College of DuPage Celebrates 50 Years of Horticulture

College of DuPage Horticulture Department 50th Anniversary Celebration

by Meta Levin COD is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Horticulture Department with an open house October 13, 2022, nearly 52 years to the day that the Illinois Junior College Board and the Board of Higher Education approved its first ornamental horticulture program. That milestone happened on October 12, 1970.

Since that day, the program has grown to what Department Chair Brian Clement estimates to be one of the largest horticulture programs in Illinois — 325 students — and perhaps the Midwest. Guided by an advisory board of industry professionals, it has significantly expanded its offerings, started a dual credit program with 10 area high schools, established internship and apprenticeship opportunities and in one of its newest programs, provides inmates in the DuPage County jail with training and education. The department is working with ILCA and the COD Project Higher Ed on the apprenticeship program. “Our advisory board has about 15 industry professionals, some high school dual- credit instructors, a student member and Scott Grams, ILCA executive director,” says Clement. “We have a lot of industry support and the board plays a huge role in the program.” The open house, scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. October

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13, is open to students, alumni, industry professionals, current and retired faculty and prospective students and will feature videos of program alumni reminiscing about their time there and what it has meant to them and their careers, as well as refreshments, photo albums and opportunities for networking. in 1970 the horticulture program offered an associate degree and certificate program. Now students can earn any of three degrees (Horticulture AAS, Landscape Contracting and Management AAS and Sustainable Urban Agriculture AAS), nine certificates (flora shop management, greenhouse management, horticulture, landscape and turf maintenance, landscape design and construction, nursery and garden center management, power equipment and technology, sustainable landscapes and sustainable urban agriculture), as well as more than 63 course offerings. Accredited through the National Association of Landscape Professionals and the Engine and Equipment Training Council, DuPage’s horticulture department has two full

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-time staff members, one part-time lab assistant, two student workers, a program specialist and nearly 40 adjunct faculty members, who are “incredible,” says Greenhouse Supervisor Amy Hull, who has been with the program for the last 30 years. Hull, also an adjunct faculty, points to the changes in laboratory work and facilities. “They now are state-of-the-art,” she says. “We have a sustainable agriculture farm and a new orchard of small fruit trees that was established through a grant from the Fruit Tree Association.” This is a far cry from the early days of the program when they paid $800 a year to lease the greenhouse facilities at Naperville Central High School. Within a year, however, they realized they needed something more. In the Spring of 1971, construction of the first greenhouse began on campus. Students and faculty provided the labor and the greenhouse was shared by students in both the ornamental horticulture and life science classes.

Now the horticulture program is housed in the college’s Technical Education Center, a $50 million, 178,000 square foot facility that provides a place for training across several disciplines.

When the pandemic hit, the horticulture department realized the need for ongoing education to meet the needs of both students and employers in the landscape industry. They pivoted quickly, learning some lessons that will carry them forward.

Using the flexibility nurtured during the pandemic, course offerings have expanded beyond in-person and webinars, to now include online, hybrid, hands-on and virtual classes. They also take their students to various locations where they can see,

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firsthand, how the industry works, places such as Morton Arboretum and Cantigny Park. “Our dean laughs that he never signs as many field trip forms as he does for the horticulture department,” says Hull.

About 40 percent of their students are from out of the district, some from out of state, including Michigan, New York, Texas and Georgia, and some from other countries, like South Korea and Africa. Through agreements with other community colleges, they teach students from Elgin, Harper, Waubonsee, and Moraine Valley. Students are about 50-50 men to women, says Hull. During the pandemic, there was in increase in floral and landscape design students.

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Most students already are working, whether in the industry or looking for a career change. “A lot of our students have part- or full-time jobs,” says Clement. Under the new apprenticeship program, students must agree to work for the company with which they are paired for at least two years after completion. There are seven apprenticeship tracks open to students.

Like Clement and Hull, many of the students come from related fields. Hull was influenced by her father and grandmother who gardened with her as she grew up. It was no surprise, then, when she took a career survey, horticulture came up at the top. She studied at the University of Illinois. In 2012 the College of DuPage hired her as the Greenhouse Supervisor.

Clement, on the other hand, came into the industry from agriculture. He grew up on a farm and taught high school agriculture for 13 years, then moved to teaching at a career technology center, before going to landscape construction. “I had more passion for that,” he says.

By 2014 he became a full-time horticulture instructor at the College of DuPage and it wasn’t long before he became the department chair. Even before COVID 19, he was looking for ways to reach more students. In 2015 he developed the department’s first on-line class, a harbinger of things to come.