Investing in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences

Investing in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences

The College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences: A State of Minds To be healthy, you must be active. Being physically active promotes a healthy body and mind a concept tracing its roots back to ancient Rome, when poet Juvenal wrote, mens sana in corpore sano ( a sound mind in a sound body ). At WVU, the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences (CPASS) traces its roots to 1891 when the fledgling university hired its first director of athletics and physical activity. Over the past 120 years, this autonomous academic unit has grown into one of the University s 13 colleges and one with nationally recognized programs. As part of a land-grant university, CPASS exists to promote wellness and physical activity, to expand knowledge through research, and then put it into practice to help people be healthier. With this state and nation in the midst of an obesity epidemic, our mission has never been more critical. Our vision is to inspire people to become active: to excel in research, creative activity, and innovation in the sport sciences and physical activity. We will do this by educating the next generation of professionals and discovering knowledge that will enhance the well-being and quality of life of the people in West Virginia and around the world. Our vision is to inspire people to become active: to excel in research, creative activity, and innovation in the sport sciences and physical activity. 1

The Trajectory of Success There are few colleges like CPASS in the country. We award bachelor s, master s, and doctoral degrees and are the only college in and Brazil have come to CPASS. The College s International Planning Committee worked in concert with the College s International Center Sport & Physical Education. Our Athletic Training program received accreditation for 10 years from the Commission on Accreditation West Virginia offering a doctorate in kinesiology, for Performance Excellence (ICPE) to develop a of Athletic Training Education, and our students 2 designated a Program of Excellence by the West strategic plan supporting faculty scholarship and achieve a 100% first time passing rate on the Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission. student study abroad initiatives. Board of Certification exam. Our graduates are sought-after. CPASS athletic College faculty currently hold leadership We are also leaders in service to the state. training, sport management, and sports and positions in various professional organizations The WV Physical Activity Plan, co-sponsored exercise psychology programs enjoy a 100 percent within the disciplines of teaching, coaching, by CPASS and led by the Ware Distinguished placement rate. Among our alumni are professional athletic training, sport and exercise psychology, Professor, promotes healthy living, especially for athletes, sport administrators, journalists, teachers, physical education, health, and recreation while children, and healthy and active lifestyles for and head athletic trainers in the NCAA, NFL, and serving as national and state experts in their citizens who live in West Virginia. CPASS s Weight NBA. We also have highly successful collegiate and chosen academic disciplines. Management Research team has partnered with the high school educators and coaches. Recently, Partnership Activation 2.0, an West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency Over the past 15 years, CPASS has discovered international sport newsletter, rated our graduate (PEIA) to improve fitness and health in the state. new ideas and cultures, internationalizing the sport management major among the nation s top Individually, these achievements are great. curriculum and increasing faculty and student 15, and our Physical Education Teacher Education But we re intent on being the best. To realize this exchanges. Recent student travel includes visits to program received national recognition by the vision, we turn to you, alumni and friends who Brazil, Chile, the United Kingdom, and Denmark, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher believe in the mission of CPASS, to ask your while international scholars from China, Sweden, Education and the National Association for help to realize our aspirations and desired vision.

The WV Physical Activity Plan, co-sponsored by CPASS and led by the Ware Distinguished Professor, promotes healthy living, especially for children, and healthy and active lifestyles for citizens who live in West Virginia.

Priorities for Tomorrow 4 State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia s University is all about raising our sights to create a healthier, more active West Virginia. If you believe, as we do, that this is a worthy goal, we hope you will consider investing in the following priorities. Enhancing the Student Experience Facilities: During the campaign, the College will gain a new home: a dedicated CPASS building. The three-story, approximately 30,000-square-foot structure, located 150 yards from the Student Recreation Center, next to the freshmen dormitories, and surrounded by intramural fields, will be perfectly situated for student and faculty work and research. The building itself will offer outstanding facilities: a multi-purpose gymnasium with a one-way observation mirror, a Sport & Exercise Psychology Lab, and a Physical Education Teacher Education Lab. The new building will serve as a magnet, attracting top students and faculty. Technology: The new building offers unprecedented opportunity to incorporate the latest technology to increase student learning and advance faculty research. Campaign support would underwrite facilities such as a 50-station computer lab with program-specific software like Dartfish, which allows coaches to analyze specific athletes skills. Additional technology needs include video recording and editing equipment for student observations and case learning, pedometers, heart rate monitors, and accelerometers to assess physical activity levels, statistical packages for research, and other specialized software to help students graduate with the knowledge and experience necessary to use the most cutting edge technology in this digital age.

