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Deborah Lewis Fravel, Associate Professor and Department Chair, earned a Ph.D. in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota. Her research has focused on the way people become psychologically present while physically absent in adoptive- and birth families. Dr. Fravel is also interested in parenting and in adult development.
Dr. Fravel teaches Parenthood Education, Gerontology, and Social Aspects of Aging Families.
Contact Information:
Dr. Deborah Lewis-Fravel, Associate Professor and Chair
Office: 311A Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1168
E-mail: dfravel@nwmissouri.edu
Contact Information:
Jeanne Crawford
Department Secretary
Office: 311 Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1168
E-mail: jcrawfo@nwmissouri.edu
Dr. Jean Memken is an assistant professor in the department of Family and Consumer Sciences with a specialization in housing and environmental design. She received her Bachelor's degree in Home Economics Education from Illinois State University and her Master's and Ph.D. from Iowa State University with a major in Family Environment and minors in housing and statistics. Dr. Memken came to Northwest in 2009 after holding teaching and research positions at the University of Nebraska and Illinois State University. She teaches courses in interiors, housing, household equipment, adult learning, and FCS Foundations. Her research interests include housing education, housing for special populations, and neighborhood and community development. Dr. Memken has served as Executive Director of the Housing Education and Research Association, an organization of housing professionals working together to further housing education and research at colleges and universities around the world. She is active in the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, and has served as an Associate Editor of the FCS Research Journal. Finally, Dr. Memken is a full-time wife and mother of three children. She enjoys traveling, reading, art (especially folk art), astronomy, religion, and English history.
Contact Information:
Dr. Jean Memken
Assistant Professor
Office: 302A Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1850
E-mail: jmemken@nwmissouri.edu
Dr. Lauren Leach-Steffens graduated with a Ph.D. in Family and Consumer Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May of 1993. She came to Northwest Missouri State University in Fall of 1998.
Dr. Leach-Steffens teaches the Resource Management courses in the Family and Consumer Sciences Department: Family Resource Management, Consumer Economics and Personal Finance, and Independent Living for Special Populations, and Individual and Family Wellness. She also teaches Issues in Family and Consumer Sciences, the department's senior capstone course.
Dr. Leach-Steffens' research interests include credit card use among college students, spouses' time spent in housework, and the relationship between financial management policies and economic well-being.
Dr. Leach-Steffens maintains affiliation with the following professional organizations: Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Educators, National Council on Family Relations, American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Kappa Omicron Nu Family and Consumer Sciences National Honor Society. She holds a certification as a Family Life Educator (CFLE) through the National Council on Family Relations, and also holds the Certified in Family and Consumer Sciences (CFCS) credential from American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Contact Information:
Dr. Lauren Leach-Steffens
Assistant Professor, Family Economics and Management
Office: 312A Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1851
E-mail: lleach@nwmissouri.edu
Dr. Yang graduated from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea with her masters in Child and Family Studies. She then recieved her doctorate in Human Development from Kansas State University. Before teaching in the FCS Department, she was an adjunct faculty member for 6 years at Northwest teaching Psychology.
Dr. Yang is currently a member of Northwest's Cultural Diversity Committee. She is also involved with the Korean Student Organization by advising students on different matters.
Dr. Yang has had the opportunity to lecture before the Korean Committee in Kansas City on research related to parenting and communication styles. She also has lectured at Kansas City-area Korean churches about her research on parenting and cultural issues.
Contact Information:
Dr. Jang-Ae Yang
Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Relations
Office: 302B Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1733
E-mail: jyang@nwmissouri.edu
Mrs. Karen E. From, Instructor, is the Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics. She earned her Master of Science degree from Kansas State University in Foods and Nutrition while simultaneously completing her second Bachelor of Science in their Coordinated Dietetics Program. Mrs. From and her husband Jeffrey are undergraduate alumni of Northwest Missouri State University. She has spent the past twenty years traveling with her husband, as an Army officers wife and has enjoyed a very rewarding and a variety of professional experiences as a Registered Dietitian.
Mrs. From teaches the majority of the Foods and Nutrition classes in the Foods and Nutrition department of the Family and Consumer Science Department. She is proud to be a part of this growing and changing department that offers superior classroom instruction and learning opportunities for students.
Contact Information:
Ms. Karen From, R.D.
