Animal Science Fundamentals

This certificate program is designed for students to acquire basic knowledge in the fundamentals of Animal Science. This can be utilized to gain entry level employment on farms, ranches and in agricultural sales and services. It is also the first step in the pathway to a career in becoming an educator in Agricultural Sciences. All courses are applicable for degree requirements.

 The Animal Science Fundamentals certificate is projected to have 20-25 annual completers.

Upon completion of the Animal Science Fundamentals certificate students will understand the foundations of livestock and pet management practices, livestock and pet industry operations, animal behavior, animal handling and restraint, animal reproduction, animal nutrition, and animal sanitation and disease control. The Animal Science Fundamentals certificate prepares students for employment in Agriculture Animal Science and careers within a variety of specializations in the field.

 

Goal 1. Students must demonstrate knowledge of the various species of livestock, production systems, and industries associated with the respective species

Objective 1.1 - Students identify and understand different attributes of the major breeds of livestock.

Objective 1.2 - Students demonstrate knowledge of production systems of livestock species and the industries associated with those species.

Objective 1.3 - Students understand the relationship between production and companion animals and society.

Objective 1.4 - Students implement the various quality assurance programs used in the food animal industry

 

Goal 2. Students must understand the scientific principles of animal production in relation to genetics, reproduction, nutrition, physiology, and environment.

Objective 2.1 - Students describe genetic principles and how inheritance impacts animal performance and production.

Objective 2.2 - Students discuss reproductive principles and how reproduction impacts animal performance and production.

Objective 2.3 - Students summarize nutritional principles and evaluate rations for appropriate ingredients for different livestock at various stages of production.

Objective 2.4 - Students describe anatomical structure and explain physiological functions of farm animals.

Objective 2.5 - Students assess environments and their impact on animal performance.

 

Goal 3. Students must demonstrate competency in the areas of animal health, disease, welfare and handling and understand how these factors influence animal stress and production.

Objective 3.1 - Students describe animal diseases and how they affect animal health and performance.

Objective 3.2 - Students describe immunological principles and implement proper vaccine use.

Objective 3.3 - Students identify appropriate disease prevention techniques through proper bio security practices.

Objective 3.4 - Students apply proper animal handling techniques and understand how handling impacts stress, performance and welfare.

 

Goal 4. Students must be competent with the use of technology and have abilities in the areas of critical thinking and decision-making. In addition, they must have strong oral and written communication skills, and a sense of the importance of responsibility and work ethic.

Objective 4.1 - Students will demonstrate competence in the use of appropriate technology.

Objective 4.2 - Students exhibit strong critical thinking and decision-making skills.

Objective 4.3 - Students will demonstrate proficiency in communication.

Objective 4.4 - Students will demonstrate ability to apply agricultural skills to practice and yield excellent results from work.

This is a revision of a skills certificate that was part of the program. It is being revised to a certificate of achievement. These changes make it more relevant to current industry changes. Furthermore, the revisions give students a clear streamlined pathway to obtaining both their Animal Science Fundamentals certificate and their Animal Science degree. The major revisions were accomplished by creating all the same prefixes (ASCI) to allow students to be able to easily identify courses that will correlate with the Animal Science degree. These changes align directly with Mt. SAC's master plan to use guided pathways to increase student equity and completion of degrees, certificates and transfer requirements. The  Animal Science degree is now aligned with the Animal Science Transfer degree, certificates (achievement and skills) and requirements of four year institutions.

Course	Title	Units	Year/Semester (Y1 or S1)
Required Core:
ASCI 1	Animal Science	3.0	Y1/Fall
ASCI 2	Animal Nutrition	3.0	Y1/ Fall/Spring
ASCI 96	Animal Sanitation and disease control	3.0	Y1/ Fall/Spring
ASCI 94	Animal Breeding	3.0	Y2/Fall/Spring
ASCI 51	Animal Handling and Restraint	3.0	Y1/Fall /Spring
ASCI 97	Artificial Insemination of Livestock	3.0	Y2/Fall/Spring
Choose 3 units:
ASCI 14	Swine Production	3.0	Y1/2/Spring
ASCI 17	Sheep Production	3.0	Y1/2/Spring
ASCI 30	Beef Production	3.0	Y1/2/Fall
AGAG 1	Food Production, Land Use, and Politic- a global perspective	3.0	Y1/2/Fall/Spring

This certificate of achievement is a revision of an existing skills certificate. The Animal Science Fundamentals Certificate is unique to the Agricultural Program at Mt. SAC and does not affect any other certificate or degree programs at the college. The course prefixes and unit requirements have changed to reflect a prefix change, which applies to all the Animal Science courses and the increase in unit requirement qualifies as a certificate of achievement.

The Animal Science Fundamental Certificate is unique to this area. There are no others colleges within the Mt. San Antonio College service area offering this certificate program.

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