Open Menu Close Menu Search News & Events Academic Calendar Campus Life in Covid Parents & Families Apply to Sterling

Professional Studies

Professional Certificate for Educational Farm & Garden Managers

Sterling College » School of the New American Farmstead » Professional Certificate for Educational Farm & Garden Managers
Scroll Down
Home
  • Home
    • Wendell Berry Farming Program
  • Professional Studies
    • EcoGather
    • School of the New American Farmstead
      • Artisan Cheesemaking Professional Certificate
      • Organic Wine & Spirits Production Professional Certificate
      • Sustainable Food Craft Professional Certificate
      • Professional Certificate for Educational Farm & Garden Managers
    • Become an Underwriter

Educational

Farm & Garden Management

Professional Certificate

 

Have a question about this course? Email Us

 

Educational farms and gardens are complex entities to manage, regardless of mission, setting, or scale. They demand a diverse array of skills and expertise. Managers face unique challenges in the visioning, planning, budgeting, structuring, governance, oversight, finances, fundraising, educational integration, curricular development, socioeconomic & food justice issues institutional engagement & support, food service linkages, marketing options, risk management, and surrounding community needs–not to mention the management of landscape, infrastructure, plants, and livestock!–of these living and dynamic entities.

Managing in isolation, without experienced mentors, can challenge even the most talented of educational farm and garden managers. In contrast, working with colleagues or boards that represent diverse experiences and perspectives offers a whole different set of challenges. Comparing these experiences and methodically analyzing the successes and challenges of different types and scales of operations provides managers with the opportunity to develop “best practices” that are the right fit for their unique educational farm and garden operations.

Blending expert instruction with peer-to-peer dialogue and inquiry, this Professional Certificate program features cohort-based learning over six months, providing educational farm and garden managers with a unique opportunity to hone their management skills while enhancing not just their operations but, just as importantly, their educational impact. Not only does this professional certificate program provide critical professional development opportunity for managers, it also serves a significant training service for employers and sponsoring organizations.

 

Students work on the Sterling College Farm
Students picking sugar snap peas in the Sterling Garden
Flowers blooming in late summer on the Sterling College Farm
The Sterling College Farm
photo of students in the Sterling College Whole Farm Thinking course exploring and analyzing a Vermont farm.
photo of students in the Sterling College Whole Farm Thinking course exploring and analyzing a Vermont farm.

 

Who is this Certificate For?

This Professional Certificate program is designed specifically for persons managing educational farms and gardens of all types and scales. Managers of all types of educational farms and gardens will benefit, including but not limited to the following types of operations:

  • College and university farms
  • Community farms and gardens
  • Living history museums
  • School farms and gardens
  • Therapeutic farms
  • Specialized training farms

  • Social care farms
  • Seed-saving farms
  • Permaculture farms and gardens
  • Religious/Spiritually-based farms
  • Summer camp farms and gardens
  • Food security farms

Why A Professional Certificate?

The value of the Professional Certificate is enhanced by Sterling College’s reputation for experiential farm-based education, guided by faculty and staff with decades of educational farm management experience not only at Sterling but also throughout the US and abroad.

Students pursuing the Professional Certificate will work with School of the New American Farmstead staff to create a Professional Portfolio demonstrating successful completion of their coursework, attainment of certificate learning objectives, and related professional experience and aspirations. This portfolio may be used both in job searches and to demonstrate competency and completion to current employers.

Additionally, all students who have completed a School of the New American Farmstead course are invited to join our closed Facebook group to maintain contact with fellow alumni and our teaching network.

 


Learning Objectives

Students successfully completing this Professional Certificate will demonstrate the following capacities:

  • To analyze the ecological, social, and financial sustainability of their educational farm and garden operation
  • To identify personal strengths and areas of needed improvement as a manager of a complex agricultural and educational enterprise
  • To assess and maximize the educational impact of the farm or garden under their management
  • To frame their work within the mission, vision, and strategic initiatives guiding their farm/garden operation and re-envision and revise those guiding principles as needed
  • To develop leadership skills and the knowledge base necessary for advancing not only the farm/garden operation but also its sponsoring entity and key collaborators
  • To pursue a final project that offers needed professional development while addressing a need or challenge facing the educational farm/garden

 


Course Requirements

The following course is required for successful completion of the certificate:

 

Educational Farm & Garden Management (12 ceus)

a group of people standing outside a greenhouseIf the tasks of raising healthy food aren’t daunting enough, educational farm and garden managers are also tasked with germinating successful educational programs, raising infrastructure, caring for staff, growing budgets, cultivating boards, and building community. Few jobs demand such a diverse array of skills, and few persons have the background or training to perform each of those tasks well, much less do them all almost simultaneously.

