Auburn Horticulture has four degree emphases that a student can choose: Nursery & Greenhouse Science, Fruit and Vegetable Production, Landscape Horticulture, and Pre-landscape Architecture. Landscape emphases get twelve specific classes (HORT 3210, 3220, 4100, 4270, 5210, 3280, 4300, 5280, CSES 3150, 5160, BSEN 3560, and CTCT 2100) they can take and are required to take only Landscape classes. They are not required to take any Nursery & Greenhouse classes and zero Fruit & Vegetable Production classes. Fruit & Vegetable Production emphases have 7 specific classes (HORT 2010, 2030, 5110, 5120, 5130, 5140, and 4250) and are required to take only fruit and vegetable related courses--no Greenhouse & Nursery courses, no Landscape courses. Nursery & Greenhouse Science emphases have only two classes that have to do with Nursery & Greenhouse Science and are required to take four Landscape classes (HORT 3210, 3220, 4100, and CSES 3150). In addition, Nursery & Greenhouse only have one elective option that pertains to the major: Hydroponics, which is growing plants without soil media, still not nursery or greenhouse specific. I think you can see not only the disproportion of available classes for an advertised emphasis, but the non-representation that Nursery & Greenhouse majors face.

Auburn University makes about $300,000,000 per semester, is building a new culinary school, built a new business school, built a new nursing school, a new performing arts center, is of the top twenty most expensive public universities in the U.S., and received a $10,000,000 donation to its football program last year. All of the previous buildings were built in the 90's (culinary school is new offering all together) while the horticulture building is almost sixty years old, smells like a mens locker room, is falling apart and has only two classes offered that actually pertain to an entire emphasis. The point is, Nursery & Greenhouse majors are sorely underrepresented and forced to take classes that don't pertain to them while the rest of the major emphases do not.

What we want:

- Classes that actually pertain to Nursery & Greenhouse like a Greenhouse technology course, Greenhouse design & maintenance course, Greenhouse economics, or a Manipulated microbiome course. Maybe require Hydroponics instead of leaving it as an elective.

- To rid the Nursery & Greenhouse Science and Fruit & Vegetable Production emphases of unnecessary Landscape classes 

-An updated environment

Who will teach?

-Current faculty

-New faculty

-Graduate students

Let's face it, this regime will probably not change for us current students, but we can change it for future students. I'm asking for all of the Nursery & Greenhouse majors, professors, and alumni to sign this petition so future students can have a major that actually prepares them for their careers, is properly represented, and makes sense.