Visalia
- New York-based Cornell University has signed a memorandum of understanding
with College of the Sequoias that will provide a pathway for agricultural
students to continue their education at a prestigious Ivy League college.
COS President Bill Scroggins says discussions in the past six months have led to an agreement between the two schools.
The well-known university has agreed that COS ag classes will be accepted by Cornell, allowing local students to continue their upper division work in Ithaca, New York.
That may be just the first step to closer ties between the east and west coast schools which are exploring a mutually beneficial relationship.
Also firm is the fact that Cornell has agreed to offer fully paid scholarships that can be used by COS graduating students this school year. “We are targeting perhaps five ag students that could move onto Cornell this year,” confirms Scroggins.
Scroggins says the budding relationship could mean Cornell might even offer upper division classes in the future at the new Tulare COS campus.
In addition, COS has suggested Cornell offer field research opportunities here to its graduate students, perhaps helping solve some of the pressing environmental problems faced in the Valley. “It seems kind of weird that we would have to go to New York to get graduate research on some of our key problems like air pollution, for example, but that's the way it is,” says Scroggins.
“One item we are talking about is a paid internship for a Cornell student here. They said they are interested.”
Cornell was particularly intrigued with the fact that COS has an educational working dairy, says trustee Sue Shannon of Tulare. “Cornell's ag department came out and met with us with the help of Cornell alumni and local businessmen Larry Stoneburner and Ejnar Knudsen.
“Not only do we have a working dairy and farm, but our students participate in an enterprise program getting real world experience,” says Shannon, noting that Cornell was impressed at all COS has to offer, particularly with big plans for the new Tulare campus.
Shannon says Cornell officials told her they want to utilize us on the West Coast. “If it happens, I will be jumping up and down telling the whole world.”
Reacting to reports recently about the Central Valley, Shannon says she “refuses to believe we have to be the Appalachia of the West Coast.”
Scroggins says plans for a Cornell presence at the new Tulare campus strengthens the campus curriculum and adds reason to support the planned COS bond issue to build the new campus.
Pathway to Cornell Leads Thru COS
“Just think of the 800 Tulare high school students who take agricultural classes,” remarks Scroggins. “If they could believe that they could end up going to an Ivy League college to pursue their ag interests and that pathway leads through COS-Tulare – it would be a real benefit to them, the community and the local economy.”
Tulare and Kings counties remain one of the largest regions of California without a four-year school. Efforts to entice Fresno State, Cal Poly or the University of California to open more upper division school classes here over the years have been less than successful.
The lack of nearby upper division opportunities obviously contributes to the fact that these two counties have the least number of college grads in the state.
About 27% of California residents over 25 have a bachelor's degree, but around here it's far lower – about 11% in Tulare County and just 8% in Tulare where the new campus is planned.
Stemming the Brain Drain
Cornell's offer to provide fully paid scholarship grants to needy students may help the area shake off the notion that our future is dim in light of the fact that about half the population is low or very low income.
The possibility of offering upper division Cornell classes in agriculture in Tulare as well as a venue for graduate research could help the area stem a brain drain of its most promising students who see the need to travel out of the area for higher education as well as a career even if it is in agriculture.
Higher educational research often leads to jobs and new enterprises and Cornell appears to be impressed with the fact they it is going to have a presence in the richest ag region in the U.S.
Cornell is a land grant institution founded in 1865 on Senator Ezra Cornell's farm. Although it receives state funds, Cornell is a private school that focuses extensively on conservation and ecology. It operates a 700-acre New York ag field station and also has a busy school of veterinary medicine. The college was ranked number nine in the U.S. by US News and World Report. It has a student population of 20,000 and students from all 50 states.
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