On Friday ground was broken at Fresno State's Foster Farms Poultry Education and Research Facility.
Construction is now officially underway at Fresno State, and that's great news for animal science major Elizabeth Sturges.
"It's just amazing to see the opportunities everyone will have to go out into the industry we won't have to go anywhere except a few feet from our classrooms," Sturges said.
In the past Sturges and her classmates traveled off campus to private poultry farms to learn about the industry. Soon they'll be able to study chickens up close, not too far from the dairy unit.
Professors say having a state-of-the-art classroom on campus gives students an edge in the job market.
"Poultry is the number one protein purchased by American consumers and the California poultry industry provides jobs for more than 25 thousand people," Charles Boyer of Fresno State said.
Poultry science professor Michelle Ganci expects most animal science majors to spend a chunk of time in the 16 hundred square foot building.
"So a lot of them will have the opportunity to be right out here in this facility even if their focus might not be poultry it might be dairy or equine science," Ganci said.
The new eco-friendly classroom is slated to open in the spring of 2013 and university leaders are excited about all the possibilities that will soon hatch.
