Conducting research and publishing the results in professional journals. Presenting or attending national conferences. Typical faculty activities, right? Usually. But in this case it is normal for our exercise science majors, too.

The program began in the fall of 2004 and is now reaching its capacity of 120 majors. The program is rigorous but marked by a strong faculty-student relationship. One where students repeatedly remark they are made to “feel like a peer, rather than a student.” This can be explained in part by the research requirement, the department set-up, and by the faculty itself.

The research component is the capstone experience for all exercise science majors. It starts with an idea—their idea. The students further refine that idea into a hypothesis. From there they are responsible for establishing guidelines, protocols, and criteria; enlisting subjects for the study, executing the study based on their parameters; analyzing data; and presenting their findings.

At every step along the way, faculty members are on hand. They observe, offer advice, act as a sounding board, lend a sympathetic ear, and maybe most importantly are just there. There to see when a student needs help, or an encouraging word. There when a student needs to talk.

The professors, who are engaged in their own research, often have student help in their projects. Between the student-generated research and the faculty, the department has one of the highest student-faculty research ratios on campus.

The availability and interaction of faculty are definitely enhanced by the location of the department and its facilities. At the start of the 2007-08 academic year, the department moved back into renovated space in Henderson Gymnasium. The entire wing on the south side (closest to Horton Hall) has been redone with exercise science in mind. Classrooms and faculty offices join laboratory space. Within the close confines it is impossible to not notice activities in the lab as students and faculty come and go to classes and offices.

So how did this fast-growing major come about? It all started with retirements.

Left: Lifesaving knowledge is par for the course. Here Jill Kirby (left) administers CPR compressions while Rachelle Wedell gets ready to use a portable defibrillator on her dummy. Right: Heather Saxton practices her ankle taping skills on Kelsi Hoffman.

The health and physical education department supported the teacher education program offering courses such as Health Education in the Elementary School and Physical Education for the Elementary Teacher. It also offered a number of activity classes. In 1987, the coaching minor began with seven students. Enrollment doubled every year until it reached its capacity at 120.

Then several years ago, the entire faculty, with the exception of Professor Candace Zientek, was going to retire. The time was ripe to explore what the department could offer. A needs assessment was conducted and the idea of an exercise science major emerged. Next, potential employers—physicians, hospital administrators, sports medicine directors, corporate fitness managers, and nursing home fitness directors—were interviewed. A clear need emerged in the areas of cardiac rehabilitation and corporate fitness.

Based on these findings a major in exercise science was crafted. The demanding program adds 16 core science credits to the general education requirements. The science courses cover human anatomy, physiology, and biology. Then there are 54 credits in exercise science that include electives, the research project, and an internship. Courses include kinesiology, biomechanics, nutrition, exercise physiology, mechanical analysis, motor behavior, cardiac rehabilitation, exercise testing and prescription, and psychology of physical activity. Sports psychology, and the professor teaching it, is one of the few things found in both the old and new programs.

As a result of a program engineered to meet assessed needs, the revamped department emerged, most fittingly, with a new name, a new major, new faculty, and a new attitude in fall 2004.

Science oriented

Much more science-oriented than the old program, today’s majors routinely use instrumentation in their classes and their research. They can conduct resting and maximal electrocardiograms and oxygen consumption; quantify fat and carbohydrate usage; perform pulmonary and respiration function and analysis; measure postural sway and gate deviation with force plate analysis, use two-dimensional cinematography; and conduct beginning level electromyographic (EMG) analysis.

Classroom learning, including the lab work, is complemented by an internship. Here again, students are in charge. They are responsible for finding their own placements, subject to departmental approval. For each internship, students work with two different groups to ensure greater exposure to the field. Many organizations are now requesting students based on the success of prior interns.

Students like Kyle Kopicki use equipment like the vertical jump assessment as part of their coursework, both as subject and researcher.

Although the number of graduates from the program is still small, they are about equally divided between those who continue their studies and those who enter the work place. The consensus is they are well prepared for either.

Currently enrolled in the physical therapy program at Thomas Jefferson, Jarrod Strauss ’07, reported despite the rigors of the PT program, in terms of preparation, he is better prepared than most of his classmates. The one exception, biomechanics, has since been added to the major.

For Jennifer Woram ’07, her exercise science degree has helped in pursuing a degree in nursing, not least by enabling her to test out of the general education classes. This has allowed her to concentrate fully on the technical skills of nursing. “Plus, having already been exposed to the basic concepts behind the anatomy, physiology, and mechanical aspects of the human body, I am able to brush up on my knowledge rather than trying to learn it from scratch. Compared to the other students my knowledge base is much broader and I am able to explain the concepts to my peers with better understanding.”

“The classwork and assignments were geared for our professional lives,” noted Megan Kuhnle ’07. She is working “to assist special populations with their fitness needs whether it be the elderly, children, physically disabled, or mentally impaired.”

Julie Riccardo ’07 is working with personal training clients and teaching exercise classes at a corporate fitness center. “Even though the program was so young when I graduated in 2007, coming into the workforce I found I had a lot of great knowledge and hands-on experience that has helped me in my current position.” It will also help reach her goal of working as a strength and conditioning and/or track and field coach at the collegiate level.

Coaching minor

The coaching minor, still a valuable component of the department, has been retooled. It now provides students with considerable sports science knowledge and the methods class covers team management, coaching styles, and philosophy of coaching. Assistant professor Charles Black, who coordinates the minor, sees how internships give his students needed experience and connections to the local coaching community. He knows our graduates are prepared when he learned a December grad accepted a coaching position in England.

As for the future of this fledging department, its growth will only be limited by resources, as the demand for graduates will most likely grow. An exercise science minor is almost through the approval process and will be the last piece possible without adding faculty. With space already at a premium, the department would love to have the north wing of Henderson Gym renovated into more labs and classrooms. Both expansions would allow for further growth in student enrollment and the potential for a graduate program.

Regardless of the success its graduates carve out, what they remember most are the people. The sense of family, the going the extra mile, the availability as practiced by professors Russell Robinson, Candice Zientek, William Braun, Sally Paulson, and Charles Black.