Attachment 6 RECOMMENDATION OF THE DEPARTMENTS OF BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES AND KINESIOLOGY TO ESTABLISH A MINOR IN NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES I. PROGRAM IDENTIFICATION 1.1 Title of Proposed Minor: Minor in Nutritional Sciences 1.2 Department(s) or Functional Equivalent(s) Sponsoring the Minor: Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Kinesiology 1.3 College(s), Schools(s), or Functional Equivalent(s): College of Health Sciences 1.4 Timetable for Initiation: Fall 2013 II. RATIONALE The College of Health Sciences presently offers a popular Certificate in Nutrition through the Department of Biomedical Sciences. With the approval of the B.S. in Nutritional Sciences degree by the UW Board of Regents in February 2012, the Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Kinesiology are seeking approval to establish a Minor in Nutritional Sciences to replace the existing Certificate program. The Minor would permit undergraduate students pursuing other academic majors the ability to formally enhance their program of study in the area of Nutritional Sciences. III. INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT 3.1 Relationship to Mission of Institution The proposed Minor in Nutritional Sciences is consistent with UWM s mission to develop high quality undergraduate education programs that meet the diverse needs of Wisconsin s largest metropolitan area, and to further academic and professional opportunities. The Nutritional Sciences Minor offers students an opportunity to develop a strong foundation the biological and chemical sciences, and apply that knowledge to exploring the complex interrelationship between food, nutrition, and health. The Minor in Nutritional Sciences would be a strategic supplement for students in various majors at UWM such as biomedical sciences, psychology, nursing, kinesiology, community education, and many others. Offering a minor in this area is particularly appropriate given the societal trends associated with food, nutrition, and health. Many Westernized societies are in the midst of dealing with the health consequences associated with both over and undernutrition. Training a broad range of future professionals about these issues is necessary if change is to be made to address these problems. The Minor in Nutritional Sciences also aligns with the following UWM academic goals:
(a) To develop and maintain high quality undergraduate, graduate and continuing education programs appropriate to a major urban doctoral university. The Minor in Nutritional Sciences builds upon the success of the Certificate in Nutrition. With the newly approved B.S. in Nutritional Sciences, many new courses in nutritional sciences are being developed to populate that program. The Minor provides students an opportunity to take a series of foundational courses in nutrition and customize their program of study by choosing from several possible upper level nutrition courses that were not previously offered as part of the Certificate program. (f) To establish and maintain productive relationships with appropriate public and private organizations at the local, regional, state, national, and international levels. Given the large numbers of organizations and businesses in the food and nutrition industry in southeastern Wisconsin, a Minor in Nutritional Sciences is particularly relevant. For example, numerous organizations in the state have begun developing urban agriculture (e.g., Growing Power) and aquaculture to increase food access in urban environments. Such organizations have a vested interest in a workforce with a background in both food and nutrition. With the Minor (and Major) in Nutritional Sciences, we have begun building relationships with these entities to provide students opportunities to serve as interns and potentially future employees. 3.2 Relationship to/impact on Other UWM Programs The Minor in Nutritional Sciences will replace the Certificate in Nutrition currently offered through the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Students enrolled in the Certificate program at the time of the approval of the Minor will be allowed to complete the requirements of and be awarded the Certificate in Nutrition. However, once the Minor is approved, no new students will be permitted to obtain a Certificate and they will be advised accordingly. Compared to the Certificate program, the Minor increases the number and rigor of nutrition courses required, increases the scientific foundation courses, and omits a series of courses in human pathophysiology (section 5.2). The majority of the courses comprising the Minor will be new, and designed and delivered by the participating departments, so the expected impact on other UWM programs will be minimal. However, the need for students to complete foundational courses in biology and biochemistry would increase enrollments in those courses. A small number of courses within the Nutritional Sciences Minor would also serve the new Food Studies Certificate that is jointly offered through the Colleges of Letters & Science and Health Sciences. These programs complement each other conceptually and increase UWM s presence as an institution that provides students opportunities to learn about food and society, and nutrition and health. 2
