j OUmoli State QlvUitl' AMoclcUian j

BULLETIN!Published Monthly except August by the I.S.F.A.

P.O. Box 447. Urbana, Illinois, 61802.

Number 286 G. M. Fosler, Editor NOVEMBER, 1967

A Look Ahead In Floriculture EducationBy John H. Walker, Executive Director

Society of American Florists

IF WE ARE to survive and succeed as an industry,we must invest more heavily in people—provide imore pre-service and in-service training programs for all segmentsof floriculture.

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mm \Shortage Of Floricultural Labor

The impact of technological change is being felt inour industry today as it is in most others. Last year'samendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act have extended minimum wage regulation to many more of ourworkers for the first time. This new Act has reduced thenumber of people engaged in farm work and servicetrades by a sizeable figure. It has replaced the very people it set out to assist: the unskilled, the elderly, thewomen and children. Florists are in a bind with higherlabor costs and inability to adapt reaidily to the use ofautomation and mechanization.

Our labor force must come from selected high schoolgraduates, vocational schools, distributive education students, land grant colleges and universities, communitycolleges, concentrated design schools, and on-the-jobtraining courses under the Manpower Development andTraining Act. Education, pre-service and in-service, iscertainly a key to our industry's economic future.

SAF Education Committee

Sensing an increasing shortage of floricultural labor,SAF's Board of Directors revised the duties of the Edu

cation Committee several years ago. It was charged withsurveying the field of floricultural education to gain aclear picture of the optimum conditions for the propertraining and indoctrination of floricultural personnel. Thecommittee was instructed to examine fully the occupational tasks that have been assigned to floricultural personnel in all segments of our industry—growing, whole

saling, and retailing—with a view toward determining theeducational experience, both preparatory and in-service,needed for their efficient and satisfactory performance.Lastly, the Society's Board wanted the committee andmanagement to be concerned with the problems of educational and experience standards, curricula, facilities,length of courses, and related matters in all institutionsof higher learning—private and public universities andcolleges—offering courses in floriculture and ornamentalhorticulture.

Floricultural Education Objectives

The SAF Education Committee established the following objectives of a sound program of education for thefloral industry:

1. It should attract a better, more efficient, emotionally stable worker to all levels of the industry;

2. It should give such individuals training, appreciation, confidence and pride for the kind of workbeing done regardless of its nature;

3. It should provide a system of in-service trainingdesigned to give all persons in the industry anopportunity to continue development.

To achieve these objectives, the committee decidedthat a course of study should be prepared for each segment of the industry which would provide the student, oremployee, with a professional knowledge of business andan understanding of the floral industry.

Determination Of Manpower Needs

A major program of the SAF Education Committeeis tilled, "Determination of Manpower Needs of the Floriculture Industry with Implications for the Development ofCurriculum Guides for Selected Occupations in the Floriculture Industry." The Society is cooperating with theHorticulture Department and Research and DevelopmentProgram in Vocational-Technical Education, MichiganState Univ., on this project. The duration of this activityis from Sept. 1, 1967 to Febr. 28, 1969.

The purpose of this project is to help alleviate theshortage of qualified workers in the floriculture industry;to provide educational opportunities for persons interestedin careers in the floriculture industry; and to develop amethod of determining manpower needs with direct implications for educational program planning.

The objectives are to determine the demand for man-

Pago 2 ILLINOIS STATE FLORISTS' ASSOCIATION BULLETIN

power in the floriculture industry in the United States;and to prepare some basic data for developing curriculumguides for the training of workers to perform the functions of growing, wholesaling and retailing in the floriculture industry.

The project is ahead of the schedule set by the Education Committee. The industry will have an opportunityof providing constructive suggestions for the programthrough regional advisory committees.

Colleges And UniversitiesApproximately one-half of our land grant colleges and

universities in America have courses of study leading toB.S. and B.A. degrees in floriculture. For the most partthese institutions of higher learning are well staffed, havemodern equipment, and fine facilities for instruction. Onour recent survey of courses of instruction, it was foundmany floriculture majors are required to take courses inpomology and the agricultural fields that do not particularly tie in with the floriculture course. Most of theseinstitutions are in dire need of high quality students. Alsothey are in need of legislative support.

Community CollegesAcross America there are many outstanding commu

nity and junior colleges with courses of study in floriculture. In fact, there are over 800 community colleges nowin existence with 50 new ones being organized annually.These colieges offer terminal courses and also Associateof Art degree courses. Most of their credits are transferr-able to 4-year degree granting institutions of higherlearning. The Executive Director of the Community andJunior Colleges Association here in Washington reportsthese colleges are interested in working with the floralindustry on the inauguration of educational programs forour industry.

