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SNE educational services
SNE Educational Services Effective educational services should support and inform those people involved in the process of giving and acquiring knowledge, skill, and competence. Since its inception in 1968, the Society for Nutrition Education has proceeded to build a wellrounded program of educational services for nutritionists and non-nutritionists alike. The Journal, the SNE Annual Meeting, the SNE Resource Center, and SNE films are 4 examples of ongoing services that benefit the professional and directly or indirectly his or her clientele-who is the ultimate recipient of the shared knowledge and experiences of nutritionists. Since the 1979 SNE membership survey in which SNE members ranked educational services as their highest priority for the society, SNE has begun to take a series of steps to further its involvement in this area. ONGOING SERVICES For the thirteenth consecutive year, the Journal of Nutrition Education has offered its professional readership original articles and reviews of applied nutrition research. As a whole, these articles have established sound research and philosophical bases on which to conduct future research and on which to build effective nutrition education programs. The opportunity to share ideas continues as an important service. In addition, readers always have found extensive information about current educational materials and books which they might use in their work or in their continuing selfeducation. Since the 1979 membership survey, each year JNE has published one important supplement that addresses the needs of the profession. The SNE Annual Meeting consistently has responded to expressed membership priorities related to educational services, and this year's meeting in San Diego has been no exception. Those who attended the annual meeting had the occasion to hear the many-sided discussions on the issues surrounding" Access to Food. » As usual, educators informally shared their ideas with each other and formally, through the abstract presentation sessions, had the opportunity to make known and learn about the VOLUME
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NUMBER
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1981
most recent developments in the field. Through the years these sessions have grown in both size and manner of presentation. The SNE Resource Center publishes a variety of subject-focused materials. Since 1979, SNE regularly updates and expands 4 annotated bibliographies each year to keep members informed about the range of materials available in specific areas of nutrition, such as secondary teaching and physical fitness. A new publication, the annotated Nutrition for Everybody, is an attractive booklet that guides non-nutritionists to the best and most current sources of nutrition information for the general public. Not least, SNE films constitute a series of educational programs that assist nutritionists in their jobs by providing reliable, upto-date, motivational films with excellent support materials for well-rounded programs. In 1980, 2 award-winning SNE films, Great Expectations and First Foods, became available in Spanish as part of SNE's outreach to all groups who can benefit from sound nutrition information and advice. This year SNE offers a new service for health professionals through the film and educational program Nutritional Management of High-Risk Pregnancy. It is designed to motivate the student and the trained health professional to understand the need for a nutrition component in the management of the pregnant adolescent, the pregnant diabetic, and women with preeclampsia. The reference manual accompanying the film provides a thorough backup for the implementation of such a nutritional management program. CURRENTSNE MEMBERSHIP PROJECTS SNE presently is completing a project to develop guidelines and criteria for the evaluation of nutrition educational materials. While this effort focuses on K-12 materials, it is expected that the resulting tool and manual will move towards the standardization of criteria for materials used in a variety of settings and further assist nutrition educators in developing and choosing
appropriate materials to use in their work. By SNE Board action 2 years ago, an SNE Educational Services Committee was established. Audrey Maretzki, Associate Specialist in Food and Nutrition, Cooperative Extension, University of Hawaii, has been serving as the chair. There are about 20 SNE members on the committee. They represent a wide range of interests in nutrition education. The committee is working on long-range planning; and as a first s tep to ensure an effective program of service to the membership, there is a special task force to identify assessment tools that measure nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The information is to be published as a compendium. Other committees are working on related areas. An ad hoc committee is critically reviewing the nutrition concepts used in educational programs in the schools. It expects to develop a series of concepts which eventually SNE may recommend. Another ad hoc committee is reviewing the existing research relating to competencies for nutrition education specialists and is developing a position report on the scope and practice of the nutrition educator. A group of SNE members who are involved with resource centers have circulated a questionnaire to assist in identifying the