College of The Albemarle (COA) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at North Carolina State University have announced their partnership in the creation of an Agribusiness Systems: Agricultural Science Technology Degree at COA and the implementation of the CALS PackTrac program. Signing of the partnership agreement took place on Wednesday, March 21 at YMCA at The Pines.   

Paul O’Neal, COA Board of Trustees chair, Dr. Robert Wynegar, COA president and Dr. Richard Linton, NC State CALS dean, are excited to begin this partnership serving northeastern North Carolina. This region has a rich farming heritage and COA is dedicated to ensuring it implements a successful program to serve this population.

The Agribusiness Systems Degree is a great fit for COA, providing a degree specific enough to start students on a career in agriculture, but broad enough to allow students to choose any one of a number of directions within agriculture. The degree combines agriculture business training with technology. 

This signing sets the foundation between the two partners to announce their outlined agreement in a memorandum of understanding. Next steps include a vote from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission at their June board meeting as well as approval from the State Office of Community Colleges.