George Fox University | Academics | Family and Consumer Sciences

FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES

Family and Consumer Sciences Major (B.S.)

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

Students may choose among four concentrations in family and consumer sciences. Descriptions and course requirements follow.

Family and Consumer Sciences Concentration

Family and consumer sciences are grounded in the sciences and humanities. At the core is concern for the biological, social, aesthetic, physical, economical, and psychological needs of each family member. Today's families must be able to manage relationships, services, goods, and resources.

The family and consumer sciences major graduates with a bachelor of science degree. Graduates find employment in the traditional areas: home extension, food research, nutrition research, food service management, child care, fashion design, homemaking, retail merchandising, dietetics, equipment sales, and journalism. They also find newer, nontraditional careers in these and other fields: debt counseling, energy conservation management, advertising, equipment promotion demonstration, and public relations.

The following courses, totaling 43 semester hours, are required for a concentration in family and consumer sciences:
FCSC 120 Apparel Construction
FCSC 211 Foods I
FCSC 212 Foods II
FCSC 220 Fashion and Society
FCSC 230 Textiles Science
FCSC 250 Residential Technology
FCSC 280 Marriage and the Family
FCSC 290 Meal Management
FCSC 300 Nutrition
FCSC 311 Human Development: Infancy to Adolescence
Either FCSC 320 Fashion Merchandising or FCSC 370 Pattern Drafting and Apparel Design
FCSC 330 Residential Architecture
FCSC 350 Resource Management
FCSC 351 Interior Design I
FCSC 360 Consumer Buying
FCSC 490 Senior Seminar

Foods and Nutrition in Business Concentration

Foods and nutrition in business is a multidisciplinary concentration incorporating academic cores in consumer-oriented food science education, human nutrition, and business.

Course work in food composition and preparation, analysis of consumer trends, and recognition of global food issues prepares students as food professionals, while course work in human nutrition and contemporary nutrition issues equips them with the knowledge base necessary to work in areas of fitness management, diet analysis, and consumer nutrition education. The third core of course work serves as the medium for the utilization of this knowledge base, preparing students for careers in industries requiring the skills of food specialists, including new product development, test kitchens, recipe development, and food product promotion.

In the general education program, CHEM 151 General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry and ECON 201 Principles of Economics are required.

The following courses, totaling 44 semester hours, are required for a concentration in foods and nutrition in business:
FCSC 211 Foods I
FCSC 212 Foods II
FCSC 250 Residential Technology
FCSC 290 Meal Management
FCSC 300 Nutrition
FCSC 310 Food, Culture, and Society
FCSC 344 Quantity Food Production and Management
FCSC 350 Resource Management
FCSC 360 Consumer Buying
FCSC 430 Nutrition and the Life Cycle
FCSC 475 Field Experience
FCSC 490 Senior Seminar
BUSN 110 Introduction to Business
BUSN 300 Management
BUSN 340 Marketing
ACCT 271 Principles of Accounting

Fashion Merchandising/Interior Design Concentration

The fields of fashion merchandising and interior design share a common base of knowledge grounded in the academic fields of family and consumer sciences and business. A background in apparel construction and design, merchandising of fashion, and market analysis prepares students for careers in fashion merchandising.

Residential architecture, household technology, and interior design classes prepare students for positions as interior designers. Career opportunities include merchandise buying, design display, entrepreneurship, apparel design, textile design, fashion analysis, interior design, housing and home planning, kitchen and bath design, equipment promotion demonstration, energy conservation management in the home, furniture sales, and business management and administration.

A field experience (internship) in the Portland metropolitan area puts students in the workplace before graduation, giving them valuable business experience.

The following courses, totaling 44 semester hours, are required for a concentration in fashion merchandising and interior design:
FCSC 120 Apparel Construction
FCSC 220 Fashion and Society
FCSC 230 Textiles Science
FCSC 250 Residential Technology
FCSC 320 Fashion Merchandising
FCSC 330 Residential Architecture
FCSC 350 Resource Management
FCSC 351 Interior Design I
FCSC 360 Consumer Buying
FCSC 370 Pattern Drafting and Apparel Design
FCSC 475 Field Experience
FCSC 490 Senior Seminar
BUSN110 Introduction to Business
Either BUSN 300 Management or BUSN 340 Marketing

Take two of the following four classes:
FCSC 352 Interior Design II
FCSC 353 Interior CAD
FCSC 378 Apparel CAD
FCSC 460 Apparel Market Analysis

Cooperative 3-1 Degree Program Concentration With the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising

George Fox University offers a cooperative degree program with the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) in Los Angeles, California. This cooperative program provides for students to attend George Fox University for three years, which allows the completion of all general education classes, all elective classes, and 14 hours in the fashion merchandising/interior design major.

Students attend FIDM for either their junior or senior year to complete a specialized major. The broad spectrum of related courses at FIDM is more varied in content and specific in focus, which allows for the following specializations: interior design, merchandise development, merchandise management, and fashion design.

Graduates receive a bachelor of science degree in family and consumer sciences, with a concentration in interior design, merchandise marketing, or fashion design from George Fox, and a professional certification from FIDM.