Strategic Goals and Objectives
2001-2006

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Background:

The Division of Nutritional Sciences is The Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Nutrition of the University of Illinois that was established as a formal graduate program in 1968. The diversity inherent to the field of nutrition is reflected in our faculty and students. The Division currently consists of 60 faculty members representing 18 departments in 8 colleges on the Urbana-Champaign campus and 1 college on the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois. In the last 33 years, the Division has achieved an eminent record in research and graduate training, and informal polls consistently have ranked us among the top nutrition graduate programs in the U.S. This recognition is based primarily on the quality of the Nutritional Sciences faculty and graduate students and their research accomplishments. Between 1986 and 1995, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked 3rd among North American universities (U.S. and Canada) in terms of number of doctoral degrees conferred (70), behind Cornell (144) and U.C. Davis (73). Illinois produced ~40% more doctoral students than the remaining 6 universities in the top 10, which conferred on average ~50 doctoral degrees during the same period of time. (Keller HH, Østbye T, Edwards HG, Johnston C. A decade of doctoral research in nutrition. J American Dietetic Association 1999; 99; 1065-71).

In addition, Nutritional Sciences faculty provide significant contributions to public service by holding high offices and leadership positions in national and international scientific societies, on advisory and policy committees and on editorial boards of top scientific journals. Furthermore, many Nutritional Sciences faculty members have garnered prestigious awards for their teaching and research accomplishments from campus, college and professional societies. Research is a vital component of graduate training and Nutritional Sciences faculty are successful in obtaining research grants from Federal and State agencies, commodity groups, and industrial organizations. Faculty associated with the Division of Nutritional Sciences are recognized for their significant research contributions in the following 5 areas: 1) Animal Models of Human Disease; 2) Dietary Bioactive Components; 3) Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition; 4) Animal Nutrition; and 5) Human Nutrition. To maintain our current position as one of the top nutrition training programs, the Division must work to enhance our strengths, correct any weakness, and take appropriate steps in response to opportunities and challenges.

Introduction to the 2001 Strategic Plan:

1997 Strategic Plan:

To maintain our current position as one of the top nutrition training programs, the Division must work to identify and enhance our strengths, correct any weakness, and plan appropriate courses of action in response to opportunities and threats. In 1996-1997, a strategic planning activity for the Division of Nutritional Sciences (DNS) was conducted to re-examine the vision and mission of the DNS and to develop priorities for future activities. The primary factors motivating the 1997 Strategic Plan were externally-driven and included: 1) the reorganization of the College of Agriculture at UIUC and the subsequent creation of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition; 2) an erosion of financial and human support from some participating units; 3) suggestions from the External Advisory Committee; 4) the need for periodic re-evaluation of program goals and objectives; 5) the approval of an independent nutrition Ph.D. program at UIC; and 6) the emergence of the Functional Foods for Health program.

Five key issues facing the Division of Nutritional Sciences were identified:

1. The lack of a clearly defined identity for the DNS

2. The need for marketing activities that promote the value of the Division (internal and external)

3. The need for enhanced funding for programs, student and faculty support, and development activities

4. The need for sustained administrative support

5. The need to assess appropriateness of curricula, joint programs and relationships to other programs

At the outset of the 2001 planning process, a review of the progress made towards achieving the specific goals outlined to address the above 5 issues was made. Some progress has been made, particularly in relation to items 1,3 and 5. However, several of the issues continue to face the DNS and will continue to be addressed in the 2001 Strategic Plan.

2001 Strategic Plan:

The goal of the 2001 Strategic Plan is to outline a framework for the future direction of the DNS that will position us as a center of excellence for preparing future leaders in nutrition. Our Strategic Plan will incorporate recent recommendations promoting interdisciplinary and integrative approaches to graduate nutrition education from the American Society for Nutritional Sciences (discussed below). Our plan will assist in the implementation of strategies outlined in the Food and Health Agenda (agenda 3) of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences strategic plan (Making Change Work, v. 1.0, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2000. Report available at http://www.aces.uiuc.edu). The Mission Theme of the Food and Health Agenda is to "Promote a safe, nutritious, abundant and affordable supply of food that enhances human health." The mission and goals of the DNS are congruent with those outlined in Goal 3.2, Promote Nutrition and Health. Our goals specifically address the Implementation Strategy B outlined in the College Strategic Plan, which is to "Promote excellence in research and graduate training through cross-disciplinary programs and collaboration established in the Division of Nutritional Sciences…."

