The Master of Science in Family and Consumer Science program has struggled for several reasons.  Although there has been interest, one reason the program has struggled is due to geographic location.  With prospective students facing rising gasoline prices (for commuters) and with time that would be spent commuting as a negative consideration, recruiting has been difficult.  However, with approval to take this program on-line, those major roadblocks should be less significant.  As we begin to market this program as an on-line program, we look forward to significant increases in enrollment for the coming cycle.  New courses have been proposed.  Some of them have been approved, and others are pending approval.  One of the new courses was offered very successfully for Spring 2012.  As we are able to offer more courses, additional faculty positions will be needed to carry this additional load.

Significant growth in program enrollment is being seen (see "Increase Program Enrollment" KPI above).  Factors that have contributed to this growth include: 1) significant and substantial efforts on the part of the Graduate Director, 2) the on-line format that helps to overcome the barriers of the geographic location, and 3) the fact that other master's-level programs housed in Departments of Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences have become more focused while this program has retained its general characteristic.  Two additional courses have been approved through the curriculum approval process -- one of them was offered Spring 2013 and another one is due to be offered Fall 2013.  The program plans to submit two additional courses for the coming curriculum cycle (Spring 2014).  An additional faculty position has been requested and the response to that request has been encouraging.  In order to sustain this growth, more faculty positions are absolutely necessary. 

In order to sustain this remarkable growth, it is imperative that more faculty with full graduate faculty status be developed/hired.  At the present time, Dr. Valencia Browning-Keen's dossier is before the group of associate deans who monitor movement from associate to full graduate faculty status, and that group has not met in some time, due in part, I believe, to the transition of some of the responsibilities for recruitment from the Office of Graduate Studies to the Office of Enrollment Management.  Dr. Keen is willing to assume the role of Graduate Director providing that we are able to hire a person to be the Director of the undergraduate Didactic Program in Dietetics (Food Science and Nutrition, an accredited program) for the department. 

Secondly, we must continue our recruitment efforts at every opportunity.  One of the ways we are seeking to do this is by assigning a graduate assistant the responsibility for keeping the website up-to-date.  We will also cooperate with the Hobson's Notification system as we follow through with our recruitment efforts.  We will emphasize the benefits of the on-line format. 

Thirdly, we must continue to request new faculty positions.  We cannot sustain growth in the graduate program without them, and we cannot rob the undergraduate programs, two of which are accredited, of well-qualified faculty in order to maintain the graduate program.

Finally, two more courses are planned, one in the area of administration of family and consumer sciences programs and how those programs have requirements that are different from other types of programs, and another one in the area of nutrition and dietetics that is for the general FCS major.

This is an ambitious plan but all of the elements within the plan are necessary for the ultimate success of this program.