Goals and Competencies
The mission of the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition is to provide education, research, and service by:
- Educating advanced-level practitioners in clinical nutrition and dietetics as educators, researchers, and clinical specialists;
- Providing initial and continuing education opportunities in clinical nutrition and dietetics for health care professionals;
- Developing and applying new knowledge and techniques in clinical nutrition and dietetics;
- Advancing nutritional care and health status, especially for Arkansans.
Goals for the MS Degree Program in Clinical Nutrition (MSCN)
The goals of the Master of Science Degree in the Clinical Nutrition Graduate Program are as follows:
- Develop science-based nutrition knowledge.
- Develop evidence-based practices in nutrition.
- Develop nutrition-research skills and practices.
- Develop communication skills in the area of nutrition-related practice and research.
Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:
- Construct nutrition-related research.
- Communicate nutrition-related research and practice.
- Describe connections between nutrition and health.
- Apply nutrition knowledge toward evaluation and treatment of nutrition-related health outcomes.
Time Frame
The program is designed to be completed over two years in full-time student status. The program may be completed over a maximum of a five-year period on a part-time basis. All students are expected to complete 30-33 credit hours of coursework, plus 3-6 credit hours of research (students have the choice of a thesis option or a non-thesis option) for a total of 36 credit hours. All students must successfully complete a written comprehensive examination, a final research paper (for thesis option & non-thesis option), and an oral defense of their research (for thesis option & non-thesis option) in order to complete the MSCN program.