Issues to be considered during implementation of the 2001-2006 Strategic Plan:

1. How to provide graduate nutrition education in the context of an integrative science?

   - Advances in information technology and the life sciences revolution, particularly the sequencing and elucidating the function of the human genome, will afford nutrition scientists unique opportunities for research at the cutting edge of nutritional genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics. Nutritional manipulation provides the safest and most effective means to modify genome function and stability. Thus, nutrition should be a vital component in the paradigm of post-genomics interdisciplinary research.

   - In 2001, the Long Range Planning Committee of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences published an article entitled "Nutrition: A reservoir for integrative science." (Zeisel SH, Allen LH, Coburn SP, Erdman JW, Failla ML, Freake HC, King JC, Storch J. Nutrition: a reservoir for integrative science. Journal of Nutrition 2001; 131:1319-1321.) This article outlined the wealth of opportunities that are available to nutritional scientists as it becomes necessary for scientists to translate observations resulting from genomic and molecular approaches to whole body metabolism. Furthermore, it will become increasingly necessary not only to integrate and extrapolate from molecular markers to metabolism, but also from metabolic frameworks to behaviors of individuals and groups. Watkins et al. present the case that a bioinformatic approach to the study of human metabolites (metabolomics) has the potential to identify and validate targets to improve the nutritional health of an individual, just as the comparison of an individual's genotype with a genomic database will further our ability to tailor prescription drugs to that individual. (Watkins SM, Hammock BD, Newman JW, German JB. Individual metabolism should guide agriculture towards foods for improved health and nutrition. American Journal Clinical of Nutrition 2001; 74:283-286.) This bioinformatic approach will, in turn, guide the design of the next generation of value-added foods and crops for improved health.

   - Thus, the need for scientists to deal with increasing complexity should drive a movement towards an integrationist approach to science. Nutritional scientists are well positioned to take the lead in this movement, as we have a long-established presence in this area. The ASNS report further stated that "Nutrition's most valuable niche is based on our ability to integrate and our strategy must be to purposefully design our training programs so that our graduates have this capacity."

   - We recognize that we can not expect to achieve excellence in all areas of nutritional science research. Our research strengths have been, and continue to be, in areas such as animal models, intermediary metabolism, protein and amino acid nutrition, disease prevention by nutrients and bioactive components in food, fiber, anaerobic microbiology, and gastrointestinal physiology and immunology. Considerable expertise with animal species is also available among DNS faculty, with research projects utilizing normal and genetically modified rodents, swine, avians, dogs, cats and ruminant animals. To maintain our unique and strong identity, our goal should be to build upon our historic area strength while moving towards greater integration across and between disciplines in both our curricula and the research programs of Division faculty.

2. Is our graduate training congruent with the changing face of graduate education and career placement?

   - The numbers of doctoral trainees in the biological sciences doubled between 1967 in 1997 (Survey of Earned Doctorates:Summary Report for 1997; Garrison JJ, Gerbi SA. Education and employment patterns of U.S. Ph.D.'s in the biomedical sciences. FASEB Journal 1998; 12:139-148.) and their career paths and opportunities have changed dramatically in the last three decades.

   - A survey conducted in 1999 of Ph.D. recipients from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences showed that 75% of Ph.D. graduates between 1970-1972 held tenure track faculty positions within 10 years (Boyd D, Van Dyke M. A career outcome study. The Scientist, May 29, 2000.) In contrast, only 19% of Ph.D. graduates from 1989 held tenure track positions 10 years post-graduation. Twenty-three percent of graduates still were in postdoctoral positions, 15% were employed in industry/biotech research, 15% in college teaching positions, and 19% in other careers. Thus, we also need to prepare students for non-academic careers.

   - Graduate students trained in nutrition establish careers in diverse areas including academic teaching, academic teaching/research, research within research institutes, research and business in industrial settings, health care, and policy and intervention in governmental or institute settings, among others. Additionally, many of the most important and exciting academic challenges and employment opportunities in nutrition increasingly will occur at the interface of several disciplines.

   - Nutrition is experiencing a nearly exponential increase in knowledge. Today's nutrition graduates not only must be educated and expert in their own discipline, but also have the necessary skills to continue to self-educate as the field evolves. Identifying a common or unifying graduate nutritional sciences curriculum that capitalizes on current advances in the field and meets the needs of all students increasingly is challenging for most, if not all, academic programs. However, it is incumbent upon programs to develop curricula that enable students to learn information and concepts and provide opportunities to cultivate the necessary skills that will enable them to remain expert, effective and productive throughout their lifetime. It also is imperative that these objectives be achieved without overburdening students and without compromising their research training.

