Developing Leaders and Improving Lives in the World's Developing Countries
The Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree program in the field of International Agriculture and Rural Development (IARD) at Cornell University is designed for individuals with professional experience in the developing world.
This interdisciplinary program, based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), has the flexible design that is needed by development professionals from diverse disciplinary backgrounds.
The IARD program is suited for students who want advanced training but without disciplinary restrictions or emphasis on research methodologies. This is a program for those who want to undertake studies in a broad range of interrelated subjects that is aligned with the interdisciplinary challenges needing to be confronted in developing countries.
To give students an opportunity to experience agriculture in developing countries first hand, the IARD MPS program offers participation in an annual trip with the IARD 6020 course. This a two-week trip to the tropics between fall and winter semesters. Host countries have included Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, India, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Thailand. The January 2010 trip will be to India. During the field trip, students visit agricultural institutions, both large and small, public and private, and natural resource management programs. They study soils, crops, and animals under a wide range of ecological, social, and economic conditions. The trip gives students an opportunity to see agriculture, touch it, and smell it. Such experience cannot be equaled in any classroom.
The IARD field was created in 1974 to provide a MPS degree program primarily for professionals interested in the multidisciplinary dimensions of rural development in developing countries, such as those employed by governments and non-governmental organizations. It is also a minor field for broadening and enriching advanced degree programs in disciplinary majors. The curriculum is especially relevant to experienced practitioners from any country who require broad-gauged perspectives and knowledge about agriculture and development. The MPS IARD graduate program provides various forums for critically analyzing alternative strategies and for learning about practices, technologies, approaches, and trends in agriculture and rural development efforts around the world. The program also provides opportunities to review and update skills in a discipline or other specialty.
The MPS IARD graduate program is designed for people who have already embarked on an international career and whose professional plans include upgrading relevant skills and knowledge important to their future needs. With help from the Special Committee of faculty advisors, students tailor programs to suit their objectives from a wide selection of courses in the College of Agriculture and Life Science (CALS) and other colleges. MPS candidates carry out an applied special project under either a field-based option (typically involving an international component) or a course-based option, not an MS- or Ph.D.-style research thesis.
The student must have formed the Special Committee, which comprises at least 2 faculty members, prior to the second semester of study. The chairperson of the Special Committee must be a member of the IARD field. The second member of the Special Committee must come from outside the Chairperson's department. Sometimes the needed multidisciplinarity is best accomplished by constituting a Special Committee with more than 2 members.
Faculty members of the Special Committee are responsible for advising the student in the development of a comprehensive plan of study consistent with the degree requirements. The Committee also guides and approves the problem-solving project and may appraise the student's progress by means of oral or written examinations. Deadlines For Submitting the Special Committee Selection Form:
Each student is supervised by a Special Committee consisting of at least two faculty members from different disciplines, one of whom is the chairperson. The chairperson must be a member of the IARD field, which consists of about 50 faculty from many disciplines in the agricultural and social sciences. The Special Committee is responsible for advising the student, supervising progress, and evaluating completion of formal degree requirements, including evaluating the problem-solving special project which generally culminates the IARD program.
For more information about this field of study, feel free to contact the people below.
Virginia Montopoli, Graduate Field Assistant
International Development
31 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607-255-0831
Fax: 607-255-1005
Email: vlh1@cornell.edu
Steven Kyle, Director of Graduate Studies
249 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607-255-2104
Fax: 607-255-9984
Email: sck5@cornell.edu
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