CONSULTANT RECOMMENDATION REPORT
Planning and Review Committee
Consultant Recommendation
I.
Degree: B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences Education
Date of Review: 2013-2014
Program Director: Diane Klemme
PRC Consultant(s): Kate Edenborg and Loretta Thielman
Purpose of the Review: This review is to assess the quality and status of the Family &
Consumer Sciences Education program.
Committee Findings: Recommend the continuation of this program through the next
scheduled program review in 2020-2021.
Abstract: The B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences Education Program focuses on
family, work, and their interrelationship in a global society. The program prepares its
graduates to teach in the Wisconsin K-12 education system, once certified by the
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. While most graduates pursue careers as
Family and Consumer Science teachers within secondary schools, employment
opportunities in government extension services and family/youth services also are
available.
Program requirements and the curriculum is constantly being revised to stay up to date
and to incorporate standards from the Wisconsin DPI as well as those of the Council for
Accreditation of Educator Preparation. This is a strong program led by a dedicated
program director with very strong and enthusiastic students and advisory board members.
The enrollment in the program has decreased somewhat over the years but the graduates
of this program are always in high demand by employers because of the quality of the
program.
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 in Spring 2013.
The PRC consultants also met with the program director in Fall 2013 to review the
procedures and offer assistance. Under the guidelines developed by the PRC, information
regarding the program was gathered from the placement office, the institutional research
office, the program director, the key instructors, the program advisory committee,
students and graduates of the program. 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 whole PRC where there were questions asked and answered.
The Dean and Chair of the primary department also attended and answered questions.
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III.
Previous Review Year: 2006-07
Previous Recommendations for the Program Director
1. Work to increase program enrollment
o Update the program webpage
o Develop brochures aimed at current Family and Consumer Sciences
teachers and high school students
 Emphasize the strengths of the UW-Stout program (look at UWStevens Point’s program and advertising materials to get ideas)
o Try to reach Minnesota Family and Consumer Sciences teachers and high
school students, emphasizing the advantages of UW-Stout’s program and
WI/MN tuition reciprocity agreement.
o Solicit support of alumni through
 Testimonials for the program to possibly include in brochures and
the webpage
 Serve as a conduit for the program, encouraging prospective
students to consider UW-Stout’s Family and Consumer Sciences
Education program
Response:
Work to increase enrollment is on-going
o Working with Ed Jakober to include video student testimonials on web
page
o Developing brochures and posters to be sent to the schools
o Will provide student activities during fall conference
o Attended both the WI and MN state FCCLA meetings for recruitment
Summation of Consultants:
The program has implemented all of the above and more. The enrollment has not
increased. It has decreased somewhat but that is largely due to somewhat lower
demand for Family and Consumer Sciences education graduates in Wisconsin
schools due to recent changes in the public school curriculum and changes in
Wisconsin legislation.
2. Work with the department chair to address the problem concerning overlapping
or repetition of course content and the use of outdated course materials.
Response:
Will continue work in this area. HDFS and FN are going through some course
revisions so classes will need to be reviewed.
Summation of Consultants:
Much effort has been put into reducing course overlap and in updating course materials.
The FCSE 115 course has been removed from the required content list of courses to
reduce overlap with HDFS 215. The FN and HDFS departments have revised several of
the courses taken by students in the FCSE program. With many changes in Wisconsin
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DPI requirements, appropriate course materials have been and continue to be updated
3.Work with the LLC staff in addressing concerns of adequate, accessible and
updated resources.
Response:
Will continue to work with LLC staff and request updated resources.
Summation of Consultants:
Program director’s requests for materials and aid in acquainting students with library
resources from the LLC staff have been met.
4. Work with the department chair to develop more program specific courses as well
as electives to allow more flexibility in program course selection.
Response:
Current program size limits course offerings to once a year or once every other year.
When numbers of students increase the opportunity for program specific courses may
become an option.
Summation of Consultants:
This continues to be a problem because the enrollment in the program has not increased
to allow more frequent offering of program courses nor the introduction of new program
specific courses. There is some greater flexibility in choice of general education courses
particularly in the newer areas of contemporary issues and social responsibility & ethical
reasoning.
5. Encourage students to take the PPST as soon as possible.
Response:
Students are encouraged to take the PPST as soon as possible. The freshmen block
schedule includes a basic math and English course the first semester. These classes will
aid students in the PPST and they are encouraged to take the PPST during the second
semester of their freshmen year.
Summation of Consultants:
Students are encouraged to take courses to prepare for the PPST and to take it as
early as possible. This test will be replaced by the CORE test next year.
Previous Recommendations for the Chair of the Education Department
1. Allocate resources for development of outreach brochures and updating the
program webpage.
Response:
Each School of Education (SOE) program does have an annual program budget for
marketing, etc. The Chair will work with the Program Director to plan the budget for this
next year to include development and/or revision of marketing materials. If needed, this
budget can be supplemented with SOE funding for additional marketing initiatives.
There is a .50 FTE SOE Web developer who will work with the Program Director to
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improve the program webpage.
Summation of Consultants:
Considerable effort has been made to improve the program’s webpage and develop other
advertising materials which are fairly widely distributed to Wisconsin high schools and to
attendees at FCSE conferences.
2.Allocate resources to acquire current curriculum materials.