Distributive EducationDistributive Education (DE) is a program, operated

under a local-state-federal cooperative relationship, designed to serve the educational needs of those who aretrying to decide upon a vocation, those who are preparingthemselves for a particular occupation, and those who aretrying to upgrade themselves in their specialized field.Through education and through on-the-job experience, DEcan equip florists and their employees to perform theirduties with greater skill and productivity and to developgreater job satisfaction.

Eleven years ago, when the SAF office was in Chicago.SAF inaugurated a program of DE for the florist industryunder the supervision of the Illinois State DE Departmentheaded by John Beaumont, the present national DE Chiefin Washington. An informative SAF booklet on operatinga DE program has been used in all sections of Americato increase the efficiency, earning power, and businesscompetency of DE students.

Manpower Development & TrainingThe Society, for the past 5 years, has been working

with the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U. S.Department of Labor, Washington, D. C, to develop floricultural skills. The Manpower Development and TrainingProgram is a method of training which combines instruction with work experience on-the-job training to see thatan employee acquires better production skills. On-the-jobtraining is an action plan whereby businessmen offer theiremployees the opportunity to develop skills while theywork. This type of training—learning while doing—provides common interest goals between the employer andthe employee. Employees are encouraged to be betterinformed, more productive, and more responsible citizens.This program prepares persons including the unemployedto work in our industry.

Training under the Act is designed to provide workerswith new skills where needed, to upgrade their presentskills, and to meet the job needs of workers displaced byautomation, technological change, geographic relocationof industry and other shifts in the labor market. TheFederal Government will bear total cost of all training,subsistence and transportation allowances granted underthe Act. Successful floricultural education programs havebeen operated in Baltimore. Detroit, South Bend andseveral other cities in the United States. This programwill be used more widely after SAF's present "ManpowerNeeds" survey has been completed.

"Project Dimension"For the past several years, I have been serving on

the Advisory Committee of "Project Dimension", anexperimental research project approved by the Divisionof Vocational and Technical Education, U.S. Departmentof Health, Education and Welfare. The project, headedby Dr. Gene Love, Pennsylvania State Univ., is chargedwith the responsibility of developing and evaluating instructional units in ornamental nursery, floriculture andturf occupations. Teachers' unit plans, including testsand student handbooks, are being developed for eachgroup.

Last summer a training program for 54 selected teachers in high schools and vocational-technical schools of12 northeastern states was conducted at Penn State toimprove competence for teaching high school studentsand adults preparing for, as well as engaged in, floriculture. Our office will be instrumental in promoting thisprogram in every section of our country.

Job CorpsFederal aid is available under the Economic Oppor

tunity Act of 1964 for the widest range of activities. Ofprime importance to our industry is the Job Corps forunemployed youths. Our office has assisted the Poland,Maine, and Excelsior Springs, Mo., Job Corp Centers insetting up their floricultural courses of study and selectingtheir staffs and instructors.

The educational and vocational programs at the JobCorps Centers provide occupational training, educationalachievement and personal growth to students. Floristryis one of the seven leading courses of study offered, andthe SAF is continuing to act as a clearinghouse for exchange of training techniques and educational materials.

Association Of Floral SchoolsSAF has established a close liaison with the Inter

national Association of Floral Schools, which was organized by owners of floral design schools during our I960convention. This year the Society's Board of Directorsaccepted the group as an integral part of the Society. Theschools are seeking to better serve the industry throughcooperation within their new organization. At their annualmeetings held in conjunction with the SAF annual con-

w

ILLINOIS STATE FLORISTS' ASSOCIATION BULLETIN Page 3

ILLINOIS STATE FLORISTS'

ASSOCIATION BULLETIN

G. M. FOSLER, Editor

Publishod monthly except August by the Illinois StateFlorists' Association. Entered as second class matter at thepost office at Urbana, Illinois, on January 31,1952, under theact of March 3, 1879, as amended by the act of June II,1934.

OFFICE OF PUBLICATION: P.O. Box 447, Urbana, Illinois, 61801.

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE: Active Members—$20.00,Associate Members—$10.00. Includes a subscription to the"Illinois State Florists' Association Bulletin." Single copies,60 cents.

1967

PRESIDENT—Lyle E. Swartley, 1706 E. 5th St., Sterling,61081.

