Business Department Adds Agribusiness Emphasis

This fall, The Master’s University is launching a new agribusiness emphasis. This program will provide an opportunity for TMU’s business administration majors who desire a career in the vital agriculture industry.

Dr. John Beck, dean of the School of Business and Communication, took point in designing the program.

“The emphasis consists of five core classes,” Beck says, “and those cover areas like agricultural management and marketing. We also cover agricultural economics and government policy.”

Because the program is designed as an emphasis within TMU’s existing business administration program, it will equip flexible graduates who have a strong education in general business administration as well as particular knowledge and network connections in the agriculture industry.

Dr. Mitch Hopewell, TMU’s provost and chief academic officer, is particularly excited about the program’s field study component.

“Our students will travel around California and go to Christian-owned agricultural operations,” Hopewell says. “They’re going to be able to see large and small-scale agricultural operations owned and led by believers who model what it means to put Christ first in all things.” 

TMU was motivated to add this emphasis by a constituency that is already actively involved in the agriculture sector.

“When it comes to serving our students, we want to add degrees not for the sake of academic prestige or chasing the latest trend, but for the sake of serving our students and preparing them for a lifetime of faithfulness to Christ in specific areas,” Hopewell says.

“There are a lot of Christian families in agriculture. These people want to send their kids for an education that will help them contribute to the family business in meaningful ways, but they don’t want to send them away to a secular school that’s going to dismantle their belief system, or to a school that might confuse their beliefs and convictions rather than clarifying and deepening them. We felt that adding an emphasis to our already very strong core business program would allow us to serve a group of students and families with an education that would help them in their personal and professional goals.”

On top of that, the agricultural industry is a huge area of business in TMU’s own backyard.

“Agriculture is a particularly important industry for the state of California,” Beck says. “Just take the almond production here. We produce 80% of the world’s almonds. So it’s not small business in California. And between donor interest and interactions with students who come from an agricultural background, we saw this as an important way that we could equip Kingdom ambassadors.”