Exercise Science, MS

21 Pages·2014·0.55 MB·English

Exercise Science Department
Graduate Prioritization Criteria and Questions/Elements

1. History, Development and Expectations of the Program

a. Provide, to the best of your ability, a brief description of the program’s
history including the evolution of the program over the years. Describe
specific changes that have been made to the program curriculum, changes to
student demographics and the impact of these changes on the program, and
efforts to recruit students to the program. If this is a new program, describe
efforts to build the program and the progress of these efforts to date. (550
words)

The Exercise Science Department (formerly The Department of Men’s
Physical Education and a separate Women’s Physical Education – until the
early 1990s) established a Master of Science (MS) degree in Physical
Education in the early 1950s. The MS curriculum in Physical Education
served students who were physical education teachers and athletic coaches
working at local area public schools and focused on curriculum design and
evaluation. New coursework in exercise physiology, exercise and aging,
biomechanics and methods and procedures of physical fitness testing were
developed in the mid-1970s leading to a new concentration in Human
Performance. The program attracted students who were physical therapists,
nurses, dieticians, and physical educators interested in advanced study in the
exercise sciences. A second concentration in Sport Psychology was added in
the late 1990s to target students interested in health psychology,
performance enhancement and intervention. Advances in the exercise
science profession have been substantial over the past decade and required
the development of additional courses in Exercise Physiology, Bionutrition of
Exercise and Sport, and Physiological Bases of Designing Resistance
Training Programs.

A job task analysis has helped to define the major areas of professional
practice for the exercise science practitioner. The current Exercise Science–
Human Performance curriculum is aligned with the American College of
Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) Registered Clinical Exercise Physiologist (RCEP)
certification. The curriculum prepares students to work in areas that require
the application of physical activity and behavioral interventions to provide
therapeutic and/or functional benefits for a wide range of clinical diseases
and health conditions. This curriculum is in alignment with the Exercise as
Medicine concept initiated by ACSM in 2007. Students who earn the RCEP
certification are recognized as qualified to work with individuals with
cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic, orthopedic, musculoskeletal,
neuromuscular, immunologic, and hematologic diseases. A RCEP certified
student provides primary and secondary prevention and rehabilitative
strategies designed to improve physical fitness and health in populations
ranging across the entire lifespan. A RCEP educated student provides
exercise screening, exercise and physical fitness testing, exercise
prescriptions, exercise and physical activity counseling, exercise supervision,
exercise and health education/promotion, and measurement and evaluation of
exercise and physical activity-related outcome measures. Students
graduating from our program work individually or as part of an
interdisciplinary team in a clinical, community, or public health setting.

b. Is there anything else you would like us to know? (Issues you might choose
to discuss could include visibility of the program, relationships the program
has external to the university, changes in the economic support for the
program, staffing, etc.) (150 words)

The Exercise Science Department has seen significant economic support
during the past 5 years with the addition of several pieces of laboratory
equipment totaling ~$275,000. The Exercise Science Department established
a very successful relationship with Yale University School of Medicine in
carrying out the physical activity intervention of a six year NIH funded
grant ($75,000,000) called the Lifestyle Intervention for Independence for
Elders Trial (LIFE Study). The Department recently voted unanimously to
move to a new school which aligns the department with the School Mission.
The expanded faculty will allow us to seek accreditation of the MS-Exercise
Science-Human Performance concentration through the Commission of Allied
Health Education Programs.

2. External Demand for the Program

a. Using the data provided, review and explain the relationship between the
program and external factors that impact the:
i. number of applicants and percentage of applicants accepted
ii. 5-year enrollment trends (450 words)

Academic Year Applications Accepted Acceptance %
2008/09 28 14 50
2009/10 31 18 58
2010/11 23 15 65
2011/12 44 10 23
2012/13 13 11 85
F’08 S’09 F’09 S’10 F’10 S’11 F’11 S’12 F’12 S’13 AvF AvS
Fem 12 11 12 12 8 9 14 11 14 12 12 11
Male 17 13 16 16 10 13 16 14 9 10 14 13
Total 29 24 28 28 18 22 30 25 23 22 26 24
FT 7 9 7 7 5 8 10 11 8 6 7 8
PT12 22 15 21 21 13 14 20 14 15 16 18 16
The enrollment trend has decreased over the past five years. We should
evaluate the number of students that actually enrolled who were accepted.
The number of students enrolled is tracked internally, and that number too
has trended downward. Prior to the School of Graduate Studies increasing
the grade point average for acceptance, the Exercise Science Department
upgraded the requirements for acceptance into our program (2007-08). These
changes included: 1) GPA ≥ 3.0, 2) personal statement, 3) two letters of
recommendation, and 4) scores from the Graduate Record Examination
(GRE) (general exam). Initially, the department saw application numbers
drop dramatically with considerable resistance centering around the GRE.
Currently, the department is seeing less and less resistance to the GRE as
numerous post-baccalaureate programs require such scores.

In 2009, Sacred Heart University (SHU) started a M.S. Program in Exercise
Science that is quite similar to Southern Connecticut State University’s MS
in Exercise Science-Human Performance. Moreover, three of their current
faculty are graduates of our MS program. Prior to the start of the SHU
program, SCSU would admit and enroll 3-4 SHU students per year.
Beginning in 2014, we will enroll our first SHU student since 2009. There
were two reasons for this student selecting SCSU Exercise Science: 1) the
quality of the program, 2) the affordability of the program. The affordability
component is a marketing concept that all programs at Southern could
benefit from, yet to date has not been utilized to recruit graduate students.
In addition, prospective students are beginning to take notice of the
department webpage and observing the variety of faculty sponsored research
occurring in the active Human Performance Laboratory.

Recently, the Exercise Science Department has been receiving a significant
number of completed applications from outside the State of Connecticut
(Massachusetts, Rhode Island, North Carolina, & Arkansas). Often one of
the first questions asked by prospective students is regarding the availability
of graduate assistantships. Nationally, many high quality MS programs in
Exercise Science fully fund their students, thus increasing the number of full
time students and reducing part time students. Without the ability to offer
similar financial incentives, we often lose students to schools who can offer
graduate assistantships that include stipends and tuition waivers.
b. Which employers, institutions and/or communities benefit from this
program? Describe how the program meets the needs of the state (e.g.,
economic, cultural, civic, etc.)? (150 words)

Nationally, institutions of higher learning (University of Illinois-Chicago,
Marymount University, University of Missouri, University of Michigan, High
Point University, University of Colorado) and public (United States Army
Research Institute for Enviromental Medicine) and private (Gatorade Sports
Science, Pepsico) research institutions benefit from our graduates. Regional
hospitals (Veterans Affairs, Yale-New Haven, St. Vincent’s, Griffin, Hospital
of Central Connecticut, Danbury Hospitals) and clinics (cardiac & pulmonary
rehabilitation), community, or public health settings (Yale School of Medicine
– Research Interventions with Geriatric or Cancer Participants) benefit from
our MS program graduates. Furthermore, MS program graduates benefit a
variety of commercial health and personal fitness facilities (YMCA, Jewish
Community Center, Corporate Wellness, Strength & Conditioning, and
Personal Fitness Trainers).

c. Is there anything else you would like us to know? (Issues you might choose
to discuss could include competition from local, regional, and other
institutions.) (100 words)

As mentioned earlier, Sacred Heart University provides local competition. In
Connecticut, the University of Connecticut and Central Connecticut State
University have similar programs which serve as competition, particularly
for Connecticut residents.

3. Internal Demand for the Program

a. Using the data provided, please describe how courses in your program
serve students in other programs. What percentage of students in your
courses come from other programs? Please provide enrollment data for
graduate courses offered by your department that are required for other
graduate programs. (Some of your discussion in this section may be
repetitive, but is important in understanding the internal demand for the
program.) (100 words)
Percentage of Students in Your Courses from Other Programs
Credits AY 08/09 AY 09/10 AY 10/11 AY 11/12 AY 12/13 Average
Generated
Total 258 243 234 276 243
Acad. Crd
Major Crd 249 234 210 264 222
Totl Studt 86 81 78 92 81
% Other 3.48 3.70 10.25 4.34 8.64 6.09
The Exercise Science Department has no knowledge of any graduate program
requiring an Exercise Science course in their MS program. The table above
demonstrates a small percentage of students elect to enroll in an elective
course in our program. A detailed look at BannerWeb course rosters
indicates students from Women’s Studies, Recreation and Counseling &
School Psychology have taken elective courses in our Sport Psychology
concentration.

