DEAN’S RESPONSE
Planning and Review Committee
Program: MS Food and Nutritional Sciences
College: College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Year: 2012
Recommendations for the Program Director:
Issue/Concern
1.
2.
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
Examine the feasibility of additional online and 700-level courses, to better serve graduate
students.
Response from Program Director
1. The program director will work with the dean and department chair to address reasons for low
graduation rate and program enrollment restrictions. The low three-year graduation rate is
primarily affected by non-completion of thesis, but transfer of students to other universities
offering stipends such as graduate assistantships has occurred, or in some instances financial
reasons where the students have left to accept employment or to pursue other options. The
Planning, Assessment, Research and Quality unit will be asked if an analysis of a 7-year
graduation rate can be conducted, as with reflection, very few students finish in 3 years due to
lengthy co-ops, accepting one year dietetic internships, or accepting jobs. In reviewing my thesis
advisees of last year, six of the ten theses were completed past the 3 years.
a) Program director will contact other departments such as chemistry and biology to determine if
potential advisors of thesis exist but have not been identified. A recent addition is Dr. Maleka
Hashmi from biology; other potential advisors will be identified.
b) A revised MS program with a non-thesis degree option was submitted and approved March 6
by CEHHS council. This includes a two-course sequence: the first course includes a critical
review of the literature on a problem in the field; the second course includes a research/grant
proposal for researching the problem. Graduate students will be allowed to take the non-thesis
option if they choose in place of the Plan A or Plan B thesis. This will decrease research/advisor
requirements.
c) The program director primarily authored the lab mod that was funded this year for the update
of nutritional assessment lab equipment. That equipment is now purchased and is in place. The
program director will continue to meet with the nutrition and the food science groups to identify
lab areas that need improvements and submit lab modifications as appropriate.
d) The program director served on the committee that advertised and hired for the half-time lab
technician position. The first person offered the position took another position on the campus
with a higher salary. The position is now filled by a very qualified individual who is making
headway on safety issues and equipment maintenance. She is expected to begin a PhD program
in August and at that time another hire will need to occur hopefully with a salary to entice and
retain a qualified candidate.
2. A resurrected online course entitled FN-738 Medical Nutrition for Geriatric Person not taught
for the two three years because of departure of faculty will be offered next fall as well as FN-712
Community Practicum, a critical course for students to gain insight into community nutrition
programs. The following spring of 2014, FN-737 Macronutrients (an online course) and FN-710
Clinical Nutrition will be offered. Additionally, there is discussion of offering a Weight
Maintenance/Eating Disorder (online) class at the 700 level; there is much interest in this
offering by students. Then in the spring of 2015, FN-736 Micronutrients (an online course) will
be offered. This represents six courses in the nutrition concentration, three of which are online
and a possible fourth (Weight Maintenance/Eating Disorder) online with two in-house offerings.
Online offerings for the nutrition concentration are slowly growing and discussions are ongoing
for additional offerings. In the food science area, online offerings are less effective as access to
equipment and hands-on experimentation is highly desirable. In response to need, last fall the
course FN-796 Flavor Chemistry was developed and is being taught this spring and last year the
course FN-760 Nutraceuticals, Functional Foods was developed and is being offered. There are
plans to submit a revised course proposal to offer FN-7XX Research Critiques in Food
Microbiology and two totally new courses: FN 7XX Food Product Development and FN-7XX
Advanced Food Processing. This will represent five new 700 level courses in the food science
concentration, which joins the FN-742 Sensory Evaluation of Foods. Much work has been done
and will need to be done to develop the 700 level courses mentioned above for the food science
concentration. The department chair plans to develop a plan for which courses at the 700 level
will be offered every other year, and this plan of when the 700 level courses are offered will be
made available to students upon entry.
Recommendations for the Department Chair:
Issue/Concern:
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.
Response from Department Chair:
1. The Food and Nutrition Department has been working since late fall on the development
of a non-thesis option for graduate students in the MS Food and Nutritional Sciences
program. This option will provide students with an alternative approach to understanding
research in food and nutrition and relieve the faculty of some thesis advising. The nonthesis option will consist of two research courses which will provide students with a solid
understanding of food and nutrition research in particular and the research process in
general. Students may still elect to complete a thesis and the MS program director and the
department chair will endeavor to ensure that the thesis advising is fairly distributed
among the graduate faculty. The FN Department anticipates two positive outcomes of
the non-thesis option: 1) an increase in the graduation rate of the students, particularly
those who do not intend to do further graduate work and don’t need to complete a thesis;
and 2) a decrease in thesis advising by an overworked faculty. With the addition of the
non-thesis option there should not be a need for additional thesis advisors. However,
faculty from related fields will be invited to serve as advisors for food and nutrition
graduate student thesis projects.
