Study agribusiness and take the next step towards agribusiness management.
Our goal is to help you be the most qualified and talented candidate for positions you may seek in an agriculture-related industry. With this highly experiential program based on finance and analytics, you’ll learn how to provide compelling solutions for today’s agricultural challenges.
We are within five hours of most agribusiness giants. Nearby industry headquarters include companies like Monsanto and Purina Mills.
Internships
Gain valuable work experience through practicums and internships with agribusiness companies like Rural King (Mattoon, IL), Eckert’s Orchard (Belleville, IL), and Rolling Lawn Farms (Greenville, IL).
Integrated learning
Prepare for your career with a well-rounded education that integrates science, applied math, and an understanding of law, politics, and economics.
Why GU
Faith-based. Take part in a unique program where you combine your faith with sound business practices.
Engaging courses. Learn to create business and marketing plans, grow your entrepreneurial skills in lab exercises, and acquire valuable experience in agricultural commodity market simulations.
Deepen your education. We’re a liberal arts school. That means you get a holistic education that introduces you to many subjects and ideas, helping you grow your interests and skills.
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Success Stories
I decided to come to GU because I love the community here. I was surrounded by great people that really invested in me and always pushed me to be greater than I formerly was.
-Johnny Milabu
Agribusiness, BS Course Requirements
Visit the Online Catalog for an explanation of graduation requirements.
Agribusiness, BS Courses
Nature and purpose of accounting; basic accounting concepts and procedures, double entry bookkeeping, methods of processing, summarizing and classifying financial data; balance sheets and income statements. (Offered every semester.)
This course covers four functions of an agribusiness industry: planning, organizing, controlling, and directing. Application and experience has a higher priority than the theory, but some theoretical framework is required to enjoy the applications. These occur in part through case study discussions and the development of a business plan over the course of the semester. Offered: Fall semester
Sizing components of production systems is part of providing solutions to agribusiness companies. Agribusiness students need to have experience with agricultural math which is really the assignment of physical qualities to biological processes and systems, or calculating and sizing the components of agricultural systems.
Prerequisite: MATH 106. (Offered spring semester.)
This course covers the principles of agriculture marketing by examining consumers, marketing functions, institutions, and commodities. Special emphasis is given to the marketing of agricultural products as commodities, services provided under contract, and value-added products. Due to the global nature of agriculture, as well as agribusiness, domestic and international markets will be covered the entire semester. Offered Spring semester.
Prerequisite: AGRI 101 and any quantitative reasoning course.
This course teaches economic issues related to human integration (food, feed, fuel, and recreation) with the environment (waste remediation). Topics include conflicts in the use of land, air, and water; property rights; and public policy. These challenges show up in day to day operations as climate change, world poverty, water quality, genetic modification (GMOs), organic food, and renewable energy. This course looks at emerging issues in the context of historical production through the lens of a solid analytical framework. Upon completion, there will be a sense of confidence in the annual rhythm of global agribusiness benefits and costs.
Prerequisite: AGRI 201 Offered Fall semester.
Regression and linear programming are the currency of building new visions and changing the world. Modeling historic and potential dynamic systems allows new scenarios to be explored without first investing in capital. In addition, students need an understanding of life-cycle assessment and equilibrium-seeking models. Farm Production Planning looms at static relationships in a single time frame; Biosystems Modeling adds time to the analysis.
Prerequisites: AGRI 115 and AGRI 201. (Offered fall of odd calendar years.)
In this class, students will draw upon the insights and experience from industry practitioners. Managers and leaders in the agribusiness field will share how they developed their careers, leadership qualities, and ethics in today's society, and how their faith is integrated with their management style. The students' own leadership skills will be developed as they explore different views of several issues, and the changes associated with those issues in agriculture.
Prerequisite: AGRI 301 Offered: Spring semester.
AGRI405 Practicum (3 Credits)
What makes some for-profit businesses and not-for-profit organizations excel while other fail to thrive? Often its due to the quality of management within the organization. Management of people is a distinct skill set that is critically important and these skills can be studied, understood, and practiced. In this course, students will learn the elements of business management, the theory behind them and practical tools with which to apply them. Key topics such as communication, leadership, teamwork, conflict management, change and more will be covered. No matter where a person works or volunteers, they will be able to contribute to the success of any organization when they have a clear understanding of management theory and techniques. Meets the general education social science or business management requirement. (Offered every semester.)
A study of contracts, torts, agency, bailments, and property with emphasis on the social forces that have and will affect our legal rights and duties. (Offered spring semester.)
This course is about applying analytical theory of business decision making to provide products and service design, capacity planning, process and location selection, inventory and supply management, quality assurance and scheduling. These real-world management tools will heighten the comprehension of business applications and provide a competitive edge in school and beyond.
Prerequisite: BUSN101, ECON102, and MATH 105, MATH 106, MATH 111, MATH 113, MATH 115, or PSYC 202.
Offered: Fall semester.
Strategic Management explores how companies analyze their strategic environments, identify strategic choices and implement chosen strategies. Analytical tools include employing frameworks to analyze internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats. The course is taught through an online strategic management simulation in which students compete in teams to enable them to evaluate their effectiveness in developing and implementing strategies for the firm. (Offered fall semester.)
Throughout this course cases will be read, discussed, and critiqued. Critical thinking skills will be necessary to successfully and comprehensively address the strategic issues depicted in the cases. Companies will be researched and potential actions will be put forth for consideration in this writing intensive course. In addition to the case and text assignments, students will be asked to create a case addressing a current issue that an entity is facing. Meets the general education upper division writing intensive requirement.
This course delivers economics from individually focused, microeconomics to the infrastructure focused, macroeconomics. This semester will provide a foundation for both business and non-business majors. Meets the general education social science or business management requirement. Offered: Fall semester.
This course is structured to be a more detailed, deeper coverage of both micro- and macroeconomics. This semester builds upon the broad, fast-moving introduction to the micro- and macroeconomics course. This course covers applied economics, or the rest of the economics story for business majors. At the completion of the course, students will have had comprehensive instruction and application of micro, macro, US, and global economics.
Prerequisite: ECON 102 and PSYC/SCWK 202. Offered every semester.
This introductory course examines business from an entrepreneurial perspective. It will provide students with an introduction to the potential and pitfalls of entrepreneurship and its impact on the economic development within a community. Throughout the course, students will examine the various methods for starting up, managing and financing a new business enterprise. This process will culminate in the development of a viable business plan. The overarching goal of this course is to familiarize the student with business terminology in order to introduce him or her to the business program at Greenville University. Meets the general education social science or business management requirement. Offered: Every semester.
This course is an experience and project based course designed to encourage hands on innovation. Students will gain insight into the roles and responsibilities of entrepreneurs in organizations both large and small. Students will also engage in a semester long project on campus or with local partners to enhance their understanding of innovation, strategic planning, implementation strategy, research and development, product design, product marketing, and market research.
Prerequisites: ACCT 101, BUSN 101, BUSN 222, ECON 102, ENTR 130, and MRKT 201. Offered: Every semester.
Introduces the student to corporate financial management through the study of financial systems, techniques of financial analysis and working capital decisions, financial forecasting, financing current assets, capital budgeting, the cost of capital and the target capital structure quantity, statistical decision making, and financial techniques. Prereq: ACCT 201 and ECON 202.
Marketing is not just about advertising or social media posts. Its a broad field encompassing all aspects of discovering customer consumer and organizational buyers wants and needs and then meeting them. Setting the mission and strategies, understanding buyer behavior, reaching global markets, researching market options, and making decisions concerning the 4 Ps of marketing product, price, place, promotion are all critical areas to understand. Knowing terms and concepts is not enough, however, so application opportunities are given throughout the course. No matter in what field or in what position a person finds themselves, marketing is a part of it. Offered: Every semester.
Advances in biology have pushed the development of statistical methods and depended on those methods for decades. Biostatistics focuses on three core areas: 1) general statistical concepts; 2) correct use and interpretation of statistical methods commonly used in biological sciences; and 3) basic familiarity with the R statistical software language, which has become an important tool in dealing with many kinds of data, including genetic data. Meets the general education quantitative reasoning requirement.
