looking” studies. He told those who attended the conference that agricultural communications is also at the forefront as needs for information and ways to transfer it continue to evolve.

Miller said he was impressed with the ability of the students who accompanied him as interpreters and guides, and he expects to see many of them come to OSU to further their studies.

The trip allowed Miller, who is responsible for academic programs in the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, to build on cooperation between the two universities, including the development of faculty exchange programs, jointly taught courses and other activities to strengthen the partnership between OSU and UPAEP.

Ten students from OSU will spend five weeks at UPAEP this summer in an intensive Spanish language immersion program as 2007 Institute For Study Abroad Foundation scholars. The IFSA, founded in Indianapolis in 2004, has provided the division with funding for Spanish language training plus short- and long-term study abroad programs in the areas of agriculture and natural resources in Mexico.

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REPORTER/MEDIA CONTACT:
Janet F. Reeder, BA, MS
Communications Specialist
Agricultural Communications Services
142 Agriculture North
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK  74078
Phone: 405-744-3651
Fax: 405-744-5739
E-Mail: janet.reeder@okstate.edu

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