The professional Master of Agribusiness and Food Innovation Management (Plan C) is a program of study consisting of 35 credit hours of coursework, including 9 credit hours of practicum, that prepares students to start their own businesses or to join the management team of an innovative business in the agricultural value chain. Completion of the degree program provides mastery of what it means to be an entrepreneur, ability to evaluate the agriculture value chain and potential business opportunities, practical understanding of the role that economics plays in successful ventures, financial and marketing skills needed to evaluate the viability of a new product or service, ability to work together in a team to put together a business plan, communication skills to sell that plan to others (particularly potential investors), and working knowledge of intellectual property and how to protect it from unauthorized exploitation. The practicum provides experience in the development of a business plan for an actual business.
Students interested in graduate work should refer to the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Learning Objectives
Within five identified outcome areas, graduates of this program will exhibit:
Professional Development:
- An understanding of the value-added system of agriculture and food, its issues, and their implications in a larger societal context.
- A network of personal and professional connections within the agribusiness/food and investor communities with Colorado, nationally, and globally.
- An understanding of and acculturation to the high professional expectations and standards of conduct within the agribusiness/food industry and the startup community.
- Practical experience assembling and working within teams, including assessment of personal traits and talents, recruitment of team members, formulation of team strategy, and collective decision making.
- The capability to work as a team in partnership with an external researcher or innovator, who has an idea with commercial potential, to create value with that partner based upon their idea. Engagement will be such that students have a sense of ownership in the outcome. In addition, the student will be able to repeat the team-based value creation process and thereby successfully launch other business ventures in the future.
Technical Competence:
- Competence in selecting and utilizing appropriate methods, evidence, and resources to solve real-world challenges beyond the context of the classroom.
- Familiarity and fluency with the concepts and terminology of the lifecycle of a new agribusiness startup company, from inception of the initial idea, through the stages of validation, funding, founding, product launch, growth, and exit.
- An applied understanding of financial concepts and tools necessary to generate and evaluate financial performance of an agribusiness.
- An ability to develop a successful marketing plan for a new product, service, or technology, including the ability to do market research, identify key market niches, and position it, so that it is presented in it best light to potential customers and investors.
- An ability to identify and pursue all of the potential sources of investment capital needed to carry a business idea from concept to commercial launch.
- Competence in the legal dimensions of business startups and be able to take steps to design the legal, contractual, and intellectual property structures that form a successful venture and help to protect it from various risks.
Problem-solving and Opportunity-seizing Skills:
- An ability to identify a problem—or, conversely, an opportunity—to ascertain its scope, to evaluate resources available to address it, to formulate alternative solutions, to select a best path of action, and to pursue it.
- An ability to critically evaluate the viability of a business idea and to engage design principles to iterate the idea and improve upon its viability.
Communication skills:
- Proficiency in oral and written communications in terms of substance, organization, mechanics, documentation, synthesis, and persuasion, particularly as it relates to proposing and advocating for a new business.
- An ability to put together an effective pitch (written and verbal) to frame and communicate a new business idea to a range of stakeholders.
- An ability to write a detailed, coherent business plan to map out the growth potential and thus the investment opportunity of a new business idea.
Leadership:
- A personal identity as an entrepreneur, innovator, and agent of change within the business community and the world at large.
- Leadership qualities that can be used in professional, personal, and community contexts, including vision, initiative, personal responsibility, team building, and motivating collaborative or collective action.
Effective Fall 2023
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | |
| AREC 511 | Opportunities in the Agricultural Value Chain | 2 |
| AREC 513 | Idea Evaluation in Agricultural Value Chains | 2 |
| AREC 514 | Entrepreneurial Accounting and Finance | 2 |
| AREC 515 | Assessing Agricultural and Food Markets | 2 |
| AREC 516 | Business Economics for the Entrepreneur | 2 |
| BUS 646 | Building Value Thru Creativity and Innovation | 2 |
| Total Credits | 12 | |
| Spring | ||
| AREC 517 | Entrepreneurial Identity and Team Formation | 2 |
| AREC 518 | Raising Capital in the Agricultural Sector | 2 |
| AREC 519A | New Venture Communication: Interpersonal Interactions | 1 |
| AREC 586A | New Venture Launch Practicum: Explore and Validate Value Proposition | 2 |
| BUS 620 | Leadership and Teams | 2 |
| BUS 660 | Ethical, Legal, and Regulatory Issues | 2 |
| Total Credits | 11 | |
| Summer | ||
| AREC 520 | Intellectual Property in Food and Agriculture | 2 |
| AREC 521 | New Food Product Development | 2 |
| AREC 586B | New Venture Launch Practicum: Communicate, Design, and Iterate | 2 |
| Total Credits | 6 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall | ||
| AREC 519B | New Venture Communication: Making the Pitch | 1 |
| AREC 586C | New Venture Launch Practicum: Final Evaluation, Presentation, and Launch | 5 |
| Total Credits | 6 | |
| Program Total Credits: | 35 | |
A minimum of 35 credits are required to complete this program.
For more information, please visit Requirements for All Graduate Degrees in the Graduate and Professional Bulletin.
Summary of Procedures for the Master's and Doctoral Degrees
NOTE: Each semester the Graduate School publishes a schedule of deadlines. Deadlines are available on the Graduate School website. Students should consult this schedule whenever they approach important steps in their careers.
Forms are available online.
| Step | Due Date |
|---|---|
| 1. Application for admission (online) | Six months before first registration |
| 2. Diagnostic examination when required | Before first registration |
| 3. Appointment of advisor | Before first registration |
| 4. Selection of graduate committee | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 5. Filing of program of study (GS Form 6) | Before the time of fourth regular semester registration |
| 6. Preliminary examination (Ph.D. and PD) | Two terms prior to final examination |
| 7. Report of preliminary examination (GS Form 16) - (Ph.D. and PD) | Within two working days after results are known |
| 8. Changes in committee (GS Form 9A) | When change is made |
| 9. Application for Graduation (GS Form 25) | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 9a. Reapplication for Graduation (online) | Failure to graduate requires Reapplication for Graduation (online) for the next time term for which you are applying |
| 10. Submit thesis or dissertation to committee | At least two weeks prior to the examination or at the discretion of the graduate committee |
| 11. Final examination | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School Website |
| 12. Report of final examination (GS Form 24) | Within two working days after results are known; refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 13. Submit a signed Thesis/Dissertation Submission Form (GS Form 30) to the Graduate School and Submit the Survey of Earned Doctorates (Ph.D. only) prior to submitting the electronic thesis/dissertation | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website. |
| 14. Submit the thesis/dissertation electronically | Refer to published deadlines from the Graduate School website |
| 15. Graduation | Ceremony information is available from the Graduate School website |