CONSULTANT RECOMMENDATION REPORT
Planning and Review Committee
Consultant Recommendation
I.
Degree: M.S. Food and Nutritional Sciences
Date of Review: 12/14/2012
Program Director: Dr. Carol Seaborn
PRC Consultants: Dr. Christine Peterson, Dr. Loretta Thielman
Purpose of the Review: This review was conducted to determine the quality and
status of the M.S. Food and Nutritional Sciences program in the College of
Education, Health and Human Sciences.
Committee Findings: A number of the concerns identified in this review are
reflective of those raised during previous review cycles, and appear to have a growing
impact on the program. For that reason, the committee recommends the program
director, department chair and dean report back on progress toward PRC
recommendations (found at the end of this report) in a status report to be submitted in
spring of 2014. Specifically, the committee is interested in learning about effort to
improve graduation rates.
Abstract: The M.S. in Food and Nutritional Sciences program leads to professional
careers in the food industry, health care, and human services in a global economy.
There are three concentrations available in: Food Science and Technology, Human
Nutritional Science, and Food Packaging. Experiential learning in laboratory settings,
research, and internships are key characteristics of the program. There is a 100%
placement rate for program graduates and continued high demand for graduates is
expected.
II.
Process followed for Current Review: The PRC Chair met with the dean, program
director and chair of the primary department to discuss the review process. The PRC
consultants also met with the program director to review the procedures and offer
assistance. Under the guidelines developed by the PRC, information regarding the
program was gathered from the placement office, institutional research, program
director, key instructors, program committee, students and one-year and three-year
graduates. The consultants based their findings on the above and the self-study
authored by the program director. The program director presented a summary of her
report to the committee and had an opportunity to express concerns. The interim
associate dean was in attendance and available to answer questions.
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III.
Previous Review Year 2005-2006
Previous Recommendations for Program Director (2006):
1. Prepare a flyer or obtain brochures from the Career Services Office that would be
useful in making graduate students more aware of the services that are available to
them.
Response from Program Director (2006):
1. Ray Rivera is invited to speak during the seminar course each semester about the
services available through the Career Services Office, and brochures are distributed
to the students during his presentation.
Previous Recommendations for Department Chair (2006):
1. Be proactive in getting faculty to offer more online courses as well as more 700 level
courses. This probably will need to be, in part at least, in consultation with the dean
as this will probably mean appropriate new faculty will have to be hired and retained.
The new hire expressed interest during the interview in developing on-line courses.
2. Be proactive in getting existing faculty to be more involved in thesis and research
paper advising. Hiring appropriate new faculty will also help in this area.
Response from Department Chair (2006):
1. During Spring 2007, Dr. Carol Seaborn will offer FN-736 Micronutrients on-line. In
Fall 2007, she will be offering FN-737 Macronutrients on-line. These two courses
will meet on-campus graduate level needs as well as offer an outreach to various
publics seeking a graduate level nutrition class. During Spring 2006, Mr. Sofyan
Maghaydah has offered the graduate level course in FN-746 Food Innovations online. In addition, Ms. Heather Nelson is offering FN-350/550 Food Processing online. The Food Processing course had an on-campus lab during Spring Break. Also,
two field trips have been offered (Nestles’ on March 31, 2006 and Leinenkugel's on
May 5, 2006). Dr. Lydia Chowa will be offering FN-413/613 Maternal and Child
Nutrition on-line during summer 2006.
2. In consulting with Dr. Carol Seaborn she suggested I ask each faculty member to
write down their expertise and what they think they could contribute in their
published area to a graduate student’s research. Every semester the graduate program
director and department chair will match student interest with faculty interest for
research activities. Every September, January and May the faculty and students will
be asked to report local, state and national presentations related to their research.
This information will be compiled and shared with the department members and the
Dean.
Previous Recommendations for Dean of College of Human Development (2006):
1. Seek IFT approval. Given the many benefits of having IFT approval, it is vital for the
long-term success of this program to both recruit and retain IFT qualified faculty. To
that end, the dean in consultation with the Food and Nutrition Department, should
offer competitive salaries for new hires and appropriate salary adjustments to retain
these faculty.
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2. Support current faculty recruitment. Given the necessary commitment of the faculty
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for this program and the extent of involvement in student research, it is vital that the
existing open position be filled. To that end, the dean in consultation with the Food
and Nutrition Department, should offer a competitive salary.
Reduce faculty turnover. The dean in consultation with the Food and Nutrition
Department should offer appropriate salary adjustments, help provide more research
support, and explore the possibility of reducing the teaching load from twelve to nine
credits.
Update labs. The dean in consultation with the chair and program director should
continue to identify required resources and acquire funding to complete and improve
the labs. Specific needs were mentioned earlier in this report.
Increase graduate student support. The dean, in consultation with the provost, should
attempt to identify some source of funds to support students in this program,
particularly those in the internship. Obtaining IFT approval would also provide funds
for graduate student support.
Establish a Nutritional Counseling Lab. The dean, in consultation with the chair and
program director, should find a permanent facility for the nutritional counseling lab.
Response from Dean of College of Human Development (2006):
1. Met with the Provost in April to seek an allocation for IFT. There were no further
allocations for Food and Nutrition at this time, but we will continue to look for
opportunities for additional allocations.
2. In order to assist in a successful recruitment, CHD is willing to offer additional funds
with help from the Provost’s Office if necessary, to the base salary of a qualified
candidate for a new position in Food and Nutrition.
