College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

The College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources traces its history to 1869 when the University was designated as Tennessee's Federal Land-Grant Institution . Under terms of the Federal Land-Grant Act, the University was enabled for the first time to offer instruction in agriculture . This later was expanded to include research for the development of new knowledge and extension for dissemination of such knowledge to rural people . Two separate administration units-the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Agricultural Extension Service-were organized and assigned responsibility for research and extension functions, respectively . More recently a College of Veterinary Medicine was established. These three units and the College now constitute the University of Tennessee's Institute of Agriculture . Thus, the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is not only an academic unit of The University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus, it is also an important administrative unit of the Institute of Agriculture . There are many shared resources and positive interactions between various units of the Institute . For example, most of the faculty in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources hold joint appointments in the Agricultural Experiment Station and they are actively involved in significant basic and applied research in agriculture and the associated natural resources. On campus and field research laboratories are utilized in the instructional programs of the College, while extension and research activities provide many students excellent part-time job opportunities . The unique association the College has with the UT Knoxville campus and the other units of the Institute of Agriculture make it possible for the College to offer comprehensive high quality undergraduate and graduate programs .