Food Microbiology CEU Online: Courses on Food Safety
Choosing the Best School for Food Microbiology CEU Online Courses
Various food microbiology CEU online courses are offered by numerous educational institutions. The completion of a food microbiology online course will allow the student to earn CEU credits for advance courses in Food Safety and Defense as an area of specialization. However, a student who is considering food microbiology courses to earn CEU credits online should carefully consider the quality of distance learning education available. Undertaking future fields of specialization still require the lab training aspect of the course, and, often, lab training activities are not available in distance learning courses.
The University of Missouri was the first to offer a better option. Whereas others offer only the classroom aspect of laboratory curriculum, MU introduced microscopes for rent and pre-fixed slide materials to help distance education students earn CEU credits and realize their goals of completing a microbiology course online. They also provide simulations, video demonstrations, field trips, and tours.
Bacteria culturing is a standard procedure in actual lab work. This activity was difficult to fulfill because it is considered as unsafe for a student to conduct this type of lab work in a home environment. Safety measures require that there should be a mentor present to supervise the activity. To address this issue, MU coordinates with local experts in certain areas to act as guides to their remote distance learning students when carrying out their lab experiments. This system provides enriching hands-on activities as far as laboratory learning on Food Microbiology CEU Online Courses is concerned.
The University of Missouri-Online Courses on Food Safety and Defense
As a member of the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (IDEA**)**, MU is currently offeringa Food Safety and Defense Graduate Certificate Program. This is a post-graduate course for their summer and fall semesters under their MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education. This program allows an undergraduate with a BS in health or science programs to take advanced courses in food microbiology CEU online in preparation for his/her master’s or doctorate degree. Although the student will be enrolling at the University of Missouri as the home university, there will be courses in food microbiology CEU online that will be taken up with other universities.
It is actually a multi-institutional distance learning program wherein the University of Nebraska, Kansas State University, and Iowa State University will participate in facilitating post-baccalaureate courses as co-members of the IDEA alliance.
Actually, online degree enrollees have two options should they be interested in applying for this online Food Safety and Defense Graduate Certificate Program.
-
Students who have not yet earned a Bachelor’s Degree are allowed to enroll under this program as post baccalaureate but as a non-degree seeking student. If this course is completed and there is still no proof that a bachelor’s degree has been earned, the student will be awarded with only a graduate certificate. It is only after a transcript of the student’s bachelor degree has been submitted that the student can apply to the MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education to have his/her graduate certificate on Food Safety and Defense Graduate course recognized as Food Microbiology CEU online credits.
-
The student can as also apply as a degree-seeking graduate of a bachelor degree to earn a doctoral, master’s, or educational specialist degree. International students as well as direct transferees who wish to apply here will have to submit different forms which they can download from the site.
Please continue reading on page two for more information on Food Microbiology CEU Online.
Minimum Eligibility Requirements for Admission as Non-Degree Seeking
In order to qualify for the Food and Safety Defense Graduate course to earn CEU credits and as non-degree seeking participant, the student should have a grade point average of 3.0 or better based on the last sixty hours of the baccalaureate courses studied. Other requirements include having a standard test score of the GRE or GMAT as required by the academic program.
Foreign students who are also interested in taking food microbiology online to get CEU credits should have acceptable grade scores for TOEFL or IELTS. In addition, interested international students must show minimum level of funding capacity.
Other requirements may vary according to the condition of the degree program; hence, the interested student should check out the specific criteria and eligibility requirements at the MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education Website. Registration for this Food Safety and Defense Graduate Certificate Program started last March 01, 2010.
Curriculum and Tuition Fees for Online Courses on Food Safety and Defense Graduate Certificate Program
To complete this graduate certificate program online and earn CEU credits on food microbiology, the student will have to take up the following at the designated participating universities: Microbiology of Food at Kansas State University or Food Microbiology at University of Nebraska; Multidisciplinary Overview of Food Safety and Security also at Kansas State University; Foodborne Toxicants at Iowa State University; and HACCP at Kansas State University.
Elective Courses include Microbiology at Kansas State University; Microbiology of Fermented Foods at University of Nebraska, Risk Assessment for Food, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine at Iowa State University, Rapid Methods in Food Microbiology at Iowa State University, Food Laws and the Regulatory Process at Iowa State University, Principles of Food Defense for the Food Industry at Kansas State University and Advanced Food Microbiology, and Biotechnology at University of Missouri.
There are some course fees related to the Food Safety and Defense Graduate Certificate Program. Tuition fees for Great Plains (IDEA) Graduate Program is $417.80 per credit hour while related fees like Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources Course Fee is $40.30 per credit hour and Science Lab Course Fee is $10.80 per credit hour.
Employment Outlook for Graduates of Food Safety and Defense Bachelor or Masters Degrees
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that based on the expertise and areas of specialization, graduates of Food and Safety Degree courses usually find work either as food scientists or food technologists in the food processing industry. There are those who landed on jobs in Federal Government agencies to develop or improve a particular food product. Their work involves product development where concerns are mainly on the selection, processing, preservation, packaging, and distribution of food. Some are engaged in food research to find ways on how food can be improved through the elimination of toxic additives; hence, the importance of their courses related to food microbiology.
Employment outlook is considered to have grown faster that the average occupation. Knowledge and expertise are applied to develop new food products, improve on existing ones, and come up with methods to increase quantity in order to meet the demand of the growing population. In addition, the increasing consciousness about the possible detrimental effects in the environment likewise increases the demand for researchers who can rise up to the challenges of food science.
Those who are graduates of bachelor’s degree in food science and technology are experiencing positive employment opportunities while those with master’s or Ph.D. degree in agricultural and food science find additional opportunities as researchers and professorial jobs in colleges and universities, although the latter are rare.
The annual wages earned by food scientists and technologists were placed at $59,520 in May 2008. The lowest 10% of the workers in this occupations earned less than $33,790 while the highest 10% earned as much as $104,520.
Currently, MU Direct: Continuing and Distance Education has the current offering for Food Microbiology to earn CEU credits via online courses on Food Safety and Defense. You may want to take advantage of this graduate certificate program in paving the way for your future career as Food Scientist or Food Technologist.
References
