College of Pharmacy

Nutrition & Dietetics

Master of Science in Human Nutrition

 

Thesis Option

The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition offers a program of study leading to the Master of Science degree in human nutrition (thesis option). The following policies and procedures have been established as a guide to prospective students and advisors. This document is intended to be a supplement to the Graduate School Policies and Procedures established by the Graduate School at Washington State University. Faculty and prospective students should be familiar with both documents. For more information on policies and procedures, visit Graduate School website.

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 Undergraduate Preparation:
A. Chemistry
 
  • Two semesters of general/inorganic chemistry
  • One semester of organic chemistry
  • One semester of biochemistry
B. Biological Science
 
  • Two semesters including one course in human physiology
C. Mathematics
 
  • Statistics
D. Foods
 
  • One course in food preparation, processing, or experimentation
E. Nutrition principles
 
  • One course with a prerequisite of organic chemistry

Courses listed above that are not taken as part of the studentís undergraduate education will be considered to be deficiencies after admission for graduate education in FSHN. These deficiencies must be corrected early in the graduate program by enrollment for letter grade in the appropriate course(s). While the Graduate School requires a minimum TOEFL score of 550 for non-English speaking applicants, the student may be required by his/her advisor or thesis committee to take additional English courses and/or arrange for tutoring, if needed.

 Minimum Degree Requirement:
A. General REquirements
 
Requirments #Credits Course(s) fulfilling requirements
500-level courses
15
 Includes FSHN and/or supporting courses.
Total graded courses
21
 Of the 21 hours, up to 6 credits of 300- and 400-level courses may be used.
Research/Thesis
15
 FSHN 700
B. Specific Courses
 
Requirement
# Credits
Course(s) fulfilling requirement
Research Techniques
3
 FSHN 462, 520, 521, NUTR 505, SOC 520,
EDPSY 505, HPA 503
Statistics
3
 STAT 412, 512, EDPSY 508, DEC S 591,
SOC 522, PSYCH 511
Advanced Nutrition
3
 FSHN 504, 513, 533
Seminar (written)
2
 FSHN 508
Seminar (oral)
1
 FSHN 509
C. Examinations
 
  • Thesis seminar/defense. After completing the research and prior to the final dissertation examination, the candidate will present a
    seminar describing the research and discuss the relevance of the results obtained. Faculty, staff, and students shall be invited to the
    seminar. The candidate will defend his/her thesis research at the final examination. Members of the studentís committee must be
    present at the examination and all must vote. The Graduate School Policies and Procedures should be consulted for additional
    information regarding who may attend the examination and vote.
D. Thesis Committee
 
  • A minimum of 3 faculty members are required, 2 of which must be graduate faculty. Students are required to have at least one (1)
    committee meeting per academic year to provide guidance.
  • If co-chairs are desired for the committee, the student must consult with the academic secretary for the procedures.
E. Transfer Credits
 
  • A maximum of 10.5 credits of courses at graduate level (grade B or better) may be transferred.

 

Non-Thesis Option

The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition offers a program of study leading to the Master of Science degree in human nutrition (thesis option). The following policies and procedures have been established as a guide to prospective students and advisors. This document is intended to be a supplement to the Graduate School Policies and Procedures established by the Graduate School at Washington State University. Faculty and prospective students should be familiar with both documents. For more information on policies and procedures, visit Graduate School website.

 Undergraduate Preparation:
A. Chemistry
 
  • Two semesters of general/inorganic chemistry
  • One semester of organic chemistry
  • One semester of biochemistry
B. Biological Science
 
  • Two semesters including one course in human physiology
C. Mathematics
 
  • Statistics
D. Foods
 
  • One course in food preparation, processing, or experimentation
E. Nutrition principles
 
  • One course with a prerequisite of organic chemistry

Courses listed above that are not taken as part of the studentís undergraduate education will be considered to be deficiencies after admission for graduate education in FSHN. These deficiencies must be corrected early in the graduate program by enrollment for letter grade in the appropriate course(s). While the Graduate School requires a minimum TOEFL score of 550 for non-English speaking applicants, the student may be required by his/her advisor or thesis committee to take additional English courses and/or arrange for tutoring, if needed.

