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Dietetics Major, B.A.; B.S.

B.A. degree or B.S. degree 

A Dietetics major prepares students to meet the educational knowledge and skills specified by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) as part of the requirements to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). The complete set of requirements for the RDN include: completing the DPD, Dietetic Internship (DI), and a Master's degree. After completing the requirements, students may apply to the AND's Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) to take the dietetic registration examination and become RDN-eligible on the CDR Registry.

Students pursuing this major are encouraged to meet with a dietetics advisor to ensure they understand the educational pathway and to complete the program in a timely manner.

  • Effective January 1, 2024, any person taking the registration examination for the RDN credential will need to have completed a Master’s degree along with an accredited DPD.

Admission Requirements, Retention & Termination Standards

Students must have a minimum of 3.00 overall GPA in order to declare the dietetics major and enter the Pre-professional Phase. Students must achieve an overall minimum GPA of 3.00, which will include the DPD course work; the student cannot have a grade lower than a 2.0 (C) in any DPD course work in order to be considered for the Professional Phase.

Both GPAs must include courses completed at other institutions as well as those completed at CMU.

Selection criteria include:

  1. Application;
  2. Overall GPA;
  3. DPD Course Work;
  4. To graduate with dietetics as a major and to receive a verification statement from the dietetics program, students are not allowed to take any required dietetic courses as credit/no credit;
  5. Professional recommendation;
  6. Work, volunteer, and extra-curricular experience;
  7. Autobiographical statement.

Professional Phase Requirements:

  1. Adherence to the Academy of Nutrition Dietetics Professional Code of Ethics.
  2. Maintenance of a 3.0 GPA overall and in DPD coursework.

Program Requirements

Dietetics Core (40 hours)

NDS 160Introduction to Food and Culinary Techniques

3(2-2)

NDS 271Food and Culture

3(3-0)

NDS 361Food Science

4(3-2)

NDS 364Food Safety, Sanitation, and Health

3(3-0)

NDS 367Institutional Food Production Laboratory

1(0-2)

NDS 370Nutrition

3(3-0)

NDS 374WINutrition in the Life Cycle

3(3-0)

NDS 469Foodservice Systems Administration

3(3-0)

NDS 471Medical Nutrition Therapy I

3(3-0)

NDS 472Medical Nutrition Therapy II

3(3-0)

NDS 473Advanced Nutrition

4(4-0)

NDS 480Nutritional Education and Counseling

4(4-0)

NDS 481Community Nutrition: Field Work

3(Spec)

Other Requirements I (5-8 hours)

CHM 120Survey of Chemistry

4(4-0)

CHM 127Introductory Chemistry Laboratory

1(0-2)

CHM 131General Chemistry I

4(3-3)

CHM 132General Chemistry II

4(3-3)

Note: You must take both CHM 120 and CHM 127 OR CHM 131 and CHM 132.

Other Requirements II (11 hours)

BIO 208Microbiology

4(3-3)

CHM 342Survey of Organic Chemistry

4(3-3)

CHM 421Introductory Biochemistry for Health Sciences

3(3-0)

Notes:

Other Requirements III (4-8 hours)

Select one of the following options:

Option 1 (4 hours)

BIO 392Mammalian Physiology

4(3-3)

Option 2 (8 hours)

HSC 214Human Anatomy

4(3-3)

HSC 215Human Physiology

4(3-2)

Other Requirements IV (3 hours)

Select one of the following:

HSC 544Biostatistics

3(2-1)

STA 282QRIntroduction to Statistics

3(3-0)

Total: 63-70 semester hours