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ËÄ»¢Ó°ÊÓ recently received designation as a Non-Land Grant College of Agriculture by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Non-land grant colleges provide important translational research and outreach benefits, while developing a highly skilled workforce for the agricultural, food and natural resource industries.

Their curricula place emphasis on business, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, creativity, communications and teamwork. The colleges produce science-based and workforce-ready graduates with a strong work ethic who may choose to pursue graduate studies, enter into industry and government careers, and return to production-oriented positions on farms and ranches.

LU qualifies for the designation through its engineering programs, particularly civil and environmental engineering, as well as the nutrition/dietetics degree in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences.

“This designation opens up new possibilities and opportunities for external funding with the USDA,” said Peter Kelleher, associate provost for research. The certification exempts LU from matching requirements it would otherwise be required to pay when participating in grants from USDA. It also satisfies the eligibility requirement for certain other grant programs, Kelleher said.

LU has two grant proposals pending submission to the USDA, so the certification is timely, Kelleher said.