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The changes give students a more clear-cut career path and, ultimately,
make them more marketable when they graduate. Freshmen and
sophomores can opt for the new degree paths, with the rst graduates
likely in 2016.
Previously, the health and tness major was more focused on personal
training and strength and conditioning, but if graduates couldn’t nd a
job in a college or professional setting, they had no place to go, noted
Debbie Rhea, professor and associate dean for health sciences and
research.
“We found that if you do strength and conditioning, you really need
the teacher prep side of it in order to make yourself more marketable
in case the degree takes you to a high school setting,” she said. “In Texas
and many other states, if you don’t have a teaching degree, you cannot
coach in those areas.”
With the new devoted degree — physical education strength and
conditioning (PESC), which is a collaboration between the physical
education and health and tness programs — students graduate with
a teaching certi cation in physical education in all levels and can get
certi ed as a strength and conditioning coach after they graduate.
“The hours and money are better for our kids getting jobs in high
school areas than it is in the college area,” said Jonathan Oliver, assistant
professor of kinesiology, noting the increase in large public high schools
hiring strength and conditioning coaches.
For health and tness majors, the program now o ers more specialized
training through the required nine hours of “emphasis” courses, which
go much more in depth on the clinical and strength and conditioning
issues associated with health and tness. The emphasis courses
borderline on graduate level courses and include Theory of Coaching,
Advanced Strength and Conditioning, Health and Stress Management,
and Neuromuscular Pathophysiology.
“Students are exposed to both clinical and strength and conditioning
throughout the program, but their emphasis helps them to really know
for sure that this is the area they want to be in,” Oliver said. “It’s giving
them greater options when they graduate and greater exposure while
they are here.”
As they get close to graduation, health and tness majors are well
prepared to test for their American College of Sports Medicine health
and tness specialist certi cation, which requires a bachelor’s degree.
“If you’re going to spend this kind of money to go to TCU, you really
want a route to go after you graduate, and this is allowing two or three
di erent routes that are very manageable after you graduate,”Rhea said.
The aging population, obesity pandemic, tness boom and increasing
need for high school strength and conditioning coaches are increasing
employment options for graduates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
projects a 24 percent increase in tness trainer and instructor job growth
through 2020, which is faster than the average for all occupations.
“Our obesity rates are so high right now,”Rhea noted. “If we are going to
make a change in the culture, it’s not going to be through how we deal
with insurance, but it’s going to be through the health of our people.
And theonlywaywearegoing to get to a place where insurancedoesn’t
impact us so much is to make sure that we are healthy aswe age. There’s
a lot of roomfor students who graduate from our program to gowork in
di erent capacities in the obesity setting.”
CU’s Department of Kinesiology has added
more muscle to its health and fitness
regime. As of this fall, students can pair
certification in physical education with
strength and conditioning — creating a
teaching/coaching route that allows coaching at all levels
of performance.
In addition, students opting for a degree in health and
fitness can gain specialized training that mirrors real-
world practice.
PUMPING
UP
By Rachel Stowe
Master ‘91
Reprinted with
permission from
TCU
Magazine
,
Winter 2013
FEATURES
24
· Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences