Food Safety and Defense (Certificate)

Cert

Food Safety and Defense
,

Online 12 cr

Protecting the human food supply from accidental or deliberate contamination of pathogenic microbes and toxicants

Description

The Food Safety & Defense online graduate certificate program is an inter-institutional certificate program offered as part of the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (GPIDEA / AG IDEA), in cooperation with Iowa State University, Kansas State University, and the University of Missouri.

This online certificate can complement a graduate degree program or allow food industry professionals to advance their careers while working full-time to pursue in-depth specialized training. Core courses include Food Microbiology, Food Safety and Security, HACCP, and Food Toxicology as well as two additional elective courses.

Courses

Career Pathways

  • Food Safety Analyst

  • Food Safety Engineer

  • HACCP Consultant

  • Plant Manager

  • Quality Control Specialist

Applying for Admission

Standard requirements for all graduate programs

  • Application for Admission with $50 non-refundable application fee.
  • Transcripts (unofficial): Uploaded as part of application form.

    If International: Uploads must include all college- or university-level transcripts or mark sheets (records of courses and marks earned), with certificates, diplomas, and degrees plus certified English translations.

    After admission: Official documents are required from all students who are admitted and enroll. Photocopies of certified records are not acceptable. International students enrolled in other U.S. institutions may have certified copies of all foreign records sent directly to the Office of Graduate Studies by their current school’s registrar office.

  • If applicant’s native language is not English, verification of English proficiency is required.

    When sending TOEFL scores, our institution code is 6877 and a department code is not needed.

  • If applicant is not a US citizen and expects an F or J visa: financial information.
  • Applicants must also fulfill any additional requirements the department specifies at the time of application.

Additional requirements specific to this program

  • Resume/CV
  • Personal Statement: One-page statement including your professional goals and how enrolling in this program will assist you in meeting your professional goals. 
  • Letters of Recommendation: At least 1, up to 3.

Certificate programs are not considered degree programs, additionally, coursework for this program is delivered primarily online, so international students should be aware that admission to this program is ineligible for immigration forms for an F-1 student visa.

Admission Application Deadlines

  • July 15 for Fall (August) Admission
  • December 15 for Spring (January) Admission
  • April 1 for Summer (May) Admission

Program Faculty

Jennifer Auchtung (bio)

Microbiota, Diet-Host Interactions in Health and Disease

Andrew Benson (bio)

Diet-Microbiome-Host Interactions

Edward Deehan (bio)

Dietary Interventions in Humans to Study Diet-Gut-Microbiome-Health Inter-Relationships, Investigates how non-digestible compounds such as dietary fibers can be used to promote health through their actions in the gastrointestinal tract

Kurt Piepenbrink (bio)

Bacterial adhesion and motility through surface structures, including host-microbe and inter-microbial interactions.

Jeffrey Price (bio)

Role of the Microbiome in Health and Disease

Amanda Ramer-Tait (bio)

Host-Microbiota Interactions in Health & Disease, Influence of Diet on the Gut Microbiota, Nebraska Gnotobiotic Mouse Program (director)

Devin Rose (bio)

Grain and pulse quality and gut health

Hyun-Seob Song (bio)

Gut Microbiome Modeling, Human Organ Modeling, Computational Drug Discovery, Personalized Nutrition

Jayne Stratton (bio)

Validation of Food Processes for Safety and Quality

Rossana Villa-Rojas (bio)

Product Safety Through Innovative Processing and Sanitation, MS Project Advising Coordinator

Bing Wang (bio)

Microbial Risk Assessment, Predictive Microbiology, Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Curtis Weller (bio)

Processing of Food and Agricultural Materials, Food Science and Technology Department Head

Yanbin Yin (bio)

Bioinformatics, Genomics, Microbiome, Genomic Data Mining, Genome Evolution

UNL Graduate Chairs and staff please complete the program update form to provide edits. Updates to graduate program pages are made on an annual basis in conjunction with the Graduate Application for Admission.