It's official!

Exercise Science Program upgrades to Department status in 2003
By Andrea Berninger, Graduate Teaching Assistant

Dr. Riegelman, Dr Paup and Dean Katz cut the cake to celebrate the new Department of Exercise Science.

The George Washington University approved full department status for Exercise Science in March of 2003. The School of Public Health and Health Services, which includes Exercise Science, recommended the status change in July 2002.

Departmental status means a bigger profile for Exercise Science at GWU, said Dr. Donald Paup, department chair. “Receiving departmental status is important to us because it increases our visibility among students and upgrades our perceived level of prestige among other universities,” Paup said. “This change in status appears to be benefiting the Department already, as we are getting more and more graduate applications from students from the best undergraduate schools.”

Since its incorporation into the SPHHS in 1997 Exercise Science has grown steadily, and recently exponentially. The department offers B.S. degrees in both Exercise Science and Athletic Training, and a M.S. in Exercise Science degree in two areas of emphasis, Clinical Exercise Physiology and Exercise, Nutrition & Eating Behavior.

The department currently employs nine full-time faculty members, with an additional full-time professor scheduled for addition in Fall 2004. Today 135 undergraduate and 40 graduate students are pursuing degrees in Exercise Science. More than 1,700 non-majors from throughout GWU enroll each semester in the Department's course offerings, including nearly 100 exercise and sports activity classes. The Department supports 17 graduate assistants.

The department's facilities include classrooms, a small gymnasium, and state-of-the-art laboratories for athletic training, clinical exercise testing, body composition, and Anatomy and Physiology. The most recent addition to the laboratories is the Biodex muscle testing equipment that measures isokinetic muscle function at major joints. The department is housed and directs activities in Building K, 817 23 rd St. N.W.