Undergraduate Program

Our interdisciplinary program is one of the largest in the College of Arts and Sciences. The program integrates the biological, physiological, medical, and behavioral sciences as they relate to physiological responses to exercise and other aspects of human health.

The Bachelor of Science in Health and Exercise Science is designed to train students who plan to work in the health, fitness, and sports fields or to prepare students for graduate studies in Health and Exercise Science or related fields. The undergraduate program consists of a single core curriculum emphasizing applied science and professional preparation in combination with an elective block sufficiently broad to allow students to develop strong preparation in an area of personal interest related to health and exercise. A minor in Health and Exercise Science is also available at the undergraduate level for non-HES majors.

Exercise physiology is both a basic and an applied science that describes, explains, and uses the body’s responses to acute exercise and its adaptation to chronic training in order to maximize human physical potential. Exercise physiology attempts to understand how the basic physiological functioning of the human body is modified by short-term and long-term physical activity, as well as inactivity, and the mechanisms responsible. By studying exercise physiology, students should be better able to apply the results from scientific research in order to maximize health, rehabilitation, and/or athletic performance in a variety of populations.

Health promotion is a discipline that seeks to improve the health of individuals and communities through education, behavioral change and environmental improvement. Health promotion draws from a number of complementary disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, the biological and clinical sciences, and business (marketing and management) to help individuals and communities change their behaviors and improve their environments. In short, health promotion is “the process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve their health” (Ottawa Charter, First International Conference of Health Promotion, 1986).