Department of Nutrition & Dietetics
Undergraduate Program
The Nutrition & Dietetics Department offers a rigorous undergraduate program culminating in a Bachelor of Science degree with a concentration in Nutrition. The UNF Nutrition & Dietetics Program is also called a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) and is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academciy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120 south Riverside Plaza, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60606-6995 (acend@eatright.org).
Program graduates typically either pursue the registered dietitian (RD) credential, seek professional employment in food service management or nutrition education, and/or further their education. Graduates who seek the RD credential must complete a post-baccalaureate ACEND accredited dietetic internship and pass the national RD examination. RD's work with diverse populations in a variety of settings including hosptals, wellness centers, clinics, food and supplement companies, health agencies, nursing homes, school districts, universities, and mental health centers. Many RD's own businesses as well.
To learn more about the nutrition profession and dietetic internships, visit the website of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. To view the program requirements, click here.
Graduate Program
The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics offers a Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics with three specialization options. This program is designed for those students who wish to emphasize the application of nutritional knowledge to the design and operation of community-based health programs. There are three options to this 43-credit-hour program. The first option, M.S./Nutrition thesis, allows students to pursue an independent research project as a culminating experience in their master’s program. The second option, M.S./Nutrition non-thesis program, allows students to complete 12 pre-approved credits through a series of project, field experience, and independent study courses. These two options are primarily designed for registered dietitians who wish to pursue graduate training with an emphasis in clinical or community dietetics. A distance learning option for these two programs will begin Fall 2012. The third option, M.S./ Nutrition/Internship, enables graduates from ACEND approved didactic programs in dietetics to fulfill the requirement for a pre-professional practice experience and become eligible to sit for the National Registration Examination.
If the undergraduate degree is not in nutrition or dietetics, it is recommended that students apply as a post-baccalaurate student to meet prerequisite requirements. Persons with a bachelor’s in nutrition or dietetics that is older than seven years will receive a course-by-course evaluation to determine needed prerequisites after application is made to the program.
The dietetic Internship at the University of North Florida has been granted Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academciy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120 south Riverside Plaza, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60606-6995 (acend@eatright.org). Fifteen students are admitted each fall to this four-semester full-time program and students must complete both the master’s degree and internship experience in order to receive a verification statement and sit for the Dietetic Registration Exam.
Admission Requirements
In addition to satisfying general University criteria for admission into a graduate program, students wishing to enter the degree program leading to the Master of Science degree must present GRE scores (1000 minimum total on verbal and quantitative sections) or a grade point average of 3.0 or higher in all work completed as an upper-division student (normally 60 semester hours taken during the last two years of undergraduate study). GRE scores are mandatory and must be received prior to being fully admitted into the graduate program. Students who do not meet these requirements must submit three letters of recommendation in order to be considered for a trial program. To view degree requirements, click here.
