Program Overview

Undergraduate Program in Nutritional Sciences

The Undergraduate Program in Nutritional Sciences is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the metabolic aspects of how organisms use food. The program encompasses all aspects of an organism's interaction with food, including biochemical, physiologic, molecular, psychological, and cultural aspects of food choice and nutrient metabolism.

Program Goals

Through completion of the program in Nutritional Sciences, graduates will be prepared for supervised practice in dietetics, graduate school, or employment by mastering the biological, psychosocial, and community principles of food and nutrition coursework tailored to their option. Graduates will be able to:

• Differentiate biology, chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and physiology and how they apply to digestion, absorption, and metabolism of food and nutrients.
• Integrate biological, behavioral, and environmental factors and explain how nutrition impacts human health and disease.
• Evaluate the implications and limitations of nutrition research by using critical thinking and analytical skills.
• Describe how food and nutrition community programs are important in helping to improve public health across the lifespan.
• Use a range of current technologies to demonstrate effective written and oral communication skills.

Options in the Nutritional Sciences Major

The program offers four options:

• Dietetics
• Biomedical Nutrition
• Community Nutrition
• Food Service Management

Independent Study

All students are encouraged to pursue independent research projects with faculty members.

Program Structure

The program includes:

• Course Descriptions
• Graduation Requirements
• Opportunities

Affiliated Programs

The program is affiliated with:

• Minor in Nutrition
• Minor in Culinary Nutrition
• Graduate Program in Nutritional Sciences

About Nutritional Sciences

Nutrition emphasizes the metabolic aspects of how organisms use food. It includes knowledge of how food is digested, absorbed and used for energy and growth as well as how and why nutrient requirements change over the live span and under stress. The field of nutritional sciences encompasses all aspects of an organism's interaction with food. It includes biochemical, physiologic, molecular, psychological, and cultural aspects of food choice and nutrient metabolism.