b. How is enrollment for your graduate program influenced by enrollment in
your undergraduate program? Is there potential for a formal pathway
between the two programs? (100 words)

Undergraduates from our BS Exercise Science-Human Performance program
have not been actively recruited to enroll in our MS program. On inspection,
between 7 – 22% of EXS MS students come from our undergraduate program.
Four students from our undergraduate program were accepted and enrolled
in our MS program in the Fall, 2013 semester. Encouraging and recruiting
our best undergraduate students has become part of our recruitment
strategy. There is the potential for a new cohort of graduate students from
the BS in Athletic Training as their professional organization is moving
towards requiring all athletic training programs to be MS programs.

c. How reliant are you on non-program students taking your courses? (100
words)

The MS in Exercise Science is not reliant on enrollment by non-program
students due to the prerequisite math and science courses necessary for
successful completion of our MS program courses.

d. Does the program produce services needed by other parts of the campus
(e.g. clinics, testing services)? (100 words)

The Exercise Science Department houses a Human Performance Laboratory
(HPLab) in the James Moore Field House. Faculty & Graduate Assistants
provide laboratory assessments for student athletes, students, faculty, staff
and general public. All except athletes pay a nominal fee deposited into the
HPLab fund and is used to support graduate student research and travel to
professional conferences. The assessments include: cardiorespiratory fitness,
muscle strength and power, body composition, gait analyses, resting
metabolic rate, and cycling power.
e. Is there anything else you would like us to know? (100 words)

Upon completion of the Graduate Prioritization process, the MS program in
Exercise Science-Human Performance will seek accreditation through the
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Programs (CAAHEP) and if
successful would become the third accredited Applied Exercise Physiology
program in the country. One of the site reviewers during our recent (October,
2013) and successful undergraduate accreditation site visit made the
comment that when his university obtained accreditation of its MS programs,
their enrollment significantly increased. The Exercise Science faculty agree
that such an accreditation should help to boost the MS program enrollment
numbers.

4. Quality of Program Inputs and Processes

a. Please provide a narrative of how the qualifications and assignments of
your full- and part-time faculty align with and support the program. Please
include a discussion of the challenges and successes the department faces in
providing qualified faculty to meet the needs of the program. In those
programs where it is appropriate, please discuss the integration of adjuncts
into the program’s curriculum. (450 words)

The Exercise Science department has 11, (7 tenured and 4 tenure-track)
faculty, highly qualified, full-time faculty, all with doctoral degrees and are
members of the graduate faculty. Five faculty are full professors, one is an
associate professor, and the remaining are assistant professors. Six of these
faculty have taught graduate courses in the last five years. Furthermore,
seven faculty have either been the advisor or second reader of Master’s
theses. A typical graduate faculty load is one graduate course per semester
in a topic area of strength/expertise. Currently, we have no adjunct faculty
teaching in either of the MS programs in Exercise Science.

The past five years saw three full professors in the Exercise Science
department retire, retire for health reasons, and one that passed away
unexpectedly. The department utilized these faculty openings to target
specific Exercise Science expertise including: 1) clinical exercise physiology
with focus on cardiovascular rehabilitation, exercise physiology and nutrition,
2) biomechanics and strength & conditioning, and 3) general anatomy &
physiology, pathophysiology, and exercise physiology with clinical focus on
neuromuscular and orthopedic rehabilitation.
b. Briefly describe the merits and logic of your curriculum. (250 words)

The MS programs in Exercise Science (EXS) are comprised of the following
components, undergraduate prerequisite, research, required core, and
elective. The MS EXS-Human Performance (HP) (30 credits) has four
prerequisite courses completed prior to graduate study start including:
Human Anatomy & Physiology I & II, Biomechanics, and Exercise
Physiology. The MS EXS-Sport Psychology (SP) (33-34 credits) requires
Personality and Abnormal Psychology in place of Exercise Physiology.

