Cannabis Industry (Certificate)
Frank Schickor
413-236-4564 • fschicko@berkshirecc.edu
The Cannabis Industry Certificate is designed to provide students with applicable skills and knowledge to work professionally in the areas of Cannabis cultivation, processing, preparation, retail, and outreach. Prepared by foundational courses in business, communication, biopsychology, and botany, students will receive specific training through a comprehensive Cannabis course and an accompanying onsite industry practicum.
Admissions Requirements: At least 21 years of age by the time of enrollment in the on-site practicum course. Documentation of high school graduation or alternative high school credential. Reading and writing competency at a college level as shown by high school GPA of 2.7 within the past ten years, Accuplacer assessment, or completion of a college composition class.
Expected Outcomes
The proposed certificate is designed to meet the academic needs of students who intend to work in the Cannabis industry. The outcomes, therefore, comply with training stipulations set forth by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission and were developed in collaboration with the local Cannabis industry.
As of December 2019, the Cannabis Control Commission Training Class Core Curriculum requires students to demonstrate knowledge of:
- Cannabis effects on the human body.
- Cannabis physical effects based on type of Cannabis product;
- The amount of time to feel impairment;
- Visible signs of impairment;
- Recognizing the signs of impairment.
- Diversion prevention and prevention of sales to minors, including best practices.
- Compliance with all tracking requirements.
- Acceptable forms of identification.
- How to check identification;
- Spotting false identification;
- Medical registration cards issued by the DPH;
- Provisions for confiscating fraudulent identifications;
- Common mistakes made in verification.
- Other key state laws and rules affecting owners, managers, and employees.
- Local and state licensing and enforcement;
- Incident and notification requirements;
- Administrative and criminal liability;
- License sanctions and court sanctions;
- Waste disposal;
- Health and safety standards;
- Patrons prohibited from bringing Cannabis onto licensed premises;
- Permitted hours of sale;
- Conduct of establishment;
- Permitting inspections by state and local licensing and enforcement authorities;
- Licensee responsibilities for activities occurring within licensed premises;
- Maintenance of records;
- Privacy issues;
- Prohibited purchases and practices.
In addition, the Cannabis industry expects successful students to master general and industry-specific concepts and applications of
- effective verbal and nonverbal communication strategies in a variety of professional settings, analytical listening and processing skills, constructive methods of addressing controversy,
- biology, psychology, and physiology of the relationship between brain and behavior, including mind and mood altering techniques,
- business challenges and opportunities at the personal, local, national, and global level, business concepts, strategies, and theories, methods of evaluating business plans,
- plant science including plant morphology, anatomy, physiology, and metabolism, photosynthesis, life cycles, and plant genetics,
- cultivation including growth requirements, mineral, nutrient, water, and light needs, indoor and outdoor cultivation techniques, basic understanding of soil and other cultivation media, and pest and disease control,
- good manufacturing practice (GMP), chain of custody, inventory management, and quality control,
- harvest and post-harvest techniques and considerations including extraction, distillation, culinary and food processing methods as well as safety and hygiene,
- ·outreach, advocacy, customer service and customer counseling.
Course outcomes match and support program outcomes. Specific course outcomes are listed in the course syllabi.
Graduation Requirements
Program Courses
| BIO-111 | Introduction to Botany | 4 |
| BIO-134 | The Biology of Cannabis | 3 |
| BIO-175 | Brain, Mind & Behavior: An Introduction to Biopsychology | 3 |
| BUS-107 | Fundamentals of Business | 3 |
| COM-104 | Introduction to Interpersonal Communication | 3 |
| - | Or | |
| COM-105 | Introduction to Oral Communication | 3 |
| - | Or | |
| COM-107 | Introduction to Oral Communication in Business | 3 |
| - | Or | |
| BUS-247 | Business Communications | 3 |
| EXL-225 | Experiential Learning I | 1-6 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 17 |
Total Credit Hours: 17
Suggested Block for Program Completion
First Semester
| BIO-175 | Brain, Mind & Behavior: An Introduction to Biopsychology | 3 |
| BUS-107 | Fundamentals of Business | 3 |
| COM-104 | Introduction to Interpersonal Communication | 3 |
| - | Or | |
| COM-105 | Introduction to Oral Communication | 3 |
| - | Or | |
| COM-107 | Introduction to Oral Communication in Business | 3 |
| - | Or | |
| BUS-247 | Business Communications | 3 |
Intersession - Summer
Second Semester
Veterans Benefits Policy Advisory
Veterans Affairs (VA) Education Service (EDU) Policy Advisory:
Because marijuana remains illegal at a federal level, Congress has not provided any exception for students seeking to use their VA educational benefits on courses involving the cultivation, sale, or distribution of marijuana, and to be consistent with VR&E, EDU will prohibit a student from using VA educational benefits for such courses. This prohibition includes programs in states in which either the recreational or medicinal use of marijuana is legally permissible.
This includes BCC's Cannabis Industry Certificate.
Read the full policy disclosure here.