Child and Family Studies

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http://cfs.he.utk.edu

Vey M. Nordquist, Head

Professors
Barber, B., PhD - Brigham Young
Blanton, P., EdD - Tennessee
Nordquist, V., PhD - Tennessee
Twardosz, S., PhD - Kansas

Associate Professors
Devereaux, M., PhD - Tennessee
Fouts, H., PhD - Washington State
Moran, M., PhD - New Hampshire
Smith, D., PhD - Oklahoma State
Stolz, H., PhD - Brigham Young

Assistant Professors
Johnson, E., PhD - Michigan
Moore, C., PhD - Temple
Neitzel, C., PhD - Indiana
Olmstead, S., PhD - Florida State

ECE Internship Coordinator
Stott, A., MS - Tennessee

Interim Director
Brookshire, R., MS - Kentucky

Clinical Assistant Professors
Fitzgerald, K., PhD - Tennessee

The Department of Child and Family Studies provides both master’s and doctoral degrees. Our graduate programs are based on the model of the empirically-based professional or social scientist. Graduate students learn to conduct research on child development, family studies, and educational environments in accordance with established standards of scientific inquiry and evaluation. Child and family studies graduate programs seek to produce researchers, scholars, and educators who are capable of independent investigation of family and developmental processes. Students also receive training in how to conduct scientifically-based assessments of prevention, intervention and educational strategies. Many opportunities exist in child and family studies for graduate students to become involved in research on children, youth, and families. The central premise of graduate programs in child and family studies is the idea that scientific inquiry provides the most effective means to improve the welfare of children, youth and families.

A cornerstone idea for child and family studies graduate programs is development in context, or the perspective that human development is best understood in terms of interconnections among families, neighborhoods, schools, communities, cultures, and international environments. A more specific focus within this development in context perspective is an emphasis on children, youth, and families at risk.  Together, these two themes, development in context and children, youth, and families at risk, are the foundations upon which our graduate curriculum options are structured.

Admission

Complete and submit formal online application to the Graduate Admissions Office, along with the application fee. For the department, a completed file for review includes a departmental application, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores for the general section, and completion of three Graduate Rating Forms by individuals who can attest to the applicant’s potential for graduate education. Forms may be obtained from the department or departmental link on the college website.

Admission to the program is contingent upon faculty evaluation of GRE scores, undergraduate/graduate GPA, rating forms, work experience, and the match between student’s goals and department’s foci. Prerequisites for admission to the master’s program are 9 semester hours of upper-division undergraduate social science.

Prerequisites to the doctoral program are a master’s degree from a regionally accredited institution or equivalent, completion of the 12-hour foundation core in the child and family studies master’s program, 3 hours of computationally-based, graduate-level statistics, and completion of a thesis as part of the master’s degree.

Return to: College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences