The registered dietitian is the nutrition and food expert. To become a part of the growing and vital profession of dietetics, take the following steps:

• 1. Complete a baccalaureate didactic degree program that is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) such as the dietetics concentration DPD Consortium at Tarleton. Upon graduation, students will receive a verification statement of completion. As part of the consortium agreement, the degree will be awarded by Tarleton and the verification statement with be issued by Stephen F. Austin State University. Please see the SFA DPD Verification Statement Policy for more information. The Dietetics concentration in the Bachelor’ of Science in the Nutrition Science is the only ACEND-accredited Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) degree track at Tarleton. More information on program completion and graduation requirements can be found in the TSU DPD Consortium Student Handbook.
• 2. Acquire supervised practice experience by applying for and successfully completing an ACEND-accredited supervised practice program, commonly referred to as a Dietetic Internship (DI).
• 3. Pass the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR) credentialing exam for Registration Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN).

The State of Texas does have licensure for RDNs and many employers in Texas may require licensure. Information on licensure for the State of Texas can be found on the Texas Department of Licensure and Regulation website. This CDR document includes a listing of state and U.S. territory licensure and certification/laws.

Upon receiving your BS in nutrition science with a concentration in dietetics and your verification statement, if you do not wish to complete a dietitian internship, you are still eligible to become a dietetic technician, registered (NDTR). For more information on this, please contact the DPD director.

Effective January 1, 2024, the CDR will require a minimum of a master’s degree to be eligible to take the credentialing exam to become a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). In addition, the CDR requires that individuals complete coursework and supervised practice in program(s) accredited by ACEND. Graduates who successfully complete the ACEND-accredited DPD at TSU are eligible to apply to an ACEND-accredited supervised practice program such. Once they have completed the 1,000-hour supervised practice experience, candidates are eligible to apply to take the CDR credentialing exam to become an RDN. For more information about educational pathways to become an RDN, visit the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics’ information for students webpage.

Per Tarleton’s DPD consortium agreement with Stephen F. Austin State University, post-baccalaureate students seeking a verification statement must apply through SFASU and will have prior learning evaluated by the DPD Director at SFASU.  More information on policies and procedures for assessment of prior learning is found in the TSU DPD Consortium student handbook.

For students new to TSU who are transferring in credit, the DPD at TSU follows the university policy related to transfer credits.  For more information on transfer credit visit https://www.tarleton.edu/admissions/transfer/

In addition to course credit, the DPD at TSU/SFASU is required to track completion of specific knowledge assessments, known as KRDNs. Each DPD student must receive a 70% or better on all KRDN assessments to receive a verification statement. The verification statement, along with a B.S. degree from our accredited program, is what enables you to go on to apply for a dietetic internship, the next step in becoming a registered dietitian.

KRDN assessments are embedded into upper-level nutrition and food service management courses. If you are transferring in any upper-level (-3000 or -4000) nutrition (NUTR) or food service management (RSTO) courses, the DPD director located at SFASU is required to confirm completion of KRDN assessments before issuing a verification statement.

To do this, you will need to provide a transcript verifying the completion of the course(s) and a syllabus for each course. This should be done the semester following completion of the course, or at least 6 weeks prior to graduation. The DPD director will review both the transcripts and syllabus, and complete a form known as the “Knowledge (KRDN) Assessment for Transfer Credits.” If it is determined that you did not meet the KRDNs with the transfer credits, you will be asked complete KRDN assessments outside of your coursework at TSU. You must complete all KRDN assessments with a 70% or better prior to graduation and, if you do not, you will not be issued a verification statement of completion.

More information about policies and procedures for assessment of prior learning can be found in the TSU DPD Consortium Student Handbook.

Beginning in Fall 2022, DPD faculty will start to track student grades on all assessments associated with KRDNs. The criterion for demonstrating satisfactory performance is a 70% or greater on all assignments associated with KRDNs. This must be met for all DPD KRDNs for the student to receive a verification statement, and students will be made aware of this in NUTR 1307, as well as by the policy in DPD handbook and a statement on the DPD website. If a student receives less than a 70%, remediation will be required. Below is a step-by-step description of the protocol for remediation:

1. A DPD student receives a grade less than 70% on an assignment associated with a KRDN. Instructor of record contacts the student, letting the student know that they must re-submit the assignment in Canvas or Qualtrics University and must receive a grade of 70% or better on the re-submission. With this email from the instructor, students will also receive a link to the remediation policy in the DPD Student Handbook. The instructor of record will indicate the name of the student, KRDN requiring remediation, and date of first remediation submission attempt in an Excel spreadsheet housed within the DPD Microsoft Teams folder. In the aforementioned excel, the instructor of record will indicate whether the student successfully or unsuccessfully completed remediation.

If a student is unsuccessful at completing remediation, that student will be contacted by the DPD Director. The DPD Director will then work with the student on further remediation efforts.