Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro

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Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University
Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro

Motto Alma Terra Mater
Established 1923
Type Public
President Luis Alberto Aguirre Uribe
Staff 617
Students 3,552 (2000)
Undergraduates 3,344 (2000)
Postgraduates 208 (2000)
Location Buenavista, Coahuila, Mexico
Campus Suburban
Website www.uaaan.mx

The Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro (UAAAN) is a public university in Mexico dedicated to the Agricultural and Silvicultural sciences, and related disciplines (Entomology, Botany, Plant Genetics, etc.). It is located a few kilometers to the south of Saltillo, in the Mexican state of Coahuila. There is also a campus in Torreón, Coahuila. It is also called "Universidad Antonio Narro" for short, or simply, "La Narro". In 2006 the UAAAN has an enrollment of about 3,500 students in both campuses, all in agriculture and related sciences.


Image:narromainoffice.jpg

The main office (Rectoria) of the Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro


Contents

[edit] History

The Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University (UAAAN) was founded on March 4, 1923, after the philanthropist Antonio Narro Rodríguez donated his Buenavista Estate for a public agricultural university, which became the "Regional School of Agriculture Antonio Narro". The main objective of this university consisted on preparing young people in a professional discipline of agricultural work in the field. Two months before dying on September 24, 1912, Antonio Narro Rodriguez had bequeathed a substantial part of its personal fortune: his property in Buenavista and $22,000 Mexican pesos, the value of six urban properties in the city of Saltillo, for constituting a school of agriculture.

Over the years, the university college changed its name several times. In 1938, it became the Superior School of Agriculture (Escuela Superior de Agricultura); by 1957, then became a founding institution of the University of Coahuila; and finally, in 1975, it became Antonio Narro Agrarian Autonomous University by a decree of the Coahuilan state congress.

[edit] Physical setting

Climate at the main (Saltillo) campus of the UAAAN is dry semicalid; there are occasional freezes. Temperature seldom drops below -2 °C (26 F) (once in some years). Annual rainfall is about 300 mm. Natural vegetation is short Chihuahuan desert brush of several species of Acacia; there are also Yucca spp., lechuguilla (Agave lecheguilla), creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), mesquite (Prosopis), and granjeno (Celtis).

[edit] Facilities

The main (Saltillo) campus of the UAAAN occupies more than 4 square kilometres in a fertile valley a few kilometres south of the city of Saltillo on the Zacatecas highway. A substantial amount of this land is occupied by experimental and demonstrative plots including annual and perennial crops like: corn, wheat, triticale; vegetables such as temperate (Cruciferae: broccoli, cabbage), warm-season (Solanaceae: peppers, tomatoes), and others (squash, cilantro, onions, garlic, etc); pecan and pistachio orchards; greenhouses (growing vegetables and ornamentals). All agriculture must use irrigation; there is no dryland agriculture. The University also includes animal production facilities (barns for intensive rearing of pigs, cows, goats, and dairy cows, mainly) including fistulated cattle. There is also has a cattle ranch (Rancho Los Angeles) (extensively colonized by Mexican prairie dogs, Cynomys mexicanus); a reforestation woodland occupying 0.5 km² of pines; and a botanical garden featuring mainly desert plant species (cacti, agaves) and trees.

The UAAAN has several agricultural experimental fields across Mexico, encompassing climates from the wet tropics (Veracruz) to the Chihuahuan desert: Ocampo, Coahuila state; Matehuala, San Luis Potosi state (cactus botanical garden); Noria de Guadalupe, Zacatecas state; Cuencame, Durango state. Also, in the Sierra Madre Oriental valleys: Navidad, Nuevo Leon (potato), and Los Lirios, Coahuila state (apple).

[edit] Structure and academic programs

The Dirección de Docencia (Mentoring Direction) foresees both undergraduate and graduate programs. The 4-5 years undergraduate majors include Ingeniero Agrónomo en Horticultura, Ingeniero Agrónomo en Producción, Ingeniero Agrónomo Parasitólogo, Ingeniero Forestal, Ingeniero en Agrobiología, and others [1]. The Direccion General Academica [2] oversees international student programs, exchanges and stays.

[edit] Graduate programs

[3]

These are directed towards a deeper knowledge of Agricultural processes. Graduate programs include the Professional Master's on Seed Technology [4], and the Master's and Doctorates on Plant Breeding, [5], Agrarian Sciences [6], Production Systems Engineering [7], Animal Sciences [8] and Plant Protection or Agricultural Parasitology [9]. Several of these programs are considered "of excellency" by the National Council of Science and technology (CONACYT) [www.conacyt.mx][10].

[edit] International students

International student presence at the University has been steady but low. In recent years, students from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Ghana, Japan, Nicaragua and the United States have atended the school.

Admission to graduate programs [11]:

-Previous education transcripts (they can be notarized, but original documents must be shown before graduation). -Application: [12] -Scores from the skills test EXANI III (Examen de Ingreso al Postgrado = Test of Admission to Graduate Schools) from CENEVAL [13]. The GRE scores are accepted (1100 points). -If English is not the first language, a TOEFL score of 400 points for Master's, 450 for Doctorate is required.


[edit] External links