Family and Consumer Sciences Graduate Leads Department in Teaching Role

Texas Tech alumni finds successful career in higher education field

Amanda Holland received her bachelor's degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education from Appalachian State University in 2007 and her master's degree from East Carolina University in 2012. She graduated with her Ph.D. in Family and Consumer Sciences Education from Texas Tech University in 2018. Amanda is currently a Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Educator at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

Currently, Amanda teaches all family and consumer sciences (FCS) content courses for Murray State University as well as FCS teaching specific courses. She is also the academic advisor for the FCS education majors, the advisor of the FCS student club at Murray State University, and she recruits for their Career and Technical Education Programs.

When asked what the most enjoyable part of her job is, Amanda says that it is working with students to help them become teachers and getting to interact with high school students.

Amanda chose Texas Tech's Family and Consumer Sciences Education (FCSE) program because it is the best and the only Family and Consumer Sciences Ph.D. program in the United States. She wanted to focus on the comprehensive nature of family and consumer sciences instead of choosing a piece of FCS such as Human Development and Family Studies or Nutrition, and Texas Tech could offer her that.

"FCS is a great career field because it is so diverse in nature," Amanda said. "One day you could be teaching students the birth process and the next you could be discussing how homelessness affects a student's learning needs."

Amanda recommends the FCSE major to any current and prospective students because there are plenty of job opportunities, especially if you are willing to relocate. She also recommends it to anyone that has a love for people and for learning.

"There is a lot of work and heart that goes into being a teacher educator. However, in the end, it is all worth it."

Texas Tech's Family and Consumer Sciences Education program prepared Amanda for her current role in both formal and informal ways.

"I was able to teach classes, advise students, work on grants, write publications, and participate in professional gatherings," Amanda said. "These experiences, and many others, gave me the confidence to be a university teacher educator."

In her free time, Amanda likes to explore her new state of Kentucky and surrounding areas. She loves to read books and watch television, particularly criminal dramas. She also likes to see musicals, and she enjoys season tickets to a nearby theater in Nashville. Amanda's favorite thing to do is travel.