Classroom Renovations

The Conner Hall classroom renovations are through, boosting our facilities with classrooms equipped for the 21st Century. Renovations on the large lecture room, 104 Conner Hall, were completed in time for the beginning of classes for fall 2005. On the second floor of Conner Hall two Agricultural and Applied Economics lecture rooms were renovated in 2000. The new technology allows students to bring in their own laptop computers. Professors will be able to incorporate the ever-changing new technologies to further our students' educations. The stadium seating in 210 Conner allows everyone a good view of the professor and the visual aids. The other small classroom, 212 Conner, has flexible seating, which is designed for the use of case studies and student discussions.

Curriculum Reform

In the last few years, the Department has made numerous changes in all of its majors and added several programs. In 1997, the Department added a master's degree in Environmental Economics, which is the only graduate program available in the state that emphasizes environmental management from an economic and social perspective, with an interdisciplinary focus on natural resource and environmental issues. The Department also added four new minors to its Agricultural Economics minor – Environmental Economics and Management and Environmental Law, both in 2002, Food and Fiber Marketing in 2004, and Resource Economics in 2005. In addition, the Agribusiness minor was changed to Agribusiness and Management in 2004.

Georgia Cooperative Development Center

The Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development and the Georgia Resource Conservation and Development Council have combined efforts to develop a cooperative incubator. These two units established the Georgia Cooperative Development Center through a Rural Cooperative Development Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture on October 1, 2004 . This Center is committed to helping groups in rural Georgia find ways to increase their profits from current and new activities by working together in cooperatives to add value to their products and services. The Center provides the guidance and consulting necessary to help ensure that these groups become profitable, functioning cooperatives. The Center was one of only 24 that were selected from across the nation to receive the grant from USDA.

The Center will serve all the citizens of Georgia but its focus is on the economically depressed sections of rural Georgia .

Members of the Georgia RC&D Council receive the ceremonial "Big Check" from USDA Rural Development State Director Stone Workman. From left to right are: Jeanette Jamieson, President Georgia RC&D Council, H. Joe Nichols, President, Golden Triangle RC&D, John McKissick, Director, UGA-CAED, Leonard Jordan, USDA NRCS State Conservationist, Jerome Brown, Coordinator, Golden Triangle RC&D, and Stone Workman, State Director, USDA Rural Development.

Farm Policy and Outlook Breakfast

The Sunbelt Expo will hold a Farm Policy and Outlook Breakfast on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at 7:30 a.m. Don Shurley, Agricultural and Applied Economics Professor, proposed the new initiative and continues to help plan for the event. The meeting is a cooperative effort between the Expo and CAES. Proposed speakers for the breakfast include Senator Saxby Chambliss and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns. Don Shurley and others on a planning group are in the process of formally organizing the program and agenda. October brings the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition and nearly 200,000 visitors to Moultrie each year. The Sunbelt Expo, now in its second decade, is the premier farm show in North America , with more than 1,000 corporate and private exhibitors.