Much thanks to give about MIAP

Friday, November 22, 2013

Graduates from the program, current students, faculty members and their families had much to be thankful for at this year’s Thanksgiving Celebration of the Master’s of International Agriculture Program (MIAP) at Oklahoma State University.

Housed in OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, MIAP is a multidisciplinary program with 60 graduate students currently enrolled, including several active military duty and distance students.

More than 40 of the group recently gathered at the Cottonwood Community Center in Stillwater for the annual Thanksgiving dinner, an event cosponsored by MIAP and the Student Organization for International Agriculture (SOIA).

“I am so proud of being a part of such an outstanding organization. The entire SOIA team has worked so hard to pull this activity together,” said Abbi Goldenberg, SOIA president and MIAP student. “It was nice to see such a great turn out to give thanks for what we have here at OSU. Oklahoma State University has always been near and dear to my heart and I hope to make SOIA a prominent organization within CASNR.”

Since the programs’ inception in 2008, 85 students have graduated. Shida Henneberry, MIAP director, attributes the program’s success to the options of focus areas, including agritoursim, disaster planning/management, sustainability, Extension outreach, food animals and commercial crops.

MIAP also offers a dual degree program with a university in Puebla, Mexico (UPAEP), where student complete one year of coursework at OSU and another year at UPAEP and receive two masters degrees, one from OSU and one from UPAEP.

“The UPAEP-OSU Dual Degree Master’s Program has been the perfect setting to drive and upgrade my career,” said Claudia P. Diaz Carrasco, MIAP-UPAEP dual-degree student. “The flexibility of the program and the different focus areas of MIAP have given me the opportunity to interact with experts in several fields all over CASNR at the same time I am improving my English skills and learning about the American culture.”

MIAP prides itself in offering a course plan specifically set up for each student’s future career goals.

“With all of the students in the program having set up an individualized program we don’t have a chance to meet up and socialize,” said Britney Lardner, MIAP student and SOIA representative. “Here at this Thanksgiving table we get a chance to meet, engage in fellowship and learn from classmates and professors who all share a common passion and love for agriculture and the development of international Extension through OSU.”

Henneberry is thankful for the quality of students she sees coming through MIAP.

“I find working with MIAP students very rewarding. Our students are very passionate about helping with agricultural development and improving food supply and marketing systems in other countries,” she said. “They also are devoted to their studies here at OSU. I hear so many positive comments about our students from other professors who have them in their classes, and the employees of our alums.”