 

 


Professional Portfolio

During the last month of the course, students will develop and submit their assigned project and Professional Portfolio, which includes the following materials:

  • Professional Certificate Self-Assessment Essay
  • Professional Statement
  • Multi-media documentation of skills and proficiencies
  • Resume/CV

Collectively, these materials will provide a thorough assessment and documentation of your skills and expertise for use both in job searches and negotiations with current employers.


Subscribe for updates on certificates & courses:

What news are you interested in receiving?

a group of people standing outside a greenhouse

Educational Farm & Garden Management

Educational Farm & Garden Management with Philip Ackerman-Leist   Registration opening soon! Sign up to be notified: What news are you interested in receiving? E-news (weekly newsletter) Expeditioner (monthly newsletter)…

a plate of assorted foods assembled beautifully

Sustainable Food Craft Professional Certificate

Sustainable Food Craft Professional Certificate   Have a question about this course?   Whether you are looking for a culinary education focused on artisan skills or motivated to acquire a…

Italian Sustainability Tour for Dietitians

Italian Sustainability Tour for Dietitians at Brunnenburg Castle June 8-17, 2020 Faculty: Philip Ackerman-Leist & Sharon Palmer   Have a question about this course?   Join Philip Ackerman-Leist, the Dean…

Share It!
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Apply
  • Give
  • Inquire

Info For

  • Students
  • Admitted Students
  • Parents & Families
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Board of Trustees
  • Veterans
  • Contact Sterling
  • Employment
  • Directions
  • Site Map
  • Policies
  • Calendar
  • The Blog

Connect with Sterling Sterling College
PO Box 72
Craftsbury Common, VT 05827
(802) 586-7711

About Sterling

Sterling College uses education as a force to address critical ecological problems caused by unlimited growth and consumption that is destroying the planet as we have known it. Our mission is to advance ecological thinking and action through affordable experiential learning that prepares people to be knowledgeable, skilled, and responsible leaders in the communities in which they live.

Sterling acknowledges that the land on which we gather is the traditional and unceded territory of the Abenaki people on our Vermont campus, and the Shawnee, Osage, and the Eastern band of the Cherokee on our Kentucky campus.

Copyright 2021 Sterling College

Apply Inquire Give Visit
  • Institutional COVID Updates
  • About Sterling
    • At a Glance
    • Accreditation
    • Mission and Vision
      • Ecological Thinking and Action
      • Strategic Initiative
      • Sustainable Sterling
      • Back
    • Our Leadership
      • Our President
      • Board of Trustees
      • Board of Advisors
      • Alumni Association Board
      • Back
    • Sterling Timeline
    • Employment
    • Back
  • Admissions and Aid
    • Apply
      • Admission Requirements
      • Admission Deadlines
      • Transfer Applicants
      • Vermonters
      • Veterans
      • Homeschooled Applicants
      • International Applicants
      • Visiting Students
      • Back
    • Inquire
    • Experience Sterling College
      • Interactive Campus Map
      • Open House
      • Family Weekend
      • Accommodations
      • Back
    • Financial Aid & Scholarships
      • Scholarships
      • Net Price Calculator
      • Work College
      • Back
    • Tuition, Room & Board
    • Back
  • Academics
    • Find your program
      • Ecology
      • Environmental Humanities
      • Outdoor Education
      • Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems
      • Self-Designed Major
      • Climate Justice Minor
      • Draft Animal Power Systems
      • Education Studies
      • Natural History Minor
      • Natural Resources Conservation Minor
      • Back
    • Faculty
    • Field Studies
    • Rian Fried Center
    • The Foundation of Sterling’s Curriculum
    • Course Catalog
    • Academic Calendar
    • Graduation Requirements
      • Senior Capstone
      • Back
    • Advising
    • Brown Library
    • Back
  • Wendell Berry Farming Program
    • Wendell Berry Farming Program Open House
    • Back
  • The Farm Between
  • Professional Studies
    • The New American Farmstead
    • Back
  • Life at Sterling
    • Work College
    • Community
    • Safety and Security
    • The Sterling Kitchen
    • The Farm
    • Student Activities
    • Athletics
    • Health & Wellness
    • Residence Halls
    • Back
  • Alumni & Supporters
    • Sterling Outcomes
    • Back
  • Parents & Families
  • Make A Gift
  • Online Store
  • More
    • Contact Sterling
      • Office Directory
      • Back
    • Directions
    • News & Events
    • The Blog
    • Corporate Foundation and Government Relations
    • Intranet
    • Back
Join Our Mailing List!