As with the Certificate program, we anticipate that the Minor in Nutritional Sciences will be viewed as a valuable addition to the academic programming taken by students pursuing other majors (e.g., Kinesiology, Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, Sociology, Business) across the UWM campus. IV. NEED UWM students have consistently been interested in courses and curriculum that involve food, nutritional sciences, and eating behavior and its applications to fitness, health, wellness, and weight management. As evidence of this, the College of Health Sciences presently offers a Certificate in Nutrition that has attracted a large number of students across the UWM campus and beyond. Since 2000, 82 students have completed the Certificate program, and 74 students are presently enrolled (Spring 2012). The College wants to continue offering quality academic programming for those students seeking to complement their degree program with a focus on nutritional sciences. The establishment of a Minor in Nutritional Sciences would serve this purpose while also alleviating confusion that has surrounded the Certificate program. An ongoing challenge with the existing Certificate in Nutrition program has been confusion among students about what they can and cannot do upon completing the program. Many have thought they were certified as a nutritionist and could practice in the field of nutrition similar to a registered dietitian or R.D. That is not the case as becoming an R.D. requires completing an accredited program in dietetics, over 1,000 hours of supervised practice, and passing a national board exam. We anticipate the proposed Minor in Nutritional Sciences will alleviate the confusion that has accompanied the term Certificate. Students are much more familiar with the concept of a minor in that it defines a complementary area of study within a larger curricular framework. With the attainment of the Minor, students would have the knowledge to apply nutrition principles to their specific area of study within the scope of practice. V. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND EVALUATION 5.1 Description and Learning Outcomes The Minor in Nutritional Sciences provides students the opportunity to study food and nutrients, their physiological functions, normal nutritional requirements, and the myriad of influences on food choice and eating behavior throughout the life cycle. The required science foundation courses provide the necessary background of chemistry and biological sciences to understand the physiological basis of nutrition, as a multi disciplinary science with relevance to health. Upon completion of the Minor in Nutritional Sciences, students will be able to: 1. Describe the relationship between food and nutrients in human health and wellbeing. 3
2. Discuss the function, physiology, dietary sources, and symptoms and consequences of deficiency and toxicity for macro and micronutrients. 3. Apply nutrition principles to the human life cycle: nutrient functions, needs, sources and alterations during pregnancy, lactation, growth and development, maturation, and aging. 4. Examine the multiple levels of influence (i.e., intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional/organizational, community, political, and cultural) that shape food choice and eating behavior. 5. Apply scientific principles of basic food chemistry in examining food s physical aspects and preparation. 6. Apply biological and biochemical principles to the understanding of the human digestion and metabolism of macro and micronutrients. 5.2 Curriculum Courses and Credits The Minor in Nutritional Sciences involves the completion of 21 credits of nutrition related coursework. Core coursework (15 credits) KIN 290 (will be NUTR 2XX) Introduction to Nutrition for Health Professionals (3 credits) OR BMS 232 Introduction to Nutrition (3 credits) KIN 241 Why We Eat What We Eat: An Ecological Approach (3 credits) BMS 290 (will be NUTR 2XX) Introduction to Food Principles & Preparation (3 credits)* BMS 290 (will be NUTR 3XX) Nutrition Throughout the Lifecycle (3 credits)* KIN 290 (will be NUTR 3XX) Nutrition for Exercise and Wellness (3 credits)* Advanced coursework (6 credits) BMS 590 (will be NUTR 5XX) Advanced Nutrition and Metabolism (4 credits)* BMS 590 (will be NUTR 4XX) Nutrition and Disease (3 credits)* BMS/KIN 590 (will be NUTR 5XX) Public Health Nutrition and Food Politics (3 credits) KIN 590 (will be NUTR 5XX) Modifying Nutrition and Eating Behavior (3 credits)* BMS 590 (will be NUTR 4XX) Counseling for Nutrition and Dietetics (3 credits)* KIN 574 Body Image: Health Related Issues and Implications (3 credits) KIN 590 (will be NUTR 5XX) Obesity and Weight Management (3 credits) KIN 590 (will be NUTR 5XX) Sports Nutrition (3 credits)* BMS 332 Clinical Nutrition (2 credits)** This list of courses may be modified by the Nutritional Sciences Program Committee (section 5.5) as additional courses are developed. *New course to be developed. **To be revised to a 3 credit course. 4