Response:
The Program Director will work closely with the Cory Mitchell, the LLC Educational
Materials Collection coordinator, to identify needed curriculum resources appropriate to
house at the LLC. It is appropriate to house most curriculum materials at the LLC
because there is no system in SOE for checking materials in/out, etc. For curriculum
materials needing to be housed in SOE, the Program Director will submit a budget
request identifying the materials/course use.
Summation of Consultants:
This has been done.
3. Work with the program director to identify curriculum problems of overlapping
courses or repletion of course content and work to find solutions.
Response:
The areas of course overlap identified by students were primarily from the content
courses. The Program Director will be asked to meet with the EDUC 326 Foundations of
Education instructor work group to investigate ways to better align the Introduction to
FCSE with Foundations of Education. A careful review of the student assessment data for
FCSE will guide course revision and development of new courses. The Chair will work
with the PD to determine how to most appropriately address candidate knowledge,
skill, or dispositional deficiencies. If the deficiencies are in areas common to all
education students, professional education and FCSE revisions will need to be
considered. If the deficiencies are specific to the discipline, FCSE coursework
will be considered.
The PD is encouraged to develop professional development courses targeted at practicing
FCSE teachers and offered via distance education. This would create an additional source
of SCH to offset the declining FCSE enrollment and increase program visibility,
hopefully enhancing enrollment.
Summation of Consultants:
This has been done.
4.Work with the program director to identify new courses to enhance the program
and make it more flexible.
Response:
See response to program director’s response to number 4 above.
The Chair will work with the PD to seek ways to increase program flexibility. This is
challenging given the specificity of both education certification standards and the content
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requirements.
Summation of Consultants:
There has been an increase in program flexibility.
Recommendations for the Dean
1.Work with other deans to develop laboratory modernization plans to address
concerns of outdated lab facilities and equipment.
Response:
The lab facilities used by FCSE students are primarily housed in CHD. Lab
Modernization proposals for the courses taken by FCSE students are regularly submitted
and funded. Early fall 2007, a meeting of the Deans of SOE and CHD and the Chairs of
SOE and the FN and Apparel Departments will be held to determine common concerns of
outdated lab facilities. Lab Modernization proposals for those areas will be strengthened
by providing support from SOE.
There is a need for a minimum of one SOE model classroom lab that could be shared by a
number of education programs. That lab is currently housed in HE 103 but it has
inadequate storage and work space. A Lab Mod proposal was submitted in 2006 but it
was not funded. SOE will continue to work on an upgrade of that facility or development
of a new model classroom lab.
Summation of Consultants:
Some progress has been made in updating laboratory facilities but there is still a
significant need for additional modernization. The FCSE students take class from many
different departments with different labs and not all in one college.
2.Develop a faculty staffing plan to handle additional courses and to replace retiring
faculty.
Response:
This will need to be closely monitored in relationship to program enrollment. For the near
future, the retiring FCSE faculty member will be hired back on a part-time basis. An
additional flexibility is provided by the fact that there is another faculty member in SOE
who is certified and has experience in FCSE.
Summation of Consultants:
Since enrollment in the program has not increased, plans to increase the number
of faculty are on hold.
IV.
Current Year Program Review:
Program Strengths (Sources indicated)
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Strong leadership by program director (student surveys and advisory committee
report)
Healthy enrollment given the size of the program (program director self study)
Very high placement rate for graduates (program director self study, student
surveys and advisory committee report)
Experienced and dedicated faculty (in the program and from other programs)
who continuously update curriculum to meet industry requirements (program
director self study and student surveys)
Dedicated and engaged students pursuing a teaching career in tough climate
(program director self study)
Strong reputation in state and nation (program director self study, student surveys
and advisory committee report)
Issues of Concern (Sources indicated)
1. Curriculum:
• Ongoing need to review courses and update to meet accreditations standards
(Program director self study)
• Need to develop new courses to increase flexibility for the students (program
director self study, student surveys)
2. Lab facilities and equipment
• Outdated lab facilities, classrooms and equipment need to be updated
(program director self study, student surveys, advisory committee report)
3. Faculty/staff support needs
• Need to have help in advising students and to teach at least some of the
FCSE courses (program director self study)
4. Recruitment of students
• Need to increase diversity in student population (program director self study)
• Need to maintain enrollment in the program or increase slightly (program
director self study)
Recommendations for the Program Director:
1. Work with department chair to hire administrative staff/faculty to incorporate
mandated requirements, to provide advising support and be able to teach some of the
FCSE courses
2. Work with the department chairs to identify essential updates to labs, classrooms and
equipment
3. Work with the department chair to develop new strategies for marketing and
recruiting a more diverse student population
4. Work on additional courses to increase flexibility for the students
Recommendations for the Chairs of the Departments:
1. Support the program director in hiring administrative staff/faculty to incorporate
mandated requirements every year and/or provide advising support
2. Support the program director in seeking funds for essential updates to labs,
classrooms and equipment
3. Work with the dean to support the program director’s development of new strategies
for marketing and recruiting a more diverse student population
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Recommendations for the Dean:
1. Support the program director and department chair in hiring administrative
staff/faculty to help incorporate mandated requirements every year and/or provide
advising support
2. Support the program director and department chairs in locating funds for essential
updates to labs, classrooms and equipment
3. Support the program director and department chair in the development of new
strategies for marketing and recruiting a more diverse student population
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