College of Human Ecology

The College of Human Ecology ranks among the top U .S . colleges of its kind in student enrollment, and in the number of master's and doctoral degrees granted . All undergraduate programs of the College are accredited by The American Home Economics Association; the Interior Design program is accredited by the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER) ; the Teacher Education program is NCATE approved ; and the dietetics program is approved by the American Dietetic Association. Students in the College are prepared as specialists within the integrated professional field of Human Ecology, which is focused on investigating the interactions between individuals and families, and their near environments . The faculty are not content with studying and teaching "what is" ; they make the College's programs relevant to career goals and aspirations of today's students by promoting "what can and should be ." Human Ecology graduates are employed in professional positions that serve individuals, families, and consumers by helping them predict and solve future-oriented problems. The College's undergraduate programs prepare individuals to work as career professionals in fields like retailing, interior design, hospitality management, applied child development, dietetics, nutrition, teacher education, and family life education. All departments of the College conduct basic and applied research supported by grants and contracts, and by the Agricultural Experiment Station . The diverse instructional and research facilities feature state-of-the-art equipment : closed-circuit television for observing children in Child Development Labs ; an accredited small animal laboratory for nutrition research ; a quantity foods demonstration facility for hotel, restaurant administration ; the only non-woven textile processing laboratory with melt-blown and spun-bonding lines on a college campus in the world, and a newly renovated microcomputer laboratory. Fifty full-time faculty staff three departments in Child and Family Studies ; Nutrition ; and Textiles, Retailing and Interior Design. Curricula lead to Bachelor of Science degrees in Human Ecology, in Home Economics, in Hotel and Restaurant Administration, and in Interior Design.