Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal Ohio Ag Net | Ohio's Country Journal 
By Ty Higgins, Ohio Ag Net
Wilmington College is building on its long-standing reputation for experiential agricultural education with plans for a new AgriScience Complex that will expand opportunities for students while creating a hub for livestock, greenhouse production, and animal science.
Corey Cockerill, president of Wilmington College, said the project builds on the institution’s long-standing commitment to experiential learning, an approach that has made agriculture the college’s largest academic program.
“About one-third of our students are agriculture majors. It is a thriving, exciting program with seven concentrations, and our students are fully engaged in a 287-acre living-learning laboratory,” Cockerill said.
That emphasis on learning by doing is what continues to attract students to Wilmington College, she said.
“We focus on getting students out of the classroom whenever we can,” Cockerill said. “My friend Chad says, ‘We don’t just read the chapter, we do the chapter.’ Students gain confidence when they’re out in the field learning by doing. We give them those experiences so they leave Wilmington College ready to succeed.”
The newest addition to that hands-on approach is a recently acquired two-acre commercial greenhouse on the south side of the college’s academic farm.
“It just sort of fell into our lap,” Cockerill said. “It gives our students a chance to learn controlled-environment agriculture in a real commercial greenhouse. When we say hands-on learning, this is exactly what we mean.”
The former BrightFarms greenhouse will expose students to commercial greenhouse production while broadening their understanding of an expanding segment of agriculture.
“We’re interested in giving our students more diverse experiences,” Cockerill said. “This is a chance for them to learn a different type of production, and they’re excited to get started.”
Students will also gain experience beyond crop production.
“This facility will include opportunities for marketing, branding, distribution, logistics, supply chain management and packaging,” she said. “We’ll have wholesale and retail opportunities in the future. It’s more than growing crops. It’s about understanding the entire business.”
Unlike similar facilities at many universities, Wilmington’s greenhouse will emphasize student education and commercial production over research.
“We’re really more about production,” Cockerill said. “This will be another living-learning laboratory for our students.”
The AgriScience Complex also includes plans for a new dual-arena livestock facility that will allow Wilmington College to host livestock judging contests, equestrian events and animal science instruction on campus.
Today, the college hosts its annual livestock judging contest in Clark County because it lacks adequate facilities. The event draws more than 1,600 high school students from Ohio and surrounding states each year.
“We want those students to experience our campus,” Cockerill said. “Right now, that’s a missed opportunity. If they’re here, they can tour campus, meet our faculty and see what Wilmington College has to offer.”
Plans call for two 100-by-200-foot arenas connected by a multipurpose space that can accommodate multiple events simultaneously. The building will also support the college’s equestrian and pre-veterinary programs.
“I think this will be a true multipurpose facility,” Cockerill said. “Our riding team will use it, livestock judging events can be held here, and it will create valuable laboratory space for our animal science students.”
Sustainability is also part of the design, with rooftop solar panels providing another educational opportunity.
“Everything here is a learning opportunity,” Cockerill said. “The solar panels allow us to teach students about different energy sources and how those technologies can make agriculture more sustainable.”
Cockerill said the AgriScience Complex is designed to prepare students for careers across the agricultural industry while creating new opportunities for industry partnerships and community engagement.
