Volunteer Opportunities

Community is central to our organization, and our members are compassionate individuals who care about the profession of nutrition and dietetics. Academy members looking for opportunities to serve — as leaders, authors, reviewers, mentors and more — can develop skills and relationships through giving back, moving the profession forward and inspiring change.

Volunteer Form

National Academy Leadership Positions

Each year, the Academy seeks nominations for the positions of President-elect, Treasurer-elect, Board of Directors Director, Speaker-elect, House of Delegates Director-at-Large and Nominating Committee. Several additional leadership positions are available on the ballot and rotate annually based on the needs of the organizational unit. The Call for Nominations is announced each summer/fall and elections are conducted February 1-15. Elected leaders begin the term of office in June.

Academy Media Spokesperson

All Academy members who meet the qualifications are welcome and encouraged to apply to become an Academy spokesperson. The Academy's volunteer media spokespeople — RDNs representing the country’s 25 largest news markets as well as specialty nutrition areas — are the news media's best resource for expert commentary, story ideas and background on the full range of food and nutrition topics. Spokespeople are skilled at pitching producers and editors,  fielding interviews with reporters, and translating nutrition science into information consumers can easily understand.

Academy Committee Member

Committees provide an opportunity to participate in committee work activities that benefit members and, by extension, the public. Committees are groups of individuals either elected or appointed to do some assigned work collectively to address issues of importance to the organization. There also may be opportunities to serve on sub-committees (smaller deliberative groups appointed by a committee through an inclusive, objective process and assigned a specific set of functions) or task forces (temporary groups established to work on a single defined task or activity).

Evidence Analysis Library Technical Expert Panel Member

Serve as an Technical Expert Panel member to formulate and answer research questions and develop evidence-based nutrition practice guidelines using the Academy's Evidence Analysis Process. With the assistance of lead analysts, workgroup members review, analyze and summarize nutrition research. Resulting information is published on the Evidence Analysis Library.

Nutrition Research Network Volunteer

There are many ways to get involved with the Nutrition Research Network, including collecting data for a research project, suggesting research questions and participating in mentoring. Membership in the Nutrition Research Network is open and free to all Academy members. To join, members can email NRN@eatright.org with "join" and their member number in the subject line.

Academy Position Authors and Reviewers

A position paper is a critical analysis of current facts, data, and research literature on a specific topic in the field of nutrition. It is designed to inform Academy members of the latest research on the topic, and a key feature of the paper is the position statement. Academy positions are written and reviewed by Academy member volunteers serving as authors, reviewers and content experts.

Reviewer for the Journal

Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics reviewers serve as content experts and participate in the peer review process of the Academy's scientific journal. Reviewers should have a minimum of a master's degree and relevant, recent publications—preferably some first-authored and ideally some in JAND. Content expertise in associated fields is also welcome.

Student Scoop Author

Student Scoop is an online newsletter for Academy student members. Published five times a year, Student Scoop includes articles on relevant topics such as preparing for internships and ways to get involved with the Academy and the profession. Student members are invited to submit articles for potential inclusion.

Student Liaison

Student liaisons participate in recruitment and retention of Academy student members and provide feedback to the Academy on student initiatives.

ACEND Program Reviewer

The Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics needs reviewers from both the practice and education communities as part of the accreditation process for entry-level dietetics education. Program reviewers serve three-year terms and function as two-to-three person teams to evaluate dietetics education programs. They assist in the review of written reports to determine whether a dietetics program is achieving its defined goals and standard benchmarks.

ACEND Board Dietetic Student Representative

The Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics encourages Academy student members with strong leadership skills to apply to be nominated for the Dietetics Student Representative position on the ACEND board. This volunteer position is an excellent way to gain leadership experience and skills in accreditation, education, communication, collaboration and more. The Dietetics Student Representative is elected by the ACEND board and serves a two-year term: the first year as student rep-elect and the second year as the dietetics student voting member.

Item Writer for RDN and NDTR Exams

The Commission on Dietetic Registration needs RDNs and NDTRs to assist in the annual item writing workshop for the Registration Examinations. During this workshop, volunteers are trained to construct items for the examinations. Participants include RDN or NDTR employers, practitioners and educators who possess knowledge of entry-level practice.

House of Delegates

Members can serve as note takers during House of Delegates Real-Time Dialogues (virtual meetings). Participating as a note taker brings you to the front lines of how leaders work together to shape the direction of the profession and the Academy.

Other Opportunities

Member Mentor

The Academy's online Mentor Match program will matches mentees with mentors who best fit professional areas of interest, communication style and availability. Mentor Match will not only match users according to similarities in profile interests, it will also allow users to search by Academy DPG or MIG, geographic location, and name.

Dietetic Preceptor

For every qualified student who gets matched to a dietetic internship, another student will not because too few practitioners have been willing to take on the role of preceptor. The profession needs your help! Find out how to be a preceptor.

Academy Foundation

The success of the Foundation relies on volunteer leaders to govern, raise funds, review awards and scholarships and more! Are you interested in food and nutrition research, scholarships, awards or healthy weight for kids? If so, then volunteering for the Foundation may be right for you.

Dietetic Practice Groups

A Dietetic Practice Group is a professional interest group of Academy members within an area of practice or interest. Each DPG provides opportunities to volunteer on the executive committee or by providing services through membership activities, newsletters, educational activities, and more. You must be a member of the DPG to volunteer. Contact your DPG for details on opportunities.

Member Interest Groups

Member Interest Groups share a common interest or serve a common population. Each MIG provides long-term opportunities on committees and short-term opportunities, such as writing newsletter articles or assisting at events. You must be a member of a MIG to volunteer. Contact your MIG for details on volunteer opportunities.

State Affiliate Leader

Geographically affiliated organizations provide many volunteer opportunities, including positions on boards and committees. Contact your local affiliate for details on volunteer opportunities close to home.

Nominations for National Quality Organizations

National quality organizations frequently seek expert members to be nominated and appointed to measures or standards workgroups, steering committees for the National Quality Forum, technical expert panels about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, professional and technical advisory committees for the Joint Commission, and other quality related committees or workgroups. Typically, these appointments range from several months to two years of service.