2. The low graduation rate from the MS in food and nutritional sciences has been due to
several factors, some of which are beyond our control. However, the FN Department is
aware of three of the reasons behind some student decisions to leave before graduating:
Job offers – Students are offered a job before they finish their thesis and leave for
employment opportunities; Internship acceptance – A number of the students in the
nutrition concentration plan to become dietitians, which requires completion of an
internship. If they are not accepted the first time they apply, they may apply to graduate
school instead, then if they are accepted the next year, they leave graduate school for the
internship and seldom come back to complete the MS degree. Three years ago, UWStout changed the internship program offered here so that students must complete their
MS degree prior to acceptance to the internship program. That change has helped but
does not prevent students from applying to other internships which don’t require an MS
degree; Money – UW-Stout has limited funds available for assistantships for graduate
students. Students start their MS program here and then apply to other institutions which
have funds for assistantships. Increasing the number and amount of assistantships would
have a big impact on student graduation rates. Faculty are being encouraged to write
research grants for internal and external research funding that can provide assistantship
opportunities for students. In addition, students are expected to cover the costs of their
thesis research which can be a hardship for many of them. Some funding for student
research has come through Discovery Center projects and it has been much appreciated
by graduate students. The non-thesis option will relieve students of the costs of their
thesis research.
The food and nutrition faculty have been very active this year in writing and submitting
lab mod proposals and CEHHS research proposals to improve laboratory facilities. The
department intends to continue pursuing funding for the laboratories. With funding from
the college, the department has been able to hire a laboratory technician to assist with
maintaining and improving the lab facilities. The lab technician has worked with the
chemical hygiene officer to bring the labs up to the safety standards the FN Department
expects to find in a quality laboratory. The technician is also working with the faculty to
develop a remodeling plan for room 132 which is a currently unused lab on the first floor.
Once the lab has been remodeled, the FN Department will focus on the equipment needed
to make the room a teaching and research lab. Depending on the cost of the final
remodeling plan, it will be submitted as a lab mod proposal or as a capital improvement
plan to be part of the major renovations of the building that will take place in three years
or so.
3. Faculty dissatisfaction has been expressed over teaching loads, thesis advising and
research expectations. Many faculty feel overworked, especially young faculty who are
trying to establish research programs in anticipation of their promotion and tenure
applications in a few years. The new non-thesis option will relieve some of that thesis
advising load while still allowing faculty to recruit graduate students who want to do a
thesis to work with them on research projects. New food science faculty have received
research/equipment support through CEHHS and through the Discovery Center. Efforts
will be made to improve the relationship between the Discovery Center and faculty in
food and nutrition so the FN Department can continue to work with them. Students
electing the non-thesis option will be required to write a research proposal as part of their
coursework. It is anticipated that these efforts will help energize the faculty in their
research proposal writing endeavors. External funding could be used to buy out teaching
time as well as provide money for graduate student assistantships and research supplies.
4. A FN 700 level course sequence will be developed and communicated to the graduate students.
Frequency of course scheduling will be based on enrollment and student needs.
5. The undergraduate Food Systems and Technology program was revised and renamed the
Food Science and Technology program this year in anticipation of applying for approval
of the program by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). IFT program approval only
applies to undergraduate programs but having the Food Science and Technology program
at UW-Stout in the IFT Directory of Approved Undergraduate Programs
(http://www.ift.org/knowledge-center/learn-about-food-science/become-a-foodscientist/approved-undergrad-programs.aspx) would also help us recruit quality graduate
students in food science. Students interested in food science and technology will look at
this directory first and contact the FN Department to see if there is a graduate program at
UW-Stout. There are currently 39 IFT-approved BS programs in Food Science and
Technology in the United States and another 14 IFT-approved BS programs
internationally. The FN Department would like UW-Stout to join the list of approved
programs.
Recommendations for the Dean:
Issue/Concern:
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.
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.
Response from Dean:
1. The Dean and Associate Dean will continue to work closely with the program director
and department chair to address admission, retention and graduation rates. The program
revision that is currently routing through the approval process addresses factors that have
affected admission, retention and graduation including, but not limited to, greater
transparency regarding admission requirements, minimum competency coursework,
research options, and clarity regarding course selections. The Associate Dean works
closely with all departments in the preparation of Laboratory Modernization proposals
and proposals for funding by CEHHS. The Dean and Associate Dean will also assist
faculty and staff in outreach to solicit equipment from industry partners. CEHHS has
reallocated .5 FTE and salary dollars to support a part-time Lab Technician. The Dean
will continue to meet regularly with the faculty and staff to discuss issues related to
faculty satisfaction and work diligently to advocate for appropriate compensation,
research and teaching support. Additionally, the Dean will seek out opportunities for
faculty/staff recognition and engagement.
2. The Dean and Associate Dean are very supportive of obtaining IFT accreditation and will
continue to allocate resources consistent with IFT standards. The recent revision of the
MS program is better aligned to the undergraduate programs in the Department of Food
and Nutrition.