By Amy B. Morris, Buffalo, Okla.

Typewriters. Dark rooms. Black and white.

What began with a few students and an emphasis in print journalism has grown into the largest agricultural communications program in the nation, teaching all aspects of the communications world.

Oklahoma A&M College introduced journalism in the early 1900s when the college selected the new president, John H. Connell. Connell, who had a background in agriculture and journalism, recognized journalism for the first time as an academic discipline worthy of a full-term course.

"This course was listed among subjects common to all departments and was taught by the new director of the division of agriculture and the experiment station, John A. Craig," according to the Journalism and Broadcasting Centennial Histories Series written by Harry E. Heath Jr.

By 1927, agricultural journalism was listed as a major at Oklahoma A&M College. In 1931, Ben O. Osborn became the first agricultural journalism alumnus.

In the early years, agricultural journalism students took the majority of their courses in the journalism department. Students took one agricultural journalism course in which they produced their own magazine, the Oklahoma Agriculturist, under the advisement of Claron Burnett, an OAMC agricultural journalism graduate.

In 1978 the administration chose to rename the agricultural journalism major. Its new name, which is still used today, became agricultural communications.

"The name change took place to cover the extensiveness of the training and education available to academic majors in that department," said Paul Hummer, retired associate dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. "It was an excellent move for the major. It represents the total package of communications provided by the program."

For the first 60 years enrollment was limited, but by the mid-1990s, the program saw an increase in enrollment, eventually leading to a 500 percent increase. More students were looking to agricultural communications as a career option.

"Agricultural communications gives students a broad range of knowledge, said Clay Pope, state representative and 1992 agricultural communications graduate. It allows the students to know a little about everything."

In 1994, the OSU Department of Agricultural Communications merged with the OSU Department of Agricultural Education and 4-H Youth Development.

"In 1994, there were about 50 students enrolled in the program. Now we have close to 150 students," said Jim Leising, department head. "As student enrollment grew, we saw the need to expand the curriculum to accommodate the increase."

The first OSU agricultural communications course was taught in 1995. Today, a series of agricultural communications courses are taught, but students continue to take some core courses through the OSU School of Journalism and Broadcasting.

Within the last seven years the department has added several courses to the curriculum including desktop publishing, Web design, digital photography and a capstone course in which senior students produce the Cowboy Journal.

"The department has done a marvelous job keeping up with technology throughout the years," said Morris. "It's not rubber cement and scissors for design and layout anymore."

OSU has become one of the nation's leaders in this program and currently has the largest program in the nation, a program that continues to grow each year.

"Many programs in the nation look to OSU to keep up with our technology," said Kendra Kelton, agricultural communications senior and president of the National Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow. "Some of these programs are looking to OSU to make the same changes in their coursework."

The current agricultural communications degree program educates students about today's technology.

"The technology improvements to the program are essential," said Pope. "Students can use new tools to become the best in the technology era."

In addition to technology, agricultural communications encompasses all aspects of the journalism field, allowing students to pursue careers in different areas.

"The current agricultural communications program is broad-based," said Dwayne Cartmell, agricultural communications assistant professor and 1994 alumnus. "It allows for the agriculture- and science-based background and the journalism skills to be an effective communicator."

Although agricultural journalism has been on this campus for nearly 75 years, many think it is a new program.

"It is the right program for the right time," said Leising. "We live in the information age. Many organizations are looking for people to manage and create information. Agricultural communications translates to graduates who can communicate to the public using different types of media, whether it is written, broadcast or electronic. This is a technology-rich major."

OSU graduates approximately 35 students per year with degrees in agricultural communications who seek diverse career opportunities. Some alumni have chosen careers as writers, lawyers, educators, extension specialists and public relations professionals.

"We have a placement rate of our graduates around 95 percent, with our graduates being employed in various areas," said Cartmell. "The opportunities in the field are limitless."

As the years go by, the department continues to look at outside sources to improve the curriculum as technology changes. The department has an advisory board that helps keep them informed on what employers are seeking in graduates.

Currently, faculty are working to add a master's program for agricultural communications.

"We get anywhere from 20 to 30 requests a year from students interested in a graduate program," said Leising. "Many agricultural communication people want a master's degree in this area."

Cartmell said he does not expect the interest to decline.

"Since we are in a technological age, the need for communications specialists is vast," said Cartmell."Our program is continuing to grow because as more people move away from an agricultural background, the need for people to communicate about agriculture becomes even more important."

What was once a world of scissors and glue has moved into the 21st century and a world of technology: Computers. Digital Photography. Full color.