Under the approved increase, dietetics internship fees will increase from $250 per course ($750 per year) to $750 per semester ($1,500 per year). The new fees will take effect beginning with the fall 2003 semester.

The dietetics program is housed in the University's Department of Human Environmental Studies. Students compete nationally for slots in post-graduate dietetics internship/residency programs across the country, with Southeast offering one of many such post-graduate programs. Enrollment in the dietetics internship administered at Southeast is limited by the American Dietetics Association (ADA) to six students per year.

The maximum fee generated will be $9,000 per year, which will be used as the operations and student labor budget for the academic year, making the internship operation essentially self-supporting. Accreditation costs also will be covered by these funds.

Dr. Paula King, chair of the Department of Human Environmental Studies, says that because competition for internship slots is national, with placement supervised by the ADA, increased program costs are within the national fee range and will affect only one or two students from the Southeast service region annually who are placed in internships in this region. She says Southeast students compete with other dietetics students from across the nation for dietetics internships. This is a required step en route to sitting for the registered dietetics exam. Many Southeast students are placed in dietetics internships elsewhere in the United States. Only a small number of students who earn their undergraduate degree at Southeast also complete their dietetics internship in this region, King said.