Timetable for Planned Implementation of New and Pending Nutritional Science Courses Course New Code Implementation Date KIN 290 Introduction to Nutrition for Health Professionals NUTR 2XX Fall 2012 KIN 590 Obesity and Weight Management NUTR 5XX Fall 2012 KIN 590 Sports Nutrition NUTR 5XX Spring 2013 KIN 290 Nutrition for Exercise and Wellness NUTR 3XX Spring 2013 KIN 590 Modifying Nutrition and Eating Behavior NUTR 5XX Fall 2013 BMS 590 Counseling for Nutrition and Dietetics NUTR 4XX Fall 2014 BMS 290 Introduction to Food Principles & Preparation NUTR 2XX Spring 2014 BMS 590 Advanced Nutrition and Metabolism NUTR 5XX Spring 2014 Due to the prerequisites for some of the advanced nutrition courses, students would need to have completed the following scientific foundations courses: BIO SCI 150 Foundations of Biological Sciences I (4 credits) BIO SCI 202 Anatomy & Physiology I (4 credits) BIO SCI 203 Anatomy & Physiology II (4 credits) CHEM 103 Survey of Biochemistry (4 credits) or CHEM 501 Introduction to Biochemistry (3 credits) To be awarded the Minor in Nutritional Sciences, students would need to: (1) Maintain a GPA of 3.0 with no grade lower than a C in core and advanced nutrition courses as well as the scientific foundation courses; (2) Verification that the overall cumulative GPA of 2.75 is achieved without repeating more than 3 of the courses considered Core, Advanced, or scientific foundations coursework. 5.3 Eligibility: The Minor in Nutritional Sciences is open to all students seeking a bachelor s degree from UWM. 5.4 Awarding of the Minor: Students concurrently enrolled in a bachelor s degree program successfully completing the program requirements will be awarded the Minor in Nutritional Sciences at the time of graduation. 5.5 Program Administration and Advising: The administration of the minor will be the responsibility of the Nutrition Program Director of the B.S. in Nutritional Sciences Program and the Nutritional Sciences Program Committee which includes the following members: Susan Kundrat (Program Director, Kinesiology), Lori Klos (Kinesiology), Lora de Oliveira (Biomedical Sciences), Kit Werner (Biomedical Sciences), the Chairs of the Departments of Kinesiology and Biomedical Sciences, and a representative from the College of Health Sciences Office of Student Affairs. 5
The Program Director is responsible for the day to day administration of the program, while the advisory committee will be responsible for all policies and procedures related to administration of the program, program requirements, and program evaluation and revision. Academic advisors within the College of Health Sciences Office of Student Affairs will assist students enrolled in the program with the development of career goals and the selection of appropriate courses to further those goals. 5.6 Participating Faculty and Staff Members The following members of the Health Sciences and Kinesiology faculty and staff will be involved in instruction for and the administration of the Minor in Nutritional Sciences. Lora de Oliveira, Clinical Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences Jeri Anne Lyons, Chair & Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences Lori Klos, Assistant Professor, Kinesiology Susan Kundrat, Clinical Assistant Professor, Kinesiology; Program Director, Nutritional Sciences Kristian O Connor, Chair & Associate Professor, Kinesiology Julia Syburg, Assistant Lecturer, Biomedical Sciences Kit Werner, Clinical Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences; Program Director, Dietetics Linda Wright, Associate Lecturer, Biomedical Sciences 5.7 Program Assessment As part of the new Minor in Nutritional Sciences, we intend to assess both the attainment of learning outcomes as well as the programmatic delivery of the Minor. The Minor's success in educating students to meet the desired learning outcomes (Section 5.1) will be assessed by graded exams and major projects from each of the required Core nutrition courses (Section 5.2). As new core courses are developed, the learning objectives of each course will be mapped onto the learning outcomes of the Minor to ensure that the required content is indeed being delivered to students. Course evaluations will be conducted each semester in accordance with Departmental and university policy. 6
VI. RESOURCES Exit surveys will be conducted with a sample of students graduating with the Minor in Nutritional Sciences to collect information such as their perceptions of the courses contained within the Minor, depth of the content covered, suggested curricular improvements, and usefulness of the Minor for their future career aspirations. Implementation of this program will not require any additional monetary resources, as a sufficient number of courses are taught as part of the B.S. in Nutritional Sciences program to meet the needs of students in the Minor. Academic advising will continue to be provided by the staff within the College of Health Sciences Office of Student Affairs. 7