VICE-PRESIDENT—Walter Maton, Box 38, 600 N. Elm St.,Pana, 62557.

SECRETARY—Dr. F. F. Weinard, P.O. Box 447, Urbana,61801.

TREASURER—Olin A. Wetzel, Box 535, Edwardsville, 62025.

Board of Directors

Orville W. Busse, Kankakee; Fred G. Butler, Danville;Dorm Dolby, Addison; Eugene Eckebrecht, Bloomington; ErwinHausermann, Elmhurst; Joseph Leshyn, Chicago; C. J. Schlos-ser, Springfield; Avery D. Shepherd, Oilman; Robert L. Shoen-hair, Rockford; & Jerry Transier, Chicago.

REGIONAL CHAIRMEN (also serving on Board): BertL. Scheffler. Wheaton (la); Edward J. Didier, Rockford (lb);Melvin A. Gam, Bushnell (II); James Culbert, Rossville (III);Harris H. Blixen, Edwardsville (IV); & Herman C. Ihle,Murphysboro (V).

PLEASE NOTE

PERMISSION to reprint from the I.S.F.A. BULLETIN is gladly grantedprovided due credit it given to the author and to thit publication.

vention^ the group will discuss educational problems, improvement of curricula, and development of student procurements, and placements.

Survey Of Educational InstitutionsA survey made at 110 colleges and universities iby the

College Placement Council shows more job offers tograduating seniors this spring than a year ago, at higherpay. Offers to technical students who will get Bachelor'sDegrees average $657 a imonth, up $28 from a year ago.Offers to nontechnical students average $547 a month,an increase of $30, over 1965. The number of offers is up27% for technical students and down 8% for non-technicalstudents. The survey covers only male students.

Is it fair to hazard a guess that our graduates areoffered wages about 30% to 34% under the figures justcited? Many florists who return to their parents' business start at very low figures because their future isassured in the business.

Two years ago, the Society made a survey of landgrant colleges and universities which have majors infloriculture. Twenty land grant colleges and universitiesresponded to our 1965 survey. Eighteen of these collegesindicated that they had a 4-year course of study in floriculture. Frfteen indicated that they offered a degree infloriculture. Six of these colleges reported that they had a2-year course in floriculture.

These colleges reported that their average enrollmentin floriculture during the past 5 years was 12.11 studentsper year. Also, it was noted that an average of 4.2 students .during the same period graduated in floriculture.Eighteen colleges reported that their floriculture majorswere required to take certain unrelated courses in theagricultural school as required courses in the floriculturecurriculum. The average number of full-time faculty mem-bes who were teaching floriculture in these schools wastwo. The average number of part-time faculty membersteaching floriculture in the same schools was one.

Career Development ProgramPeriodically SAF's career guidance booklet is revised

after proper evaluation is given the material by floriculture professors in various universities and by knowledgeable industry leaders. These booklets are mailed to guidance counselors in the private and public secondaryschools of the U. S. The booklet is also publicized in educational and guidance publications read regularly byhigh school guidance counselors.

In our efforts to acquaint promising high school students with the many career opportunities in the broad fieldof floriculture, the Society annually participates in theFuture Farmers of America meeting and cooperates withthe 4-II Headquarters in Washington concerning careerdevelopment. Three years ago, the National Junior Horticultural Association added floriculture to its program. Asa member of its Board of Directors, I can assure ourindustry that many of these young people are highly qualified for floriculture.

For an 8-year period, through the efforts of theSociety's educational counselors, Glick and Lorwin, Inc. ofNew York, we have made available to guidance counselorsacross America a Kuder Preference Record, ihe widelyused questionnaire to chart student interests.

The personal contact with home economics students,through use of the SAF Youth Education Program, affordsflorists the opportunity of offering their services as lecturers or demonstrators of flower arranging. Also, floristscan arrange class tours through local greenhouses orflorist shops. From this personal contact with talentedyoung folks, florists will find many worthy prospectiveemployees.

So you can readily see, I'm sure, that there are manyprograms to train students, the unemployed and underemployed for jobs in the floral industry. The florist industry has a great responsibility and opportunity to trainthe labor force we need. In so doing, we should take advantage of federal funds available for such programs.You can be assured that the Society will continue tocoordinate the efforts of our government and our industryin furthering the aims of floricultural education.

Action YOU Can TakeFinally, you .must consider seriously what you as an

individual florist can do to meet the manpower shortageand to train your present employees to cope with theautomation and mechanization of your operation. Hereare some suggestions you .might try on for size:

1. Communicate with the Distributive Education (DE)teacher in your local high school and inaugurate a DEprogram in your business. Write SAF for descriptivebooklet of how DE can be applied to our industry.

