1. Centrality/Importance to University s Mission

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1 Program Prioritization Report Tier III Undergraduate College of Health Sciences, Department of Health, Leisure & Exercise Science Exercise Science Undergraduate Program (with concentrations in Pre-Professional, Strength & Conditioning, Clinical Exercise Physiology) 1. Centrality/Importance to University s Mission In accordance with Appalachian State University s (ASU) Strategic Plan Vision Statement ( ) the Exercise Science undergraduate program is structured to provide a complimentary approach to education by combining effective teaching and scholarship activities. In terms of educating and graduating the best students, the program has attracted both in-state and out-of-state students. The Exercise Science program also supports the important aspects of the Strategic Plan Mission Statement for discovery, creativity and application of knowledge through an extensive research agenda and applied programs in Strength & Conditioning and Clinical Exercise Physiology. These programs emphasize transferable skills and thus preparation for professional careers, as well as address the specific needs of the region and state for the continual increasing health and fitness concerns of the general population. This includes addressing issues in healthcare issues which is identified as a Core Asset in Appalachian State University s Strategic Plan, as well as athletic performance which has been an overwhelming focus of the University with over $32 million of planned athletic facility renovations and progression to the Sun Belt Conference for all athletic teams. Students in the Exercise Science program work with ASU Athletics in the athlete weight room facility and on-field with many of the sports teams as part of their practicum and internship responsibilities. As mentioned previously, addressing the major health and fitness concerns for North Carolina citizens has also been a focus of our program with staggering implications for rising health care costs for our State. The Exercise Science program has an established relationship with the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System which includes the Watauga Medical Center, Blowing Rock Hospital and Charles A. Cannon Jr. Memorial Center. Many of our Clinical Exercise Physiology concentration students work in these facilities as part of their internship requirements. The faculty in the Exercise Science program are some of the most productive on the ASU campus in terms of publications and external grant procurement. These activities provide a multitude of opportunities for training young professionals. Given the direct priorities of Appalachian State University and strengths of the program, the Exercise Science program could be identified for increased support. 2. Quality of the Program Are students well-served by the offerings of the program, enrollment to degree ratio? There is an extremely high level of demand for the Exercise Science program. While the current curriculum covers most of the principal sub-disciplines within the broader field of Exercise Science, thus leading to well-prepared graduates, the enrollment to degree ratio is lower than desired. This is a result of a combination of factors, including a dramatic increase in the number of transfer students, who often cannot complete the degree within the 4-year time frame due to what course credit is allowed to transfer in. Additionally, although the Exercise Science program has increased the number of seats per section and the number of sections for most classes in the program, as well as offered every required page 1

2 core class in the summer for the last five years, there are still students who cannot get courses on time and with some courses acting as pre-requisites for others, students can be delayed beyond the 4-year time frame. Finally, while students are able to enroll full-time (minimum of 12 credit hours), they are often unable to enroll in the needed credit hours per semester in order to complete the degree within the 4-year time frame. What are the job prospects for the program s graduates? The particulars of this career depend on the student s chosen specialty. There is a high level of interest in continuing on to professional programs, primarily in physical therapy, and a growing interest in other professional programs such as physician assistant. Those programs are highly competitive and only students with the best credentials will achieve admission. The immediate job prospects are better for students who wish to work in exercise settings such as corporate fitness and hospital-based wellness centers. Many of our graduates work in these types of facilities without additional degrees, as well as in privately owned fitness centers. With the change in policy for insurance companies to accept preventive measures as billable activities, corporate fitness is experiencing a resurgence and there is an expectation that the job prospects in that area of the field will greatly increase. Jobs in the sport area are steady but are not expected to grow significantly, so students who focus on the athletics side of strength and conditioning are more challenged in finding employment than those who choose corporate or private fitness centers. Are there courses in the program that are essential supporting courses for other programs? The Exercise Science program offers several courses that are essential supporting courses for other programs. The two-semester Anatomy and Physiology sequence (ES 2031 and 2032) is the course with the highest enrollment (~425 combined each semester) and serves students in the Exercise Science and Athletic Training programs within the HLES department, and students in the Nursing program outside the HLES department. Another Anatomy/Physiology course (ES 2030) serves students in the Health Promotion program within the HLES department and students in the Nutrition and Music Therapy programs outside the HLES department. Finally, there are two courses (ES 2001 and 2015) which address the DPI/NCATE requirements for anatomy/exercise physiology for Physical Education majors within the HLES department. How does the program identify and measure student learning outcomes? Faculty utilize their experience as well as feedback from current and former students, and site supervisors for practicum and internship experiences to determine the most important outcomes for a student graduating with the Exercise Science degree. For topic-specific student learning outcomes, certain class assignments were chosen to demonstrate the learning goal, and the grading rubric as well as representative student work were included in the software package TracDat (Version ). A level of competency was chosen for each outcome, and if a criterion was not met, then an action plan was developed and measurement will continue until the criterion has been successfully met for two measurement periods. page 2

