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The "green" industry is growing in popularity, and Kent State University-Salem Campus is trying to keep pace.

To meet the blossoming horticulture industry, predicted by the U.S. Department of Labor to increase by 19 percent by 2012, the Kent State regional campus will begin offering a bachelor's degree in Horticulture Technology in the fall.

Currently the campus offers a two-year associate's degree in the field.

According to Stan Jones, the academic program director in the major, the horticulture industry has doubled in Ohio the last seven years to $4.5 billion, and by offering an advanced degree in the field, KSU-Salem can move its horticulture students seamlessly into the job market with skills that prepare them for non-entry level positions.

"An associate's degree is great, but the competition is getting tougher," Jones said. "A bachelor's degree gives the students a more science-based approach and prepares them to go into management positions or state and government work."

The program is also schedule friendly for the campus' non-traditional student base, Jones noted.

"About half our students are non-traditional," he said. "The two day per week format makes scheduling easier for the students, plus it is more affordable and economical here [as opposed to a larger university.]"

The program, which includes everything from urban forestry to landscape design and construction to turf grass management, is overseen by 50 active advisory board members from the industry, Jones added, so students get real-world, hands-on curriculum plus close contact with working professionals, all of which provides them with multiple job opportunities upon graduation.

And the students are fully aware of the benefits of the new program.

"It's closer, cheaper and I've heard better things about this program than I have from other larger programs around," said Paul Snyder, a horticulture technology student registered in the bachelor's program for the fall. "For me, the bachelor's degree will open up more doors [than an associate's] because some of the things I want to do, like teaching, require a more advanced degree."

Part of the hands-on experience students earn in the program includes an expansive project at the campus lake on which Jones' Landscaping Instruction I and II classes have been working the past few semesters, including a pergola, landscaping around the pergola, and a bulkhead for a bridge across the lake to an island. Future classes will be adding a stone walkway, the bridge and a covered structure on the island.

"Horticulture is so much more than what most people think," Jones said. "It includes not only plant management, but the services that go with it."

According to Dr. Jeff Nolte, dean of the Columbiana County Campuses of Kent State University, the program has already opened doors for new opportunities.

"It's very exciting to see the new program," he said. "The industry is starting to take off and we saw an opportunity and went for it. We're now looking at joint opportunities with community colleges, and I see that as our next growth area.

"Kent State University is making huge investments in the campus because we're here to stay."

Prospective students can still register for classes prior to the start of fall semester in August.

For registration information visit www.salem.kent.edu.

Kevin Howell can be reached at khowell@salemnews.net