Students from both programs complete a course in Research Techniques
within their first four classes. Students in MS EXS-HP have approximately
one year of foundational, coursework in Exercise Physiology, Heart
Physiology, Strength & Conditioning followed by more advanced coursework
in Sports Medicine, Bionutrition and Biomechanics. The latter courses
include both faculty lectures along with a seminar approach where current
research articles are presented, discussed, and led by students. The MS EXS
SP program is much more flexible in terms of course sequence. Elective
coursework order is driven by prerequisite requirements described in the
graduate catalog for Counseling and School Psychology and Psychology
departments.
The culminating experience in both MS programs is either a six credit thesis
(Seminar 3 credits; completion 3 credits) or an independent study along with
a comprehensive examination.

Those students who may wish to pursue a doctoral degree or a career in
research are encouraged to select the thesis as their culminating experience.
Three recent thesis students are currently in their third year of doctoral
studies (University of Ballarat, Australia, University of Florida, Sacred Heart
University).

c. How dynamic is your program? Please identify and describe what
procedures are in place to provide continued, regular evaluation and review
(include formal and informal activities). Describe the impact of the review on
the program and curriculum (e.g., FAAR data may be used as evidence, as
well as other documentation of changes to the curriculum). (300 words)

The MS EXS-HP faculty meet formally at least once a semester to discuss the
program and curriculum. Moreover, due to the close proximity of four faculty
offices in the HPLab, additional, more informal discussions take place on a
near weekly basis. The past five years has seen the transition from a more
seasoned faculty (3 full professors) to four new assistant professors with little
graduate teaching experience. Again, these new professors were targeted
because of their specific exercise science expertise which they have brought to
the classroom in the form of doctoral-type teaching methodologies which
include reading/presenting/discussing relevant and challenging research
articles. Informal student feedback indicates these seminar-type teaching
styles are extremely challenging yet they feel they are learning and becoming
more confident and conversant in what they know.

The most recent Graduate Program review undertaken by the Exercise
Science Department occurred in March 2012. This review demonstrated a
significant number of cancelled class sections. Again, during our recent
undergraduate accreditation, one site reviewer noted that we have too many
elective courses in our graduate program. His recommendation was to pare
down the number of elective courses to two or fewer or even eliminate
completely. We are having ongoing discussions this semester to determine
which electives to eliminate. Furthermore, as the MS EXS-HP faculty
prepare the CAAHEP accreditation application this summer/fall, 2014, a
thorough review of each required course will take place to ensure that we
have all of the performance domains and associated job tasks covered within
our curriculum. The current performance domains of a registered clinical
exercise physiologist (RCEP) are: clinical assessment, exercise testing,
exercise prescription, exercise training, education and behavior change,
program administration, and legal & professional considerations.

d. Is there anything else you would like us to know? (Issues you might discuss
could include the quality of your incoming students, or a comparison of your
curriculum, courses, assessments, experiences to similar programs. How does
your program better serve students than similar programs offered
elsewhere?) (200 words)

As previously noted, our undergraduate EXS-HP program was recently
(January 2014) accredited by CAAHEP. The same faculty that teach in the
undergraduate program are actively involved in both teaching and research
in the graduate MS EXS-HP program. A comparison of our MS EXS-HP
program to one of the two accredited applied exercise physiology programs
demonstrates that we should consider adding one course in neuromuscular
and orthopedic rehabilitation. Our newest tenure track faculty hire has this
expertise and he has begun to create such a course that will be cross listed
with an undergraduate course. Therefore, we are quite confident that we will
meet the requirements for accreditation of our MS EXS-HP program.

The MS EXS-HP program better serves students than similar programs
offered elsewhere is the unique nature of the location of four faculty offices
located in the HPLab. The HPLab is both a teaching and research facility
that allows the faculty to work directly with students as they begin to learn
about clinical assessments, conduct exercise testing, prepare exercise
prescriptions, etc. The close proximity of the faculty results in
team/collaborative approach in which students thrive.