activities and needs of resource centers. A committee from the Division of Higher Education has collected a series of tests that are used in nutrition courses for nonmajors and will be making this information available. FUTURE PLANNING While SNE does provide a wide range of educational services to its members and others who are concerned about nutrition, there are probably other services which SNE should consider undertaking. SNE needs to identify future directions in this high priority area of the SNE membership . First, you could let SNE know how well ongoing services are responding to your needs. Then, tell us what other services you feel would help you to do a better job. Send your comments and suggestions to the SNE Educational Services Committee, SNE, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 1110, Berkeley, California 94704. It is through the continued development of these services that SNE can assist in strengthening the field of nutrition education and, in turn, fulfill its goal as an organization. Helen D. Ullrich Executive Director JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION
79
13
NUMBER
3
1981
most recent developments in the field. Through the years these sessions have grown in both size and manner of presentation. The SNE Resource Center publishes a variety of subject-focused materials. Since 1979, SNE regularly updates and expands 4 annotated bibliographies each year to keep members informed about the range of materials available in specific areas of nutrition, such as secondary teaching and physical fitness. A new publication, the annotated Nutrition for Everybody, is an attractive booklet that guides non-nutritionists to the best and most current sources of nutrition information for the general public. Not least, SNE films constitute a series of educational programs that assist nutritionists in their jobs by providing reliable, upto-date, motivational films with excellent support materials for well-rounded programs. In 1980, 2 award-winning SNE films, Great Expectations and First Foods, became available in Spanish as part of SNE's outreach to all groups who can benefit from sound nutrition information and advice. This year SNE offers a new service for health professionals through the film and educational program Nutritional Management of High-Risk Pregnancy. It is designed to motivate the student and the trained health professional to understand the need for a nutrition component in the management of the pregnant adolescent, the pregnant diabetic, and women with preeclampsia. The reference manual accompanying the film provides a thorough backup for the implementation of such a nutritional management program. CURRENTSNE MEMBERSHIP PROJECTS SNE presently is completing a project to develop guidelines and criteria for the evaluation of nutrition educational materials. While this effort focuses on K-12 materials, it is expected that the resulting tool and manual will move towards the standardization of criteria for materials used in a variety of settings and further assist nutrition educators in developing and choosing
appropriate materials to use in their work. By SNE Board action 2 years ago, an SNE Educational Services Committee was established. Audrey Maretzki, Associate Specialist in Food and Nutrition, Cooperative Extension, University of Hawaii, has been serving as the chair. There are about 20 SNE members on the committee. They represent a wide range of interests in nutrition education. The committee is working on long-range planning; and as a first s tep to ensure an effective program of service to the membership, there is a special task force to identify assessment tools that measure nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The information is to be published as a compendium. Other committees are working on related areas. An ad hoc committee is critically reviewing the nutrition concepts used in educational programs in the schools. It expects to develop a series of concepts which eventually SNE may recommend. Another ad hoc committee is reviewing the existing research relating to competencies for nutrition education specialists and is developing a position report on the scope and practice of the nutrition educator. A group of SNE members who are involved with resource centers have circulated a questionnaire to assist in identifying the activities and needs of resource centers. A committee from the Division of Higher Education has collected a series of tests that are used in nutrition courses for nonmajors and will be making this information available. FUTURE PLANNING While SNE does provide a wide range of educational services to its members and others who are concerned about nutrition, there are probably other services which SNE should consider undertaking. SNE needs to identify future directions in this high priority area of the SNE membership . First, you could let SNE know how well ongoing services are responding to your needs. Then, tell us what other services you feel would help you to do a better job. Send your comments and suggestions to the SNE Educational Services Committee, SNE, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, Suite 1110, Berkeley, California 94704. It is through the continued development of these services that SNE can assist in strengthening the field of nutrition education and, in turn, fulfill its goal as an organization. Helen D. Ullrich Executive Director JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION
79