At the graduate level, we hope to establish we seek to strengthen these partnerships as well as four new fellowships to recruit quality master s build new ones that engage students and faculty and doctoral students. Campaign gifts would also with our community and our state. enhance support for doctoral research projects, data Investment Total: $300,000 6 Guest lecturer Chaz Kellem discussed internship opportunities and diversity initiatives within the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Kellem spoke to CPASS students in the African American in Sport course. collection and analysis, as well as travel to national conferences where graduate students can showcase their work and raise the profile of CPASS. Investment Total: $3,850,000 Improving West Virginia s Health Fostering Faculty Excellence Attracting top faculty would help advance knowledge in our disciplines regionally, nationally, and internationally. Through the campaign, we hope to create an additional endowed professorship Student Success: Through the campaign, we and Economy that will bring talented research to the University, seek support for the College s most important Part of a land-grant university, CPASS has special who would then serve as a mentor for faculty and assets: students. For undergraduates, campaign responsibility to serve the citizens of the state. And students. The proposed professorship will support gifts would establish four new scholarships since West Virginia is one of the most obese states the strategic goals established by the department of helping the most promising students pursue in the nation, we must take the lead in combating coaching and teaching studies or the department their degrees without undue financial burden. this statistic. Already, we have strong partnerships of sport sciences. Campaign gifts would also An undergraduate research fund would also on campus and with organizations around the create a fund to support faculty travel to national create more opportunities for motivated state, including the CARDIAC Project, Camp conferences as well as the College s Visiting students to work alongside faculty. NEW You, and the Friday Morning Program for Scholars Program. children with disabilities. Through the campaign, Investment Total: $850,000

Through the campaign, we seek support for the College s most important assets: students. For undergraduates, campaign gifts would establish four new scholarships helping the most promising students pursue their degrees without undue financial burden.

Creating Thought Leaders for Tomorrow 8 The College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences is a special place. We are a small academic unit, very much like a family, where faculty and students know one another by name. Despite our size, however, we are international in perspective: in our curriculum and our research, we prepare students for the global marketplace. What drives me as dean is what drives this college an insatiable desire to learn. When it comes to the sport sciences and physical activity, there are always questions to be asked and knowledge to be discovered. I have been at CPASS for 33 years as a faculty member and administrator. I have deep respect for our history and heritage as a College. But I am not satisfied with the status quo. At CPASS, we want to be number one in the state, and we also want to be the best in the world. We want to attract elite faculty who are committed to the discovery of new knowledge and have a passion for teaching and learning. We want to draw top students, including more international students, and help them take their careers anywhere they imagine themselves. And we want to address unacceptable health disparities in West Virginia. But to do this, we cannot rely on declining state appropriations. We need more: more space, more labs, more research, more funding for scholarships and novel programs. In short, we need you. I ask you to join me now in supporting A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia s University. At CPASS, we do so many things well, but with your help, we could be the absolute best. Your gift to the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences will move CPASS in that direction. Dana D. Brooks Dean

WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY West Virginia s healthcare epicenter, its flagship of service, its brain trust. Home to some of the most innovative and forward-thinking minds in the country, WVU serves the world by first serving its state. We have emerged as a leader in solving today s most complex problems, and we are ready to share our State of Minds with the world. A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia s University is about investing in the values, ambition, intellect, and mindset that define one of the most exciting universities in the country. With support from alumni, friends, foundations, and partners, West Virginia University will be in a position to lead the national and global dialogue on energy, health, the environment, the economy and so much more. West Virginia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution.

College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences Office of Development 3450 Jerry West Blvd. P.O. Box 6116 Morgantown, WV 26506-6116 304-293-3295 cpass.wvu.edu One Waterfront Place, 7th Floor P.O. Box 1650 Morgantown, WV 26507-1650 304-284-4000 or 800-847-3856 www.astateofminds.com