After extensive renovations, the Human Sciences Cottage was dedicated as a place for community engagement on October 16. The Cottage was built in 1927 and has served many purposes including providing a practice house for Home Economics students to learn home management skills. The Cottage later housed the Child Development Research Center. The renovation, which began in 2011, was done with the intention of keeping the building as close to the original design as possible. When discussing space needs and how to best use the Cottage in line with the priorities of the College of Human Sciences and Texas Tech, one theme came up repeatedly: outreach and engagement. The Cottage reopened last year; the first floor is a conference room and meeting area that is available for public use, while the second floor is home to the Center for Adolescent Resiliency.

The Center for Adolescent Resiliency (CAR) actively cultivates the self-care and self-leadership youth need in order to successfully navigate academic and social environments and to maintain a healthy developmental trajectory toward adulthood. Students are empowered to thrive as individuals and as contributing members of diverse communities. CAR delivers three different programs to achieve their mission. The Covenant BodyMind Initiative (CBMI) is committed to fostering comprehensive wellness in youth—healthy bodies, healthy minds, healthy behaviors. United Future Leaders (UFL) is an after-school program that actively engages youth in developing character, ethics and civility that have the power to transform lives and communities. Transforming through Transition (T3) is a more recent program that integrates the leadership and wellness orientation of both the CBMI and UFL curricula and targets 8th grade students as they transition to high school. CAR programs currently are delivered through both rural and urban school districts across the South Plains and other parts of Texas, touching the lives of over 3,000 adolescents annually.

On September 1, the Department of Nutrition, Hospitality, and Retailing (NHR) in the college was restructured to form two new departments. The new departments are Hospitality and Retail Management (HRM) and Nutritional Sciences (NS). The new departments house some of the college’s largest and most successful programs. This restructuring will enable the teaching, research and outreach missions of each new department to become more focused. Former NHR chairperson Shane Blum is chairperson for the newly formed HRM department. Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, Ph.D., will join the faculty as department chairperson of the newly formed NS department. Dhurandhar is a professor in the Department of Infections and Obesity at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The new Department of Hospitality and Retail Management (HRM) houses the Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management (RHIM) and Retail Management (RTM) programs. RHIM students operate our Skyviews Restaurant which continues to provide exceptional dining for patrons and real-world experience for students. Skyviews announced that, starting in October, half of all credit card tips from Dinner Series will be donated to local charities. The program will pick a different charity each month, starting with the South Plains Food Bank in October and Lubbock Meals on Wheels in November. RHIM students participated in an exciting Wine Tourism study abroad experience last summer. The program began in Rome with 10 days of lectures about the global wine industry, wine tourism, and beverage management. Students experienced the history, culture, heritage, art and architecture of Rome first hand. The program continued in Tuscany where students learned about wine tourism firsthand by visiting local vineyards and wineries. The RTM program received a $2.9 million software package donation from JDA Software Group for educational benefit. The category management software gives students exclusive, real-life experience and makes them highly marketable graduates.

Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, Ph.D., will provide exceptional leadership for our teaching, research, and outreach goals in the new Nutritional Sciences (NS) department. NS faculty continue to coordinate with an interdisciplinary basic clinical and community translational obesity research cluster. Collaborations within the Texas Tech System, the West Texas region, and Texas agencies increase student focus on basic clinical and community research on obesity and its related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Faculty have also conducted a nutrition education intervention to elementary students as part of the East Lubbock Promise Neighborhood project, a United States Department of Education funded initiative. Community students completed nutrition lessons, observed kitchen demonstrations, and practiced cooking. Newsletters are sent to parents explaining what the students are learning. In addition nutrition presentations are made to classes during physical education classes.

Sterling T. Shumway, Ph.D., has served the college in several administrative and academic roles and we value his new leadership as chairperson for the Community, Family and Addiction Services Department (CFAS). CFAS continues to promote sustained recovery and wellness for all individuals and families through a continuum of care. As part of this mission, the college's Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery (CSAR) was moved under CFAS in September. CSAR supports research, teaching and service that encourage quality, long-term addiction recovery for university, local, state, and national communities. The success of CSAR's collegiate recovery community has been replicated in other higher education institutions across the country.

CFAS faculty and CSAR staff and students enjoyed an amazing study abroad experience last summer. They traveled to Prague to connect with young adults in recovery, and discovered similarities and differences between recovery programs in the United States and the Czech Republic. The group also met with a number of university officials from the University of New York in Prague and Charles University to discuss the possibilities of joint academic degrees, research, and collegiate recovery support. This trip established what is hoped to be a permanent summer offering for students interested in international outreach and study abroad programming.

The Department of Design (DOD) welcomed the new leadership of chairperson Sharran Parkinson, Ph.D. Parkinson previously served as chairperson and professor of the Department of Interior Design at Virginia Commonwealth University. She brings vast experience in higher education, business management, and design to the department. In support of the college's outreach and engagement initiatives, Parkinson encouraged Apparel Design and Manufacturing students Nicole Peacock and Emily Charlton to create custom outfits for conjoined twins. The project improved the students’ technical abilities and provided seven outfits for the twins including a christening gown. DOD graduate students published in an impressive number of peer-reviewed journals and presented at many national conferences this year. DOD was also invited to join the prestigious Design Futures Council as an Institutional Affiliate.

The Family and Consumer Sciences Education (FCSE) program prepares students for professional positions in secondary schools, colleges and universities, extension education, and related areas through quality teaching, research, and service. There is a critical shortage for FCSE teachers in Texas and across the nation and it will only continue to increase as more currently employed FCSE teachers become eligible to retire. The college is the only program in the nation to offer a doctoral degree in FCSE and is designed to prepare individuals for faculty positions in higher education and other professional leadership roles. FCSE also delivers an online master's degree in collaboration with the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance.

The Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) is grateful for the leadership of chairperson Jean Pearson Scott, Ph.D. Scott has decided to return to a full-time faculty position. Therefore, we are conducting a national search for a new chairperson. The chairperson is responsible for all aspects of the department including academic programs, faculty recruitment, financial affairs, and research efforts. HDFS faculty continue to excel in their teaching and research efforts. They also participate in many outreach programs. From promoting literacy in Lubbock to fostering socio-emotional development and academic readiness in Malawi, Africa, the students and faculty are changing lives for the better.

The Department of Personal Financial Planning is proud to offer a comprehensive selection of courses through our Personal Finance Program designed to meet the needs of students across campus and the world. Long recognized for excellence and leadership in educating the next generation of personal financial advisors, our new Personal Finance minor and concentration include 18 hours of coursework which cover the intricacies of basic finance skills, the consumer credit process, investing, risk management, and the skills needed to navigate their financial world. The minor enhances career opportunities and can lead to the Accredited Financial Counselor designation.

The department also offers 1-hour courses specifically designed for students entering college and for those preparing for graduation. One of the newer courses, "Life, Love, and Money," meets the university core requirement in the area of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Our "Cultural and Gender Diversity in Personal Finance" course fulfills the Texas Tech multicultural requirement. Most Personal Finance (PFI) courses are offered in both traditional classroom and on-line formats. Over 2,500 students enroll in these courses annually with over 200 minoring in PFI. Texas Tech, through the College of Human Sciences, is setting the standard in Personal Finance education. Not only do the PFI courses and minor address the need for financial literacy in our nation, they also increase demand for professional financial advisers.