The Human Kinetics program at UBC’s Okanagan campus has undergone rapid growth and change since its inception in 2007. This June, its first students will graduate.
Fifty students will be presented with undergraduate degrees in human kinetics at this year’s graduation ceremonies.
Mary Courtney, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Development, says she is confident the 2011 Human Kinetics graduating class is armed with the skills and tools needed to make an immediate impact in the health sciences profession.
“Whether graduates are transitioning to the workplace or furthering their educational aspirations, our program ensures they have the ability, experience and knowledge to build healthy communities and attitudes, to explore health and human movement in today’s society, and to team up with others to create positive change in health,” says Courtney.
Student numbers in Human Kinetics have exploded. More than 160 students were admitted last September into the first year of the program—more than triple the number of graduating students this year. Human Kinetics is also home to seven MSc students and eight PhD students. That number is expected to grow to more than 25 graduate students by September. The program has two main areas of specialization: exercise physiology and community health promotion.
Gord Binsted, head of the Human Kinetics department, says the undergraduate program was developed from the very start with the goal of creating a program firmly entrenched in health sciences.
“Over the last four years we have brought together a qualified, diverse faculty with a wide range of expertise and research interests that provide students with the opportunity to explore, in depth, all areas of the discipline,” he says, adding that faculty members were also chosen for their ability to increase the Human Kinetics research portfolio and compete for grants.
Research grants this fiscal year reached more than $972,000 up from $103,000 in 2008.