5. Quality of Program Outcomes

a. How does your program use assessment data to ensure quality of student
outcomes? Describe the quality of your program outcomes. (e.g., G.P.A.,
Student Opinion Surveys, course evaluations, alumni surveys, professional
assessment/evaluation, other assessments, participation in groups or
organizations that focus on pedagogy or andragogy. Insert a table listing your
program outcomes. Note that the table does not count in the word limit). (900
words)

The GPA table below demonstrates a high level of academic success in
coursework that requires a significant foundation in the sciences. Not
included in the data provided was the GPA of entering students. The average
GPA of admitted students (2007-2011) was 3.13. During this time MS EXS-
HP students have been awarded 5 GSGAs and 4 GRFs.

Overall GPA for Enrolled Students
F’08 S’09 F’09 S’10 F’10 S’11 F’11 S’12 F’12 S’13 Ave
Total 29 24 28 28 18 22 30 25 23 22 25
GPA 3.56 3.73 3.42 3.56 3.6 3.51 3.36 3.41 3.55 3.39 3.51

Student opinion survey results consistently rate various student opinions
“strongly agree” or “agree” at the 80% level or above. Methods of instruction,
quality of instruction, high course standards, and taking responsibility for
their own learning scored near the 90% level suggesting a quality program.
Results from our 2012 Alumni Survey indicated that 100% strongly
agree/agree that our MS-EXS-HP program helped accomplish educational
goals, faculty created an atmosphere where open discussion was encouraged,
faculty used a variety of assessment methods, faculty communicated well,
program was academically challenging, courses were appropriate for learning
the material, access to faculty was convenient, and that they would
recommend this program to others in this field of study. Alumni shared a
number of comments regarding their most significant learning experiences,
strengths of the program, what they would most like to see improved, and
knowledge and skill areas to be added to the program.
Comments regarding significant learning experiences included:
1) “improving my scientific writing”,
2) “personal learning experiences with faculty outside of classroom in applied
setting”,
3) “creating my own research project from conception to peer-reviewed
publication”,
4) “hands-on experience in labs tied to jobs we will perform in the field”, and
5) “learning how to construct a scientific research proposal”.
Strengths of the program were: experience of the faculty, knowledgeable
faculty and their willingness to spend time with students who express a
genuine desire to enhance their knowledge in the field, solid explanation of
physiology and why/how the body does what it does, and professors were
willing to mentor students regardless of who was their official mentor.

Knowledge and skills to add to the program as a result of my work
experience are: functional anatomy and health promotion, more emphasis
on sport science and physical preparation of athletes, more “hands on” work,
and a statistics course for those wishing to continue in research.

Lastly, what I would most like to see improved is: more faculty, upgrade
to the building and class rooms, more hands on work with EKG and more
labs on human movement and biomechanics, more academically challenging
courses, more practical experiences in classroom for those not continuing on
to doctoral studies, and provide more opportunities for students to become
involved in ongoing research.

The department has addressed a number of Alumni Survey items in both the
knowledge and skills to add and improvements to the program categories.
Specifically, the department hired a tenure-track faculty member (Fall, 2012)
with expertise in Biomechanics and Strength & Conditioning addressing
content areas of functional anatomy, and hands on work with human
movement and biomechanics, and more emphasis on sport science and
physical preparation of athletes. Moreover, the department has recently
hired an additional tenure-track faculty member with expertise in functional
anatomy, pathophysiology, and exercise physiology. Our tenure-track
biomechanics professor successfully submitted a bond money proposal to
purchase an instrumented treadmill, 4-camera motion capture system, an
electromyography (EMG) system to assess muscle activity, and software that
will incorporate both kinetic, kinematic, and EMG data into a report that will
quantify strength and joint movement patterns. Together, this system will
afford our graduate students the hands on experience in analyzing and
interpreting human movement from a biomechanical perspective.

The department continues to prepare students for a variety of professions
including continuing on for their doctoral work. Currently, three students
from this five-year assessment period are working on their doctorate degrees;
two students in Exercise Physiology and one in physical therapy. Two
students have pursued careers in research, utilizing their thesis experience
(Mass General Hospital as Clinical Researcher, VA Hospital Geriatric
Research). Another thesis track graduate continued his education in