 Minimum Degree Requirement:
A. General REquirements
 
Requirments #Credits Course(s) fulfilling requirements
500-level courses
26
 Includes FSHN and/or supporting courses.
Total graded courses
32
 Of the 32 hours, up to 6 credits of 300- and
400-level courses may be used.
Special Problems
4
 FSHN 702
B. Specific Courses
 
Requirement
# Credits
Course(s) fulfilling requirement
Research Techniques
3
 FSHN 462, 520, 521, NUTR 505, SOC 520,
EDPSY 505, HPA 503
Statistics
3
STAT 412, 512, EDPSY 508, DEC S 591,
SOC 522, PSYCH 511
Advanced Nutrition
3
 FSHN 504, 513, 533
Seminar (written)
2
 FSHN 508
Seminar (oral)
1
 FSHN 509
C. Special Project
 
  • Background. A special project must include a critical literature review and an analytical component demonstrating the student's ability to interpret data. All students will be expected to critique research designs in research manuscripts in their literature review. A major distinction between a special project and a thesis is the time required completing each. In that, four credits of FSHN 702 imply a
    commitment of 160 hours (10 hr/week for one semester).
  • Topics. Examples of potential special projects include but are not limited to:
    • Focus group investigation to determine educational needs or community concerns.
    • Series of 3 to 10 case studies, depending on the complexity of cases.
    • Short survey of food behaviors and attitudes added to an existing study.
    • Designing a new survey and pilot testing with a small sample.
    • Nutritional assessment of a population of interest.
    • Analysis of data collected by health agencies for other purposes.
    • Meta-analysis of data collected for a series of experiments by one lab.
    • Biochemical measures in feeding studies
D. Examinations
 
  • Oral presentation seminar. After completing the project, the candidate will present a seminar describing the research and discuss the relevance of the results obtained. Faculty, staff, and students shall be invited to the seminar. While attendance by members of the student's committee is mandatory, other graduate faculty may attend, ask questions, and vote on the candidate's performance.
E. Advisory committee
 
  • A minimum of 3 faculty members are required, 2 of which must be graduate faculty. Students are required to have at least one (1) committee meeting per academic year to provide guidance.
  • If co-chairs are desired for the committee, the student must consult with the academic secretary for the procedures.
F. Transfer Credits
 
  • A maximum of 16 credits of courses at graduate level (grade B or better) may be transferred.

 

Application Process:

TO MAKE APPLICATION TO WSU AND FSHN

Step 1 : Apply to Washington State University (WSU) Graduate School, using the electronic application at www.wsu.edu/~gradsch/howtoapply.htm. Make sure to follow ALL directions and supply ALL documentation, transcripts, names of your three references, TOEFL score (see below), and pay the application fee. Of the three names you submit for references on the on-line Graduate School application, include your academic advisor as one of the references. Letters can be addressed to - Chair, Department of FSHN.

Step 2 : We will be notified by the Graduate School to download a copy of your application and materials.

Step 3 : Apply to the Human Nutrition by submitting the following materials in one packet (if possible) and mail to: Human Nutrition, 102 FSHN Building, PO Box 646376, Pullman, WA 99164-6376, USA:

•  Additional Information:

•  For Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) the minimum score is 550 (paper test), 213 (computer test) or 81 (for Internet test). If you received a degree from an English speaking school within two years of your intended enrollment at WSU, the TOEFL is not required. Applicants from the following countries are exempt from this English proficiency requirement: Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Botswana, Guyana, England, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Trinidad and Tobago.

•  Have ETS send your scores to: University code for Washington State University (WSU) is 4705; Departmental code for Nutrition is 0214 and Food Science is 0107.

Both domestic and international graduate student applications for admission to WSU and FSHN MUST meet the deadlines listed below before your file is reviewed:

APPLYING
FOR FALL SEMESTER
FOR SPRING SEMESTER
All Applicants
January 10th
July 1st

Teaching/Research Assistantships Information:

Assistantships in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition are available from both grant and state funds. Grant funds are awarded at the discretion of individual faculty members. We award our assistantships on a competitive basis counting heavily on academic performance, the three letters of recommendation, and other information.

As a policy, we do not award state-funded assistantships to students for whom English is a second language during their first year of study. If you are not currently studying in the US, you should be prepared to finance your first year of graduate studies. After your first year at WSU, you can apply for state assistantship support, but this is not guaranteed. To apply for an assistantship, please fill out the yellow application form which you will receive from the Graduate School. Your paperwork MUST be complete and your application paid in full before your file will be reviewed for financial support of any kind.

Departmental review of your application includes the following two stages prior to notification of admission status:

When your application is complete your file will be circulated to the GAC for review. If you meet the minimum admission standards, your application will proceed to the faculty, where they review your research interests and academic goals in hopes of finding potential advisees. Since it is necessary to find at least one faculty member willing to serve as your graduate advisor, we highly encourage you to contact any faculty of interest to discuss your research interests.

After these two reviews, our department will notify the Graduate School of our recommendation on your application. You will receive notification of your admission status from both the department and the Graduate School, the latter being the official admission notice.

Related Information:

Graduate Programs in Human Nutrition

Our programs share teaching and research activities with the Department of Food Science and Toxicology at the University of Idaho. The policies and procedures found on this website have been established as a guide to prospective students and advisors. This information is intended to be a supplement to the Graduate School Policies and Procedures established by the Graduate School at Washington State University. Faculty and prospective students should be familiar with both documents.

 

 

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