3. To assist current faculty to have competitive salaries, CHD provided salary
adjustments to three Food and Nutrition staff members in the past two years, totaling
close to $8,000. The CHD Chairs Council has discussed reducing graduate teaching
loads to nine credits. This will be done if it is generally approved across campus.
CHD also added additional Graduate Assistant help for 2006-07.
4. CHD worked with the Psychology Department to provide lab space for a Nutritional
Counseling Lab on first floor McCalmont. CHD assisted a lab mod request for
computers and sensory evaluation software for Food and Nutrition which were
approved. Lab mod for HMEC 371 was turned down by the campus lab mod
committee.
5. CHD added another .25 Graduate Assistant position for 2006-07. CHD will continue
to seek additional allocation for Graduate Assistants in Food and Nutrition.
6. In the summer of 2007, CTEM will move out of offices and lab space on the third
floor of Home Economics and SOE will move out of some space on first and second
floor HMEC. This will allow CHD to find a permanent nutritional counseling lab in
the Home Economics building. Until then, as mentioned above, the Psychology
Department will share space for nutritional counseling.
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IV.
Current Year Program Review: 2012-2013
Program Strengths (Sources Indicated):
1. Experiential emphasis of the program (PD self-study, faculty survey)
2. High level of preparedness for obtaining and performing nutritional science
positions (Alumni surveys)
3. The program houses diverse faculty and students – currently 40% are
International students (PD self-study)
4. Recent hiring to full complement enabling possible IFT accreditation (PD selfstudy)
5. Accessibility to and support from the program director (student surveys)
6. Accessibility of instructors in the program courses (student surveys)
7. High quality faculty producing a high pass rate on national dietetic registration
exam (advisory board surveys)
8. Excellent research support from the UW-Stout library.(PD self-study, student
surveys)
Program Areas of Concern (Sources Indicated):
1. Continued need to update labs and facilities, integrating new equipment into the
appropriate laboratory courses, and obtaining assistance from a laboratory
technician. (Student, alumni, faculty, advisory board surveys, PD self-study)
2. There has been a significant amount of faculty turnover, particularly in the food
science area, which has impacted thesis advisement and the thesis completion
rate. The lack of equipment, research support and teaching load seems to be of a
very real concern as previous hires have quickly relocated elsewhere. (PD selfstudy, student and advisory board surveys)
3. As classrooms have replaced laboratory spaces, work areas to carry out scientific
investigation have been eroded. Whether space for laboratory work can be carved
out in current available space (especially those already with hoods such as
Heritage Hall 132) or whether this need should be addressed by a building
initiative should be considered. (PD self-study, alumni, faculty and advisory
board surveys)
4. The program is limited in the number of online offerings that are available. Also
the department needs to more frequently offer and develop 700-level courses.
Students are not entirely satisfied with the dual-level offerings and would prefer
to take more 700-level courses. Students who obtained an undergraduate degree
with dual level courses have fewer options available. (PD self-study, student and
alumni surveys)
5. Insufficient number of thesis advisors since not all PhD faculty members in the
department are interested in serving as research advisors. The teaching load and
lack of reward to thesis advisement appear to be a handicap in the sciences. (PD
self-study, student, alumni and advisory board surveys)
6. Insufficient number of graduate assistantships to help recruit and retain more
students. The program director and department chair receive many inquiries on
the availability of assistantships and have observed students leave after one year
because of the offer of assistantship from other universities, again impacting graduation
rate. (PD self-study, student surveys)
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7. Low graduation rate (PD self-study, student surveys)
Recommendations for the Program Director:
1. Work with the dean and department chair to address reasons for low graduation rate
and program enrollment restrictions
a) Additional thesis advisors
b) Degree option with lower research/advisor requirements
c) Continued efforts to keep lab facilities as up to date as possible
d) Lab technician
2. Examine the feasibility of additional online and 700-level courses, to better serve
graduate students.
Recommendations for the Chair of Department:
1. Work with faculty to develop a manageability plan with faculty to address this issue
for the short- and long- term. The issue of thesis supervision is an ongoing issue of
concern that is resulting in decreased rate of admittance to the program and is
negatively impacting thesis completion and student satisfaction.
2. Work with the dean and program director to address reasons for low graduation. rate
and program enrollment restrictions
a) Additional thesis advisors
b) Degree option with lower research/advisor requirements
c) Continued efforts to keep lab facilities as up to date as possible
d) Lab technician
e) Work with program director to closely monitor current faculty satisfaction.
3. Concerns related to course load, research support, and equipment limitations are ongoing. Sustaining current faculty should be a priority and requires focused attention.
4. Work with the program director to determine if additional online courses and 700
level courses are feasible.
5. Seek support for undergraduate IFT approval. Accreditation may assist with setting
expectations for issues such as faculty allocation and equipment standards, and long
term planning for the undergraduate and graduate programs.
Recommendations for the Dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences:
1. Work with the department chair and program director to address reasons for low
graduation rate and program enrollment restrictions
a) Additional thesis advisors
b) Degree option with lower research/advisor requirements
c) Continued efforts to keep lab facilities as up to date as possible. Current lab
spaces do not meet the needs of the size of the program, and limit functionality
of the program, as well as student satisfaction.
d) Lab technician
e) Closely monitor current faculty satisfaction. Concerns related to course load,
research support, and equipment limitations are on-going. Sustaining current
faculty should be a priority and requires focused attention.
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2. Seek support for undergraduate IFT approval. Accreditation may assist with setting
expectations for issues such as faculty allocation and equipment standards, and long
term planning for both the undergraduate and graduate programs.
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