One agronomy program allows students to earn their master’s degrees — and they only have to set foot on the ISU campus twice.

Five years ago, Ken Moore, professor of agronomy, and his colleagues began discussing the idea of creating a master’s degree program in science and agronomy to be taken with the help of the Internet.

That discussion led to the creation of a master’s of science and agronomy program, Iowa State’s first

distance-education program. The agronomy department tested it a year ago.

“The program began with an enrollment of 15 students in a pilot program last year,” Moore said. “The program is now open to enrollment, with 25 new students added last fall.”

Richard Carter, professor in agricultural education and studies, said most of the course information is sent to the students via CD-ROM, but they also need to use the World Wide Web for communication and interaction with students.

“This program is completely different because it is aimed at practitioners involved in the [agronomy] industry,” Carter said. “It is not intended to be a degree that would lead to a Ph.D., but to satisfy the educational needs of the people enrolled.”

Moore said the 30-credit curriculum integrates soil science, climatology, crop sciences and pest management in a program designed specifically for the professional agronomist.

Marty Braster, graduate student in agronomy, said the system is giving him a chance to earn his master’s degree, which he otherwise would not be able to do.

“If it wasn’t for this program, I wouldn’t be studying anything, because living down in southern Iowa and working full time, I don’t have time to attend regular classes,” he said.

Even though the class doesn’t meet formally, Braster said it is still challenging.

“We do have flexible deadlines, but the workload is heavy enough that if you get too far behind, it is impossible to catch up,” he said.

Dan Dobill, program coordinator for the agronomy department, said students are required to come to campus two times. The first time is for a three-day workshop during the summer. The second time is to present and defend their creative component, which is required because it is a non-thesis degree.

Currently, Moore said he is working on marketing the program to different groups.

“We have people all over the world interested in our program,” Moore said. “The key to success will be to identify specific markets and have the ability to quickly respond to them.”

Moore said officials with the program have identified four major markets to which the course materials would apply. He said the original target audience was professionals working in agronomy-related fields who have the desire to continue their education.

“Another way to market the program would be to license other universities,” Moore said. “It may be possible to develop our courseware and delivery technologies with their faculty providing the interaction and evaluation.”

The third area is continuing-education programs. National programs require a certain amount of continuing-education credits each year to maintain certification.

“We want to take the course material and break it into smaller pieces to market as continuing-education credits,” Moore said.

The distance-education program is being financed by a $696,000 grant from the family of Raymond and Mary Baker.