{"id":2008,"date":"2025-05-23T08:52:45","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T13:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/cnpd\/?p=2008"},"modified":"2025-06-18T10:54:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T15:54:22","slug":"nutrition-dietetics-department-news-summer-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/cnpd\/2025\/05\/nutrition-dietetics-department-news-summer-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Nutrition & Dietetics Department News, Summer 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

An update from the Chair<\/h2>\n
\"Desiree
Desiree Tande<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We have had another great year filled with student and faculty successes. I hope you enjoy reading about them throughout this newsletter. Nutrition & Dietetics (N&D) has built upon a culture of excellence and professionalism to grow our presence on campus and positively impact the greater community in positive ways related to food and nutrition. N&D started off the year with Drs. Swanson and Villano hosting a nutrition-focused physical exam training event for preceptors and our faculty and staff hosting alumni and students at a social at FNCE was a highlight of the conference experience. Students and faculty took part and presented important research and scholarship in teaching happening at UND. Notably, we were UND proud when alumni, Jami (Lee) Rokala was a featured speaker at the conference, sharing her work overcoming eating difficulties in children.<\/p>\n

Our research and scholarship work is ramping up thanks to the leadership of Dr. Johnson<\/a> and passion for advancing the field held by all faculty including Erin Lauckner<\/a>, Dr. Bodensteiner<\/a>, Dr. Swanson<\/a>, and Dr. Villano<\/a>. Focus areas for this past academic year include: geriatric nutritional health, nutrition focused physical exam, campus food insecurity, food access and health, and AI in teaching and recipe development. Dr. Johnson was the invited speaker for the campus Pack the Pantry event.<\/a> N&D faculty shine sweeping the college faculty awards for AY 2024-2025. The Teaching award<\/a> recipient was Dr. Swanson, and Dr. Johnson was recipient of both the Service<\/a> and Research awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Erin Lauckner partnered with faculty from the College of Education and Human Development to host an Earth Day event<\/a> featuring a variety of educational opportunities for UND students including Dietetics students presenting on food sustainability topics. These students also shared their important work recently at the North Dakota Nutrition Conference. Several graduate and undergraduate students were outstanding representatives of N&D, contributing to research (presentations and manuscripts) and community nutrition education through various campus, state, and national events. They couldn\u2019t do this important work without the expertise and advisement of our indispensable team of faculty.<\/p>\n

Academic programs continue to be responsive to workforce and education demands. Drs. Bodensteiner and Swanson collaborated to develop a Human Nutrition (BSHN) \u2013 Master of Science combined program option with 6 credit hours counting toward each degree. Dr. Danielle Villano will assume a new position as Interim Graduate Program Director, managing the Dietetics program and distance MS students. We appreciate Dr. Anne Bodensteiner\u2019s amazing work over the past 6 years with the MS in Nutrition to establish a strong culture of student-focused excellence.<\/p>\n

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Congratulations to this year’s Wenberg Preceptor Award Recipients<\/h2>\n

N&D extends our heartfelt thanks to the incredible preceptors who supported our students throughout the 2024-2025 academic year. Your guidance and mentorship make a lasting impact!<\/p>\n

Congratulations to Michelle Fundingsland and Rondee Boe Feltman, this year\u2019s Wenberg Preceptor Award recipients.<\/p>\n

Read more about the award, our amazing recipients, and opportunities for preceptor development and CPEUs.<\/a><\/p>\n

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2025 Nutrition & Dietetics Program Updates<\/h2>\n

Human Nutrition<\/h3>\n

The Human Nutrition program continues with two options. One focuses on health promotion, and the other focuses on the sciences, which serves as a pre-health option. The program has evolved to be offered either online or on campus, which is appealing and offers more flexibility for students. This is the first semester that more online students are enrolled in the program than on campus.<\/p>\n

Recently, as mentioned in the MS nutrition degree update, undergraduate students will be able to complete a combined BS in human nutrition\/MS in nutrition degree. The combined BS\/MS will allow students wishing to pursue a master\u2019s degree in nutrition at UND to take up to 6 credits of dual-counted courses in their graduate degree and count them toward their MS degree.<\/p>\n

In this academic semester, we are happy to have 14 students enrolled in the BSHN, with two graduating.<\/p>\n

\"Brenna
Brenna Swanson, PhD, RDN, LRD, CDCES, NBC-HWC Clinical Assistant Professor Human Nutrition Program Director<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dietetics<\/h3>\n

Master\u2019s in Nutrition and Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching<\/h4>\n

Our graduate program continues to evolve in response to the changing field of nutrition. Starting fall 2025, the online MS program<\/a> will offer more flexibility for students. Rather than having unique specialization tracks in nutrition science or nutrition education and counseling, we have removed those options thus allowing students to take more nutrition elective courses to personalize their degree. Additionally, undergraduate students will be able to complete a combined BS in human nutrition\/MS in nutrition degree. The combined BS\/MS will allow students wishing to pursue a master\u2019s degree in nutrition at UND to take up to 6 credits of dual-counted courses in their graduate degree and count them toward their MS degree.<\/p>\n

We continue to offer the Graduate Certificate in Health and Wellness Coaching<\/a> that prepares students with the educational requirements for the NBHWC national exam. One curriculum change was made to provide additional support in coaching practice and coaching calls. Students who begin in the summer of 2025 will take a practicum course in the spring instead of the nutrition education and program planning course.<\/p>\n

In this academic year, we will celebrate 10 MS graduates and three completions of Health and Wellness Coaching certificates.<\/p>\n

\"Anne
Anne Bodensteiner, Ph.D., R.D.N., L.R.D., NBC-HWC Clinical Associate Professor Graduate Program Director<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Student Association for Nutrition and Dietetics<\/h2>\n

This year S.A.N.D was able to meet 11 times over the Fall and Spring semesters. This included eight main meetings, two mentor-mentee study sessions at the end of each semester, and one social. The meetings over the year included guest speakers, Jami Rokala, Makenna Marek, Jenn Haugen, and Danielle Schindele. Additionally, we discussed many volunteer opportunities in the community for our members to partake in. Career services joined us to discuss resumes, cover letters, and other professional documents. By offering this to our members, we were able to set them up for success in many realms, especially for applying to the ABM program. Within the fall semester, many members of S.A.N.D were able to attend the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo in Minneapolis, Minnesota. S.A.N.D. was able to help with partial reimbursement fund through the Student Organization Funding Agency.<\/p>\n

The spring semester included team building activities such as a potluck, nutrition-focused game, and interpersonal game to become more familiar with each other. Specifically, we were able to host a food drive in the month of April, coinciding with the Earth Day event hosted in the Education building at UND. Hugo\u2019s did sponsor two gift cards, as a drawing prize for participating in the food drive.<\/p>\n

These highlighted events show the dedication and effort that S.A.N.D. officers and members put forward this year. It was a successful year, in which the club was able to reach both the community and UND students to foster a positive learning environment and \u201cfamily\u201d within the Nutrition and Dietetics Programs.<\/p>\n\n\t\t