OMALS Certificate Programs
This certificate provides students with a solid foundation in modern management, marketing, finance, and policy tools needed to succeed in agribusiness and related fields. The emphasis is on foundational methods spanning production management, human resource management, market planning and analysis, financial analysis, and policy interpretation. The certificate prepares students with state-of-the-art skills in agricultural and applied economics and applied business management by relating those skills to the food and agribusiness sectors.
A total of 12 credit hours are required. Transfer credits are not permitted.
Required Courses:
AAEC 5034 Agribusiness Marketing Policy and Business Strategies: Marketing tools needed to identify and solve the complexity of marketing food and agribusiness products. Contemporary trends, marketing strategies, and problems in the food and agribusiness sector. Pre: Understanding of introductory microeconomic theory. Pre: Graduate Standing (3H, 3C)
AAEC 5054 Strategic Agribusiness Management: Application of economic theory to operational and strategic decision-making in agribusiness. Analysis and application of the functions of management. Problem recognition and economic analysis of supply chain, marketing, financial, production, and human resource decisions facing agribusiness firms. Assessment of the U.S. role in the international marketplace. Pre: Graduate standing (3H, 3C).
AAEC 5074 Agricultural and Food Policy: Policy issues related to trade, farm bills, natural resource preservation, and food, nutrition, and health. Global forces impacting U.S. policy. Stakeholder influence on the policy-making process. Policy impacts on stakeholders. Pre: Graduate Standing (3H, 3C).
AAEC 5424 Agribusiness Finance and Risk Management: Principles of corporate finance and risk management in agribusiness. Relate value to the different types of risks (systematic, specific, or sustainability-related) and apply management tools. Provide a holistic approach via case studies. Pre: Graduate Standing (3H,3C)
For additional information, please click here.
In our rapidly changing world, we need leaders with interdisciplinary skills to solve complex societal issues on local, national, and international levels (Bear & Skorton, 2019). The Collaborative Community Leadership graduate certificate program will prepare participants with the educational background necessary to lead in a diverse and multicultural environment.
LDRS 5454: Leadership Foundations for Diverse Contexts
This course is intended to assist students in identifying and defining leadership in formal and non-formal educational settings, communities, and organizations. Students will learn through reading, observing, applying, creating, and evaluating leadership in context.
LDRS 5464: Leadership in a Global Society
This course will guide learners in identifying and developing the personal and professional competencies required for effective leadership in an increasingly global, diverse and multicultural society. The class activities will involve critical reflection and experiential learning. Students will learn through reading, observing, applying, creating, and evaluating leadership in context.
Electives*
(*Note: This is a list of possible electives, but it is not all-inclusive. Students may propose alternate options to the certificate coordinator. Common course prefixes for alternate options include COMM, GIA, PAPA, UAP, MGT, and PSYC)
- ALCE 5154: Community Partnerships and Volunteerism
- ALCE 5224: Team Science, Cooperation, and Interdisciplinary Work
- ALCE 5564: International Agriculture and Diplomacy
- ALCE 5704: Systems Thinking Pedagogy and Praxis
- EDHE 6304: Theories of Educational Organizations
- ENGL 6334: Rhetoric in Society
- GRAD 5204: Citizen Scholar Seminar
- LDRS 5544: Leading Teams Through Change
- LDRS 5554: Leading Social Change
- SOC 5034: Social Inequality
Project
Pre-approval from certificate program coordinator to ensure connection to program concepts.
- End-of-project report in a potentially publishable format.
- Completed with and/or supervised by a faculty member appropriate for the project.
- Documented through one credit hour of LDRS 5974: Independent Study.
- See examples of past projects.
For additional information, please click here.
This certificate requires completion of four courses (3 credit-hours each). These courses include:
LDRS 5534: Cognition, Problem Solving, and Preferences for Change
taught online: Fall
LDRS 5544: Leading Teams through Community Change
taught online: Fall
LDRS 5554: Leading Social Change
taught online: Spring
LDRS 5904: Project and Report (schedule after completion of coursework)
It is preferred that courses are completed sequentially as presented, but not required.
OMALS offers three certificate programs in a variety of fields. Click the indvidual certificates below to learn more!
This certificate will provide students with a solid foundation in modern management, marketing, finance, and policy tools needed to succeed in agribusiness and related fields. The emphasis is on foundational methods spanning production management, human resource management, market planning and analysis, financial analysis, and policy interpretation. The certificate prepares students with state-of-the-art skills in agricultural and applied economics and applied business management by relating those skills to the food and agribusiness sectors.
A total of 12 credit hours are required. Transfer credits are not permitted.
