The West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission has unanimously approved West Liberty University’s new Bachelor of Science degree program in athletic training, President Robin C. Capehart has announced.
“This is an exciting new academic offering for students interested in the growing field of athletic training and the interconnection of sports and medicine. WLU long has demonstrated excellence in health sciences education and in intercollegiate sports, and an undergraduate degree in athletic training is a natural outgrowth of that heritage. We are very pleased that HEPC has recognized the quality of West Liberty University’s proposed program,” Capehart said.
The curriculum will provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to evaluate, treat and rehabilitate athletes of all ages participating in a wide variety of physical activities. They will gain practical clinical experience coupled with specific course work in order to earn all necessary professional certification. Career opportunities may be found in secondary schools, colleges and universities, professional sports programs, sports medicine clinics, the performing arts, industry and military settings.
Rhonda Noble, chair of the WLU Department of Health and Human Performance, said, “We are all very excited about adding this major to the high quality programs already in place. WLU would be the only four year public university in this area to offer this degree.
“There are only 350 colleges and universities nationwide out of approximately 2,500 public and private four-year institutions that offer an athletic training degree. Because the program is within the Department of Health and Human Performance, an advantage WLU offers over some existing programs is that if students are not admitted to the AT program, the first two years also lay the foundation for a degree in exercise physiology.”
She explained that the goal of the WLU athletic training program is to meet the standards of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education, while providing students with a solid foundation in factual and conceptual mastery of the study of sports medicine.
Athletic training is a growing field, Noble added. “Employment of athletic trainers is projected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow 37 percent from 2008 to 2018, which is a much faster than average rate of growth for all occupations.
WLU will begin offering the program in the fall semester of 2012. Students will take required classes for the first three semesters and be able to apply for admission to the program for the beginning of their fourth semester. Upon completion of the program, students will be eligible to sit for certification examination. Once the student passes this examination, he or she may practice as a nationally certified athletic trainer, Noble explained.