Alfred University receives state approval for new degree in Sports and 健康 Sciences

The mission of the proposed Sports and 健康 Sciences major at Alfred University—which will be housed in the College of Liberal 艺术 and Sciences—is to professionally prepare students to enter a wide variety of health care occupations or to continue their education towards advanced degrees in health care-related fields. The program is designed to create a well-rounded, interdisciplinary experience for students interested in a broad field of health care dealing specifically with the physically active or athletic populations.

Some of the careers a bachelor’s degree in Sports and 健康 Sciences could lead to include sports medicine practice specialist, sport medicine facility coordinator, emergency medical technician, 整形技术人员, preventive injury specialist, clinical operations manager, and pharmaceutical sales representative. 加上额外的训练, 研究生教育, 和认证, potential careers include physician assistant, 职业治疗师, 物理治疗师, 体育教练, 矫正器修配者/修复学家, 护理人员, 生物工程师, and certified strength and conditioning specialist.

All first-year students in the new major will take standard required courses before meeting with their academic advisors in the spring of their first year to choose from among five concentration tracks: a general concentration or Performance Enhancement track; or pre-professional concentrations in Rehabilitation Sciences, Pre-Physician助理, 及运动前训练. Grade-point average will be a determining factor in student being admitted into a particular track.

“Each pre-professional track is designed to meet the admissions requirements for graduate school,杰森·霍内克说, 体育训练 program director and clinical professor of 体育训练, who will oversee the Sports and 健康 Sciences program. “除了, we will offer specialized courses that further help students succeed” in their graduate studies.

Honeck said in developing the program, he and his colleagues on the 体育训练 faculty researched the top graduate programs in the country offering master’s degrees in rehabilitation sciences, 体育训练, 医生助理, and incorporated the prerequisite undergraduate courses into Alfred University’s Sports and 健康 Sciences bachelor’s degree program. “We also looked at the top (graduate) schools within a 300-mile radius of Alfred, looked at their entrance requirements and used that to help put our curriculum together,他说.

“Our objective is to create something versatile and give our students more opportunities to get into the health care field,霍内克说。, who earned a bachelor’s degree in 体育训练 in 1998 and a master’s in education in 2000, both from Alfred University. “We’re aiming for 100 percent success rates” for students gaining employment in their field after graduation or being admitted into graduate school. “That’s what will help us promote the program in the future.”

Offering a pre-professional track in 体育训练 is significant, as Alfred University plans to discontinue its bachelor’s degree program in 体育训练 at the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year. That decision was made after the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) issued a requirement that baccalaureate athletic programs transition to a master’s program, effective after the fall 2022 semester. The last cohort of students in the 体育训练 program at Alfred University will receive their bachelor’s degrees in 2026.