School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Facilities

The Animal Science Department

The Animal Science Department is housed in a 2-story, 7 million dollar facility of approximately 64,000 square feet. It accommodates modern instructional classrooms and laboratories, research laboratories, a laboratory animal resources unit, a learning resources center, and a student lounge. Also included are closed circuit television system, microcomputer labs, and an autotutorial center. The department is also supported by a 600 acre farm which maintains modern research facilities in dairy and beef cattle, sheep, and poultry. There is also a swine unit housing 165 sows in a total confinement facility. This facility is comprised of breeding and gestation barns, three farrowing houses, three nurseries, a finishing floor and a surgical laboratory.

University Farm

NC A&T State University has a 600 acre University farm which maintains registered herds of Holstein dairy cattle, Hereford, and Black Angus beef cattle, a sheep herd, and a poultry flock. Purebred swine herds: Landrace, Yorkshire, Hampshire, and Duro c are maintained in a large modern swine confinement center.

On-farm facilities accommodate animal research dealing with swine breeding, management and physiology of small ruminants, reproduction and nutrition, poultry pathogen food safety, and efficiency of beef production.

Laboratory Animal Resources Unit

This area occupies approximately the north one-third of the B. C. Webb Hall ground floor, and provides housing for the laboratory animals which are used in instruction and research. The laboratory animals, including mammals and avian species, are housed as colonies in stainless steel racks located in l0 x l2 rooms which are equipped with an automatic watering system and provides complete conditioned air exchanges at the rate of l5 times each hour. Duration and intensity of light may be controlled for experimental purposes or to meet particular requirements of the animal species. Animals are fed by hand, sometimes with specialty rations which are formulated in the diet kitchen.

B. C. Webb Hall

The Animal Science Department is housed in a 2-story, 7 million dollar facility of approximately 64,000 square feet. It accommodates modern instructional classrooms and laboratories, research laboratories, a laboratory animal resources unit, a learning resources center, and a student lounge. Also included are closed circuit television system, microcomputer labs, and an autotutorial center. The department is also supported by a 600 acre farm which maintains modern research facilities in dairy and beef cattle, sheep, and poultry. There is also a swine unit housing l65 sows in a total confinement facility. This facility is comprised of breeding and gestation barns, three farrowing houses, three nurseries, a finishing floor and a surgical laboratory.

Research Facilities

Food Animal Production Efficiency, and Animal Protection and Health are distinct research areas in the Animal Science Department and are partially supported from external funds appropriated annually to the Agricultural Research Program in the School of Agriculture.

The laboratories in the north one-half of the second floor and the animal resources unit (shared with instruction) on the ground level are combined as facilities supportive of research in the area of Animal Health and Protection. Up-to-date facilities at the university farm provide the major sites for research dealing most directly with research in Food Animal Production Efficiency. The on campus research labs are designed and equipped with modern instrumentation for studies in immunology, cell culture, and mico-biology; for studies in systemic toxicology and therapeutic drug action.

Students are encouraged in undergraduate research participation with faculty through such programs as Agricultural Research Apprenticeships sponsored by USDA for high school juniors and seniors, Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) and Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC), which are sponsored by National Institute of Health (NIH). Faculty engage in collaborative research with various research units of the Agricultural Research Service at N.C. State University, the School of Veterinary Medicine and others. For the student, these research associations unquestionably strengthen learning experiences and enhance career progress in employment of advanced study. Click here for more details on our research facilities.

Other Facilities Include:

The Applied Social and Economic Survey Research Center integrates computer and telecommunications technologies, to give researchers a centralized facility for cutting-edge applied social science survey methodologies.

Bluford Library, now housed in a 153,428 square-foot facility completed in 1991. Blueford's extensive collections of books, journals and microfiche are now supplemented with such high tech resources as an online catalog and an extensive array of CD-ROM databases.

The Child Development Lab, with facilities for demonstrations, observation and participatory experiences for students preparing to be early childhood teachers and administrators, and child development specialists.

Departmental as well as university-wide computer laboratories, supporting the needs of students and faculty by offering Internet and Unix accounts, and a vast array of hardware and software resources.

The Food Microbiology Research Lab, devoted to identification and detection of food-borne pathogens.

Tele-classrooms, with rear projection monitors, voice activated microphone systems, and satellite telecommunications connections which make it possible for students at North Carolina A&T to take courses offered by instructors at other universities.