Adams State announces two new master's degrees (02-13-07)
Two new Master of Arts degrees are available from Adams State College, one in Humanities and the other in Human Performance and Physical Education (HPPE), according to Dr. Teri McCartney, director of the Adams State Graduate School. The HPPE program replaces the previous degree in Health and Physical Education, offering a more in-depth curriculum, McCartney said.
The Humanities degree has an emphasis in history and is geared to middle and high school teachers, while the HPPE degree has three emphases: coaching, exercise science, and sports administration. The coaching track will be taught online, with a capstone course required on campus, while the other two HPPE tracks will be offered on campus. The history program is hybrid, with online courses and summer classes on campus.
"It is very exciting to introduce the first new graduate programs at Adams State in many years," McCartney said.
Dr. Ed Crowther, chair of the History Department, said he and Dr. Rich Loosbrock, assistant professor of history, saw a need to provide area history teachers with a content area degree. They were encouraged to do so by the U.S. Dept. of Education, which awarded them a $1.5 million Teaching American History grant. Entering its second year, that grant program has offered professional development to teachers in the Arkansas River Valley and northern New Mexico. A similar grant for the San Luis Valley was completed in 2005. The pair is working on another grant which could waive tuition in the new master's program.
"We want to equip teachers to do the best job they possibly can, at a time when the actual teaching of history in schools is imperiled, because it is not an area tested by CSAP [Colorado Student Assessment Program]," Crowther said. "This program will involve the entire faculty in our department, as we fulfill ASC's mission of working with public schools in our service area."
"Working coaches will study with a highly accomplished academic faculty, learning to implement best practices," said Crowther, who is also interim chair of the HPPE Department. "Among our professors will be Coach Damon Martin, who just received his 20th national coach of the year honor from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association."
There are fewer than ten such coaching programs available across the U.S., according to Dr. Fred Chilson, assistant professor of HPPE, who worked to develop the new program. He created a similar program at Eastern New Mexico University.
"There is a lot of potential for this program, because it is especially attractive to people who already have a coaching career and cannot take time off to further their education," Chilson said. "This online program will be offered in the evenings to fit within the schedules of working coaches."
more on the web...
By Julie Waechter
