BYU-Idaho hosts a number of academic societies to help students network, gain experience and find jobs for the future. One such group is the Professional Agriculture Student Organization or PAS Society on campus. PAS is a nationally recognized society that works specifically to help college students working to enter careers in agriculture meet professional industry standards.
PAS offers students opportunities to build their personal network, serve in leadership roles, better understand the different aspects of their chosen field, showcase skills at competitions and learn from industry professionals.
“The professors that guide our PAS Society have huge industry experience like they’ve been in the Ag-lending side, they’ve been in the technology side, they’ve been kind of here, there, and everywhere, so they have been able to bring their expertise and help benefit us,” says McKay Rigby, the president of the PAS Society on campus.
Earlier this month from March 11-14, McKay and several of the societies’ officers participated in the 2024 National PAS Conference in Springfield, Illinois. They competed against other schools to determine how their knowledge and preparations compare against standards in the industry.
The officers from BYU-Idaho won several awards at the conference including first place in a team program for Agribusiness Management, and individual officer first place awards for Ag-Sales, Precision Ag and Animal Health and Vet Tech.
“A lot of students that have done this in the past told me when they went to interview for jobs, and they put that they competed at a national competition that they placed in the top three or that they won the competition it’s always been a very positive direction for their job interviews,” says Jeremy Slade, a faculty member in the Economics Department at BYU-Idaho and the faculty advisor for PAS.
The society is available for students majoring in, minoring in or who have a cluster in majors such as Applied Plant Sciences, Food Science, Animal Science, Agribusiness and Horticulture.
Students who would like to participate in the PAS Society can register through I-Belong at ibelong.byui.edu.