2. As an individual or through your local or state floralassociation, support fully increased appropriations forfloricultural education in your land grant college anduniversity. See to it that your college, and particularlythe department of floriculture, receives its fair shareof the appropriated dollar.

Page 4 ILLINOIS STATE FLORISTS' ASSOCIATION BULLETIN

3. If there is a community college in your neighborhood,investigate the feasibility of inaugurating a course infloriculture.

4. Become acquainted with the short term floral designschools in your area. Hire their graduates; channelprospective employees to these schools.

5. Help yourself through the inauguration of consumereducation programs in the secondary schools. Writeto the Society of American Florists for a free "HowTo Do It" booklet that will take you step-by-stepthrough the inauguration and -maintenance of thisconsumer motivated course of study.

6. Investigating the manpower development and trainingprogram in your area. Communicate with the localbureau of apprenticeship and training in the Department of Labor. Or write to our office for more information concerning this on-the-job training program.Remember, the Federal Government bears the totalcost of all training, subsistence, etc.

7. If your joint vocational high school does not have acourse of study in floriculture, suggest the adoptionof a "Project Dimension" course of study pioneeredat Pennsylvania State University.

8. If there is a Job Corps near you, investigate thepossibility of using graduates from their floriculturecourse of study.

9. Be a talent scout for your industry. Inform high qualityyoung .men and women of the opportunities in floriculture. Write to the Society for copies of our careerdevelopment booklet that you might place in the handsof deserving youth. Steer them to their land grantcollege for a higher education in floriculture. Becomeacquainted with your high school guidance counselorand make sure he or she is using the educationalmaterial our office makes available to them.

YOU can assist the SAF and our industry in developingsuch an image of floriculture that will have reality, appealand respect of all members of the industry and the consuming public, through pointing the way to better recruitment, training, indoctrination and sponsorship of floriculture personnel.

YourMBKSlMffl?is Worth While!

Retailers' Roundup

Artificials—A Dirty Word?A FEW YEARS AGO, when a new wave of attractive,

realistic artificial flowers came sweeping into our lives,it almost caused a civil war among florists. In one campwere those who believed that the flower business belonged exclusively to live flowers: they wouldn't have anartificial on the place. In the other camp was a groupwhich adopted as its motto: "If you can't lick 'em, join'em." Florists in this group stocked huge quantities ofartificials and sold them from high-piled bins and tables,self-service style.

The prize of the war—the favor of the public—eludedboth groups.

Two Opposing CampsThe consumer did not buy his artificials from the flor

ist who was antagonistic toward them; he couldn't, becausethe fellow had none to sell. Nor did this persuade the consumer to switch his allegiance to live flowers. (Artificialswere in vogue, he wanted some, so he simply went elsewhere to buy them—usually to a mass marketer such as avariety store or supermarket.

The consumer did not patronize the florist who hadjoined the movement either. Any supermarket or department store had a bigger assortment of artificials than thesmall local florist—and at lower prices, too.

While these two opposing camps were fighting and losing the war. a third faction was quietly at work negotiating peace. Diplomacy and tact were the tools of theirefforts.

A Third Group—The PeacemakersAmong the florists in this group, the word "artificial"

was never used. "Permanent" and "life-like" were the preferred terms. These florists neither refused to sell them atall nor succumbed to merchandising them in the mannerof the mass marketers.

These peace-makers took the view that the consumerhad a right to decide what he wanted to buy, and that abusinessman had a right to sell anything he could find amarket for. On the other hand, they also realized that florists could very well win the war but lose the peace.

The way to bring hostilities to a halt, it seemed, wasto get both sides to see that permanent flowers were respectable products which—though distinctly different fromfresh, live flowers—deserved to be treated with the sameprofessional artistry.

Create Permanent DesignsThese florists turned their designing skills to creating

beautiful arrangements of permanent materials. They usedtheir professional display techniques to showcase this newmerchandise alluringly. They put their salesmanship skillsto work selling it. Ano they provided their customers withthe same fine service which accompanied fresh flowersales.

They soon discovered that the customers who foundtheir attractive permanent arrangements so appealingwere not those who had been in the habit of buying freshflowers. They were new customers; people who wantedneither the all-live designs the purists insisted on nor thedo-it-yourself materials the mass marketers wanted tofoist off on them. They wanted—and were willing to pay aprice for—well-designed decorations for their homes