3. Is the infrastructure provided by the University of Illinois adequate for the Division to meet its goals?

- Is the financial support adequate?

- Is the administrative support structure sufficient?

- Do departments and colleges recognize the contributions of the Division to fulfilling the mission and goals of their units?

- How can the University of Illinois student accounting system be modified to recognize and reward the contributions of advisors and their departments to training Nutritional Sciences graduate students?

Strategic Goals and Objectives for 2001-2006

Our approach in outlining the Strategic Goals of the Division will be to create a vision of where we see the Division in 5 years and then to outline the strategic activities that will allow us to achieve our vision. The first step will be to state our mission (statement of purpose), our vision (our goal for the Division) and the shared values and beliefs that underlie our mission and vision. Lastly, appropriate implementation strategies and metrics (outcomes) that will be used to gauge our success will be incorporated into the Strategic Plan.

Mission Statement: To train the finest nutrition scientists by facilitating, coordinating and integrating interdisciplinary nutrition graduate education and research programs at the University of Illinois.

In support of our mission, the Division:

- provides leadership and a central focus for nutritional sciences research and graduate training in the State of Illinois

- gives clear visibility to contributions of the University of Illinois in the field of nutrition to internal and external constituencies

- enhances the quality and breadth of the nutritional sciences by integrating teaching and research resources and expertise across departments, colleges and campuses

- seeks funding sources to support interdisciplinary nutrition research and graduate education

Vision: The Division of Nutritional Sciences will be an internationally-recognized center of excellence for preparing future leaders in nutrition who are equipped to address complex interdisciplinary problems utilizing traditional and novel biological and sociological approaches.

We believe that:

-nutrition, as a discipline, is a vital link in the paradigm of post-genomics, interdisciplinary research

- due to its interdepartmental, interdisciplinary structure, the DNS has the unique ability to bring together leading scholars at the University of Illinois campus for graduate nutrition education. The programs of the Division are distinct from nutrition programs within Food Science and Human Nutrition, Animal Sciences, or Human Nutrition (UIC). Thus, the DNS provides value to the University of Illinois and our clients (students, academic institutions, the food and feed industries, governmental agencies and the public)

- exceptional faculty and high impact, state-of-the art research programs are instrumental to the success and international reputation of our graduate training program

- highest quality, motivated graduate students from diverse backgrounds are critical to the success of Nutritional Sciences

- intellectually-challenging and up-to-date courses and curricula are at the core of our graduate training program

- teaching experience and internships are important components of graduate education by fostering integration and team-work

In support of our mission and vision, we will:

Strategic Goal 1. Create an exceptional environment in which to foster interdisciplinary approaches to graduate nutrition education and research.

Objectives:

1. Build upon the research strengths of the Division through expanded interdisciplinary interactions.
   
2. Broaden the interdisciplinary nature of the Division by recruiting students from diverse backgrounds
   
3. Broaden the interdisciplinary nature of the Division by recruiting faculty into the Division that exemplify the breadth of biological and sociological approaches to nutrition research
   
4. Develop courses and learning opportunities that promote integration of nutrition knowledge within the discipline, stress interdisciplinary approaches to nutrition and ensure that students are knowledgeable in the application of state-of-the-art technologies to nutrition research
   
5. Support interdisciplinary research programs of faculty and graduate students
   
6. Create experiential learning opportunities for graduate students which foster integrative and team approaches to learning and research
   
7. Market the interdisciplinary research programs and accomplishments of Nutritional Sciences faculty and students to external constituencies

Strategic Goal 2. Improve administrative and financial support for the activities of the Division of Nutritional Sciences

Objectives:

1. Work with the Dean of the Graduate College and campus administration to modify the existing campus profile system to allow dual tracking of Nutritional Sciences students to the Division (degree) and the home departments of their advisors (advising)
   
2. Develop on-going relationships with campus administrators that support continuing recognition and support for the contributions of the DNS
   
3. Expand the diversity of sources of financial resources and overall level of funding available to the Division through grants and the Nutritional Sciences Endowment Fund
   
4. Add a 0.5 FTE administrative aid to assist with the administrative and marketing activities of the Division

Approved by faculty vote, December 2001