3 In addition to the above learning outcomes, faculty members receive student evaluations at the end of each of the semesters and periodic peer reviews from other department faculty. Coupled with the feedback from students who have graduated and with site supervisor evaluations from practicum and internship sites, faculty members make improvements in course content, assignments, and teaching methods. Does the department track placement of graduates or have plans to track placement of graduates? Currently, the Exercise Science program does not have a formal tracking system for placement of graduates. The Office of Health Professions advising has assisted in keeping records of student acceptance to professional schools, but the program currently relies on student feedback and social media to keep track of where students secure employment or enroll in graduate programs. Therefore the data are incomplete. How are program and student learning outcomes used by the department/discipline to inform program quality? Measurement to date has shown excellent quality of the program with only a few action plans being required. The majority of learning outcomes have been met by at least 80% of the students; specifically only about 10% of the measurements required an action plan. However, the Exercise Science program is being re-examined regarding the program outcomes and student learning outcomes to try to zero in on program weaknesses. Indicators used to assess quality include the learning outcomes, measurements, and artifacts collected each semester. Other assessments (student and internship/practicum site supervisor feedback) have been done to determine weaknesses in student preparation for employment or additional degrees and that information has been used to direct changes in the curriculum (outlined below). When was the most recent revision of the curriculum? Describe the outcome of the revision. The Exercise Science program is currently undergoing a major revision. Proposals are being developed and will be submitted through the curricular approval process in the Fall 2013 semester for implementation in Fall The revisions include the creation of an introductory course that will educate students about the various sub-disciplines within the field of exercise science, a restructuring of the two current laboratory methods courses so that some redundancy is removed and more emphasis on exercise program design can be included, and the creation of several courses that will serve as electives within the major so that dependence on other departments for major electives is reduced. 3. Future Directions What is the vision for the future of the program? Is the program poised to be nationally prominent? The goal of the Exercise Science program is to become a national leader in preparing Exercise Science students for professional schools, graduate study, and directly for the workforce in the applied fields of page 3

4 Strength & Conditioning and Clinical Exercise Science. While we currently perform all of these activities, our goal is to increase our national visibility to be similar to that of the Exercise Science Graduate program. The high demand for and current strengths of our curriculum are the first steps towards achieving these goals. How can the program s potential be actualized (cite opportunities and barriers)? The greatest need for the Exercise Science program at this time is faculty lines. The program has eight full-time, tenure track faculty lines and four full-time, non-tenure track faculty lines. The tenure track faculty are very active and accomplished, with solid records of grantsmanship, publications and presentations. One of the tenure track faculty is a Fellow with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and two others are Fellows with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). However, in order to be able to offer enough sections of courses to meet the high demand, we currently use Master s level candidates as adjunct instructors in the Exercise Science program. It is anticipated that for the Exercise Science program to meet the demand for course sections we will need to secure at least two more full-time, tenure track faculty lines over the next three years. 4. Data Review Review the data presented by the Office of Institutional Research, Assessment and Planning. Provide explanations regarding areas of concern: Enrollment Data for Exercise Science Program, Total Student Credit Hours Total Class Enrollment Majors Lower & Upper Levels (Fall terms) Source: Banner and IRAP The data above reveal an extremely high level of demand for the Exercise Science program. The projected count of majors for the Fall 2013 semester is 779. Compared to Fall 2008, this is an increase of 101% in the last 5 years and approximately 323% increase in the last 10 years (184 majors in Fall 2004). As a result of the exponential growth and the increasing number of transfer students, the program s degree efficiency ratio is 0.29 which is below ASU s degree efficiency ratio of As mentioned previously, the large number of transfer students, the increased number of students who are enrolled in less than optimal semester loads, and students being unable to take courses in the correct sequence has negatively impacted the ratio of enrollment to degree completion. The Exercise Science program has offered all required courses in the major core in the summer for the last five years, which has not been enough to offset the poor degree completion ratio because of the continued growth of the program. Therefore, the only way to address this is for the Exercise Science program to be able to add page 4

5 more sections of required courses, which would require the addition of faculty lines. Conversations with Dean Fred Whitt indicate that he is supportive of the need for additional faculty in the Exercise Science program and is pursuing the allocation of additional faculty positions to be recruited in the academic year. Recommendation about the Program to be made to the Dean As a result of this review, Appalachian is required to make recommendations that address these major questions: 1. Should the program be continued as a separate degree program? If continuation is recommended, what sound and compelling reasons can be provided in support of such a recommendation? The Exercise Science program faculty strongly recommends the continuation of the Exercise Science academic degree program. This recommendation is supported by the exponential increase in demand from students as indicated by number of majors and student credit-hours generated. In addition, Exercise Science is clearly related to other allied health professions and serves as a preparatory program to many professional schools, thus supporting and being consistent with the University s strategic focus in the health sciences. The draft of the UNC Strategic Plan (dated 1/7/2013) specifically mentions meeting the growing healthcare needs of the state through innovative research, training and outreach (p. 61). The Exercise Science program provides outreach in that Exercise Science students provide health and wellness services through their required practicum and internship experiences at local, state and national sites including: hospitals, research centers, and health/fitness centers. Producing highly trained and competent exercise and wellness providers (i.e. Exercise Science graduates) for these various locations enhances the health of constituents of those organizations, and contributes to ASU s support of the UNC Strategic Plan. 2. If the recommendation is to continue the program, can it be made more productive? If so, how? What steps must be taken to strengthen the program and make it more productive? Should the program be consolidated or merged with other existing programs? If so, which ones? If the metric for program productivity is the ratio of enrollment to degree completion, then the primary way to increase the productivity of the Exercise Science program is to offer more sections of all required courses, which would require more faculty lines. There is no feasible or desirable way to consolidate the program or merge with another program. The Exercise Science program is three times as large as the next largest degree program within HLES (Recreation Management) and is five to seven times as large as the other HLES programs. page 5