Assistant Professor, Foods and Nutrition
Office: 307B Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1167
E-mail: kfrom@nwmissouri.edu
Beth Goudge is a specialist in textiles and clothing/merchandising. She graduated from Iowa State University with both a B.S. and an M.S. in Textiles and Clothing. Ms. Goudge teaches Apparel Selection, Textiles, Merchandising, Analysis of Sewn Products, Visual Merchandising, and Issues in Family and Consumer Sciences. She also supervises merchandising internships, the Chicago Study Tour, and advises Kappa Alpha chapter of Kappa Omicron Nu National Honor Society.
Contact Information:
Ms. Beth Goudge
Instructor Merchandising
Office: 305A Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1710
E-mail: bgoudge@nwmissouri.edu
Sarah Creason is the preschool teacher in the early care and education center. She also instructs in the Family and Consumer Sciences department and serves as the co-advisor for the WIM Career Conference. Sarah obtained her vocational certificate in early childhood education from Macon Area Vocational Technical School. She then earned degrees from Northwest Missouri State University with an Associate in Childcare Administration, Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences Education and Master of Science in Early Childhood Education. She and her husband Mike reside in Maryville with their two boys.
Courtney Holt is the pre-kindergarten teacher at the Early Care and Education Lab Center. She received her bachelors in Early childhood education from Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. She has had eight years of experience teaching 3-5 year-olds. She resides in Maryville with her husband, the head football coach at Maryville High School, and two daughters.
Contact Information:
Mrs. Courtney Holt
Pre-K Teacher, Early Childhood Center
Phone: 660.562.1237
E-mail: cholt@nwmissouri.edu
Jill Stiens began teaching the Nutrition and Diet Behavior class at Northwest Spring 2009 semester. She earned her B.S. degree in Foods and Nutrition from Northwest and her M.S. degree from Rush University in Chicago. During her educational studies she completed internships in Nome, Alaska, and Rush Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago.
In her full-time job Jill is a Registered Dietician in the neo-natal intensive care unit at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
Contact Information:
Ms. Jill Stiens, BS, MS, RD
Adjunct Instructor, Foods and Nutrition
E-mail: stiensj@nwmissouri.edu
Charlotte Stiens is the Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Educator. She teaches Foundations in Family and Consumer Sciences Education, Methods in Teaching Family and Consumer Sciences, Organization and Administration of Family and Consumer Sciences Programs, Pre-School and Elementary Nutrition Education, and Directed Teaching in Family and Consumer Sciences. She serves as the university supervisor of student teachers in Family and Consumer Sciences.
She advises AAFCS, an umbrella organization for family and consumer sciences majors (American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences) and co-advises students serving on the board of directors and attending the WIM Conference in Chicago. WIM is a professional career development conference for family and consumer sciences majors.
Mrs. Stiens earned a B.S. degree from Northwest in Family and Consumer Sciences Education. She has the distinction of being the first graduate of the Family and Consumer Sciences Master’s program at Northwest. She has completed doctoral degree coursework through the University of Missouri-Columbia. She holds the Certified Famly and Consumer Sciences (CFCS) credential from the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Mrs. Stiens taught junior high/middle school and high school Family and Consumer Sciences and advised FCCLA chapters for 31 years. She was named by the Association of Career and Technical Education as the Outstanding Career and Technical Educator for 2008 at the state and regional level and was one of only four who qualified for the award at the national level. She has been recognized by the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) as a Master Advisor and Advisor Mentor and is a strong advocate for the organization.
Mrs. Stiens serves on several state-wide committees related to family and consumer sciences including the Teacher Leader Cadre II, Career and Technical Education Teacher Mentoring Program, and the Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher Education Council. She is currently President-Elect of the Missouri Educators of Family and Consumer Sciences and serves on the Missouri Association of Career and Technical Education Board of Directors.
Her outside interests include scrapbooking, travel, and grandchildren. She also serves as a lector and eucharistic minister at St. Gregory's Barbarigo Catholic Church and on the area Girl Scout Service Unit Team. She and her husband live on a farm on the outskirts of Maryville. All three of their daughters hold degrees in areas related to family and consumer sciences!
Contact Information:
Mrs. Charlotte Stiens, B.S. Ed., M.S. Ed., CFCS
Instructor, Family and Consumer Sciences Education
Office: 312B Administration Building
Phone: 660.562.1169
E-mail: stiensc@nwmissouri.edu
For more information contact:
Family and Consumer Sciences
Northwest Missouri State University
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468-6001
Phone: 660.562.1168
E-mail: dfravel@nwmissouri.edu