Prerequisite: MATH106. (Offered spring semester.)
Course content focuses upon basic concepts and operations in descriptive and inferential statistics. The areas of study will include measures of central tendency and dispersion, probability, correlation and regression analysis, parametric (t-tests and ANOVA) and non-parametric (chi-square) tests of significance. A basic introduction to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software is provided. Cross listed with SCWK 202. Meets the general education quantitative reasoning requirement.
Course content focuses upon basic concepts and operations in descriptive and inferential statistics. The areas of study will include measures of central tendency and dispersion, probability, correlation and regression analysis, parametric (t-tests and ANOVA) and non-parametric (chi-square) tests of significance. A basic introduction to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software is provided. Cross listed with PSYC 202. Meets the general education quantitative reasoning requirement. (Offered every semester.)
Study of federal personal and corporate income tax, state income tax issues, U.S. tax structure, and the application of tax laws to specific situations. Students will gain knowledge of individual tax laws, forms, and tables.
This course will provide the student with substantial experience in preparing federal tax returns. The number of credits for this course is variable; however, for each credit, the student is expected to spend 40 hours preparing income tax forms for others. This will be done primarily during evenings and weekends. Tax forms may be prepared through the Greenville College Tax Assistance Program (GC-TAP), the St. Louis Tax Assistance Program (St. Louis-TAP), or the Bond County Senior Citizens Center. Because of the relatively limited number of people in Bond County who will utilize this service, the student must expect to spend some Saturdays in St. Louis preparing tax returns.
Prerequisite: ACCT317. (Offered spring semester.)
Our everyday wellbeing and sustenance are connected to our environment in many ways, but many of these connections are not obvious. This course focuses on how human society relates to and depends on the environment. This course incorporates the topics of human population, patterns of resource use, energy, and pollution while considering how to move toward a sustainable future for the Creation. Some aspects of the following disciplines are included: ecology, animal and plant biology, physics, chemistry, oceanography, and atmospheric science. Three hours of lecture and two hours lab per week. Meets the general education laboratory science requirement. (Offered fall semester of odd calendar years.)
Major emphases in this course are the scientific method; structure and function of plants, and their economic and ecological importance; and discussion of current issues such as genetic modification of crops. Meets the general education laboratory science requirement. (Three hours lecture and two hours lab per week.) (Offered fall semester of even calendar years.) Corequisite: BIOL 115L
In this course the major emphasis is on a survey of the vascular plants and common families of flowering plants. Topics included are principles of flowering plant taxonomy, mechanisms of adaptation and plant ecology. (Three hours lecture and two hours lab per week.)
Prerequisite: BIOL 110 & BIOL 112. (Offered spring semester of even calendar years.) Corequisite: BIOL 215L
Organisms do not exist or function in a vacuum, but are strongly influenced by their environment and, in turn, alter that environment and affect the growth and development of other organisms. In this course we will consider the interaction of organisms and their environments. We will study ecological processes functioning at levels of individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems. (Three hours lecture and three hours lab per week.)
Prerequisite: BIOL 112. (Offered fall semester.) Corequisite: BIOL 370L
Sales. Salespersons. Selling. For most people, those words conjure up images of a cigar-smoking car salesman in a plaid jacket forcefully pushing a broken-down vehicle on an unsuspecting buyer. Or, perhaps, it makes one think of a painful time when they stood uncomfortably at a neighbors door trying to sell something wrapping paper, chocolates, cookies, flowers for an organization fundraising project. Why do sales get such a bad rap when its a critical skill for everyone? This course will allow students to discover the importance of sales to every organization, to understand sales is an excellent profession for Christians, to learn sales skills and to practice them.
Prerequisite: MRKT 201. (Offered spring semester of odd calendar years.)
Advertising communicates messages to groups of consumers. Students learn how to reach groups efficiently, to design messages to inform persuasively, and to choose the best media for a particular product and consumer. They will design advertising messages for print and broadcast, and learn to design and budget an overall ad campaign.
Prerequisite: MRKT 201. (Offered spring semester of even calendar years.) Course Fee $100.