Required Courses:
AAEC 5034 Agribusiness Marketing Policy and Business Strategies: Marketing tools needed to identify and solve the complexity of marketing food and agribusiness products. Contemporary trends, marketing strategies, and problems in the food and agribusiness sector. Pre: Understanding of introductory microeconomic theory. Pre: Graduate Standing (3H, 3C)
AAEC 5054 Strategic Agribusiness Management: Application of economic theory to operational and strategic decision-making in agribusiness. Analysis and application of the functions of management. Problem recognition and economic analysis of supply chain, marketing, financial, production, and human resource decisions facing agribusiness firms. Assessment of the U.S. role in the international marketplace. Pre: Graduate standing (3H, 3C).
AAEC 5074 Agricultural and Food Policy: Policy issues related to trade, farm bills, natural resource preservation, and food, nutrition, and health. Global forces impacting U.S. policy. Stakeholder influence on the policy-making process. Policy impacts on stakeholders. Pre: Graduate Standing (3H, 3C).
AAEC 5424 Agribusiness Finance and Risk Management: Principles of corporate finance and risk management in agribusiness. Relate value to the different types of risks (systematic, specific, or sustainability-related) and apply management tools. Provide a holistic approach via case studies. Pre: Graduate Standing (3H,3C)
For additional information, please click here.
Dixie Dalton
Associate Professor of Practice
540-231-3727
dixie@vt.edu
In our rapidly changing world, we need leaders with interdisciplinary skills to solve complex societal issues on local, national, and international levels (Bear & Skorton, 2019). The Collaborative Community Leadership graduate certificate program will prepare participants with the educational background necessary to lead in a diverse and multicultural environment.
The certificate program includes two required courses (LDRS 5454 & LDRS 5464), and six credits of certificate electives. Those certificate electives may include courses that are already part of another academic program (see the sample for the MPH program). The certificate program includes an expectation for action learning, documented in the form of a one-credit independent study project (i.e., LDRS 5974). In total, the certificate encompasses 13 credit hours.
LDRS 5454: Leadership Foundations for Diverse Contexts
This course is intended to assist students in identifying and defining leadership in formal and non-formal educational settings, communities, and organizations. Students will learn through reading, observing, applying, creating, and evaluating leadership in context.
LDRS 5464: Leadership in a Global Society
This course will guide learners in identifying and developing the personal and professional competencies required for effective leadership in an increasingly global, diverse and multicultural society. The class activities will involve critical reflection and experiential learning. Students will learn through reading, observing, applying, creating, and evaluating leadership in context.
Electives*
(*Note: This is a list of possible electives, but it is not all-inclusive. Students may propose alternate options to the certificate coordinator. Common course prefixes for alternate options include COMM, GIA, PAPA, UAP, MGT, and PSYC)
- ALCE 5154: Community Partnerships and Volunteerism
- ALCE 5224: Team Science, Cooperation, and Interdisciplinary Work
- ALCE 5564: International Agriculture and Diplomacy
- ALCE 5704: Systems Thinking Pedagogy and Praxis
- EDHE 6304: Theories of Educational Organizations
- ENGL 6334: Rhetoric in Society
- GRAD 5204: Citizen Scholar Seminar
- LDRS 5544: Leading Teams Through Change
- LDRS 5554: Leading Social Change
- SOC 5034: Social Inequality
Project
- Pre-approval from certificate program coordinator to ensure connection to program concepts.
- End-of-project report in a potentially publishable format.
- Completed with and/or supervised by a faculty member appropriate for the project.
- Documented through one credit hour of LDRS 5974: Independent Study.
- See examples of past projects.
For additional information, please click here.
Eric Kaufman
Professor
540-231-6258
ekaufman@vt.edu
The purpose of this certificate is to examine how one’s problem-solving style may influence how one solves problems, works in a team, leads change efforts, and acts as an agent of change in society. Solving complex problems and leading change can be a convoluted non-linear process and with many variables to consider. However, one key and often ignored variable is problem-solving style, which is how one prefers to solve problems (measured by the KAI). Problem-solving style indicates if a person is inherently more adaptive (prefers making things better) or more innovative (prefers making things different) when solving problems; which is completely independent of intelligence. Kirton’s Adaption-Innovation theory is a common theme throughout the coursework, which provides explanation to how more adaptive and more innovative individuals may work together to lead change. Because we are all problem solvers, we are all agents of change, and we can all choose to lead.
This certificate requires completion of four courses (3 credit-hours each). These courses include:
LDRS 5534: Cognition, Problem Solving, and Preferences for Change
taught online: Fall
LDRS 5544: Leading Teams through Community Change
taught online: Fall
LDRS 5554: Leading Social Change
taught online: Spring
LDRS 5904: Project and Report
(schedule after completion of coursework)
It is preferred that courses are completed sequentially as presented, but not required.
For additional information, please click here.
Curtis Friedel
Associate Professor
540-231-8177
cfriedel@vt.edu
