06 Jul Master of Arts in Applied Nutrition and Dietetics to Be Offered at Union
Union Institute and University’s new Master of Arts program with a major in Applied Nutrition and Dietetics provides students with course work and experiential learning experiences in Clinical Nutrition, Food Service Management, Community Nutrition, and Leadership. The program blends a high-level graduate degree and experiential learning to offer the student the opportunity to study and develop exceptional skills to provide nutrition care to a variety of populations.
The Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) granted approval for the Master of Arts in Applied Nutrition and Dietetics, conceived and chaired by Dr. Lisa Akers.
The innovative, entry-level graduate program utilizes competency-based education to integrate online coursework with supervised experiential learning. Students will acquire the skills to examine underlying assumptions, explore issues from multiple perspectives, and develop new ways of thinking critically, and prepare them to be future leaders in nutrition and dietetics. The curriculum prepares students to take the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) credentialing examination to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).
Under the leadership of Program Chair Dr. Lisa Akers, Union applied and was accepted as an ACEND .
Future Education Model (FEM) Graduate Program in November of 2018. As a grantee of the program, Union staff received extensive training on Competency-Based Education (CBE) and the new ACEND FEM standards. The program has been designated as a Future Education Model (FEM) Graduate Demonstration Program.
Research shows that there is only one Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) for every 3,610 individuals in the U.S., indicating the need to increase the workforce for patient safety and satisfaction. Employers see potential value in job applicants who will study using CBE since it aligns academics with the skills they seek in their employees.
Visit the program’s page for more information.