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 tevens Point State University plans to implement a new home economics unit in its business major
program next fall, which will offer specialized study in fashion merchandising, communications, food and equipment and interior
decorating.
Dr. Agnes Jones, assistant dean in the College of Professional Studies, said members of the Board of Regents have approved the
plan and the Coordinating Council for Higher Education is expected to give a final okay in March.
"Jobs today are requiring more specialized training, and our present major is too general in meeting the growing needs of
business and industry," Mrs. Jones said. About 50 women are planning to complete their degree requirements in the new
program, she added.
Specialization in communication will involve classes dealing with radio, television and newspaper journalism. There are few
other comparable university offerings on an American campus and it will train persons to demonstrate and explain advancements
in home economics to the general public.
The interior decorating courses will tackle the broad issue of housing, including commercial and residential decorating. Foods
and equipment will provide training for persons interested in working for firms that manufacture, sell or are associated with
food preparation and other household appliances. And fashion merchandising will prepare buyers for retail outlets.
With nearly 475 students, Stevens Point's home economics school ranks in size in the top 25 percent of all similar programs at
American colleges and universities. There are 16 faculty members - eight with doctorate's - in the program, which started in
1902 after the Board of Regents approved "That a domestic science department be established at Stevens Point for the training
of teacher." A high school graduate who completed the two-year course was considered qualified to teach the general subjects
in Wisconsin high schools, wrote President Emeritus William C. Hansen in a history of the university.
Today, besides the proposed home economics in business, there are undergraduates majors in food and nutrition and home
economics education, and a Master of Science program in home economics education. They offer specialization of food service
management, dietetics, experimental food and nutrition. And within a year of option in early childhood education is planned,
drawing on resources of faculty in both the schools of home economics and education.
Mrs. Jones said despite the economic downturn in recent months, students graduating from her school generally have had little
difficulty finding employment. The situation, however, has not been the same in other academic disciplines.
The future is especially encouraging, she reports. Demands for food and nutrition specialists are far outrunning the supply;
with better-trained students available who have specific skills in home economics, industry probably will be opening more jobs;
and with growing emphasis on home economics in public and vocational schools, need for home economics teachers will remain.
There are only two men currently enrolled in home economics classes, and Mrs. Jones says she finds that a bit surprising because
of the professional opportunities members of that sex could capitalize on.
It's just a matter of time for them to start enrolling in larger numbers, she predicts.
Stevens Point Daily Journal
February 2, 1971
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