Dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences Dr. James Gore clarified that the two departments were created by splitting up the former Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies.
A memo by the Dean stated that the Department of Sport Management will “oversee the degree program in Sport Management (including an array of internships for sport management students)” and that the Department of Health Sciences and Human Performance will “have oversight of the newly created Allied Health major (designed primarily for those interested in pre-physical therapy, pre-occupational therapy and pre-physicians assistants) as well as already established majors in Exercise Science (Adult Fitness), Athletic Training and Public Health.”
It also stated that Dr. J.C. Andersen will chair Health Sciences and Human Performance (HSHP) and that Dr. Jay Jisha will chair Sport Management (SPM).
The Sport Management faculty proposed an independent department in the Spring semester of 2010 and had worked tirelessly on the proposal during the summer and fall semesters.
Gore explained that, “The objective was to better reflect our strengths in health sciences, since we have a new major in allied health, along with public health and athletic training—all of which will be housed in the HSHP department.”
“The Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies housed six different departments,” stated Dr. Andersen, Athletic Training Program Director.
“There were three concentrations and three majors. Sport management needed its own department. Over the past 30 years, sport management has become more specialized.” Andersen listed this as the main reason for the split.
Dr. Jay Jisha, associate professor of sport management and exercise science and sports studies, added, “[Sport management students] make up about 40 percent of the students enrolled in the entire department.”
Since the demand for sport management is so high, it seems only appropriate to make it an independent department.
Gore said,“Sport management, with a very large enrollment, will obtain greater visibility to the general public as well as the profession.”
“Another reason, from a curricular standpoint, is that the other programs are more health and science based, while ours isn’t,” said Jisha.
By creating a separate department for sport management, Jisha feels that it will become “more attractive to students.”
“The new names are going to be beneficial for both departments. From a sport management perspective, we are going to be fairly unique. We also offer unique classes such as sales, venue management and European travel.
“There are not that many [sport management departments] that are ‘stand-alone’ departments.”
Many universities that have the same number of students in the sport management department still have one big department, and so the University of Tampa is fortunate to be unique in having the Sport Management department as a stand-alone department.
This will hopefully encourage more students to apply for the program at UT.
Both Andersen and Jisha point out that the main difference the separation will make is in organization.
It is mainly an administrative change and will not really have an impact on the degree or the curriculum.
It will just be easier for the department leadership as well as the dean to focus on each area and better identify and differentiate between the two.
Jisha stresses this point when he said, “Student’s will have the same experience, it is just a different organizational structure. The quality will not change.”
Andersen added, “It will only get better. Although the curriculum of the departments will not change, their identity will become more visible.”
He is looking forward to the next five years to see how the split has made a difference and he is excited that the programs are going to be more interrelated in the new health department.
“We are excited about it,” Jisha said.
“We have discussed it as a whole and we have received unanimous support from the faculty of the former Department of Exercise Science and Sport Studies. We all agreed that it would benefit all involved.”
Andersen added, “The faculty really kept focus on how it would help students and add value to their experience.”
The goal for the long run is that, with the separation of these two departments, the administration will be able to focus on each one individually and that more students will apply for the programs.
Shivani Kanji can be reached at shivani.kanji@gmail.com.