Three Exceptional Features of Chatham’s Exercise Science Program
Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Clinical Education Tim Braun instructs students. (Nancy Andrews)
Chatham University’s accredited Bachelor of Exercise Science program prepares students to pursue advanced degrees and begin work as strength specialists, personal trainers, and entry-level professionals in other fields.
Edward “EJ” Ryan, professor and program coordinator of exercise science, sat down with Pulse@ChathamU to talk about some of the strongest features of Chatham’s exercise science program.
Compassionate, dedicated faculty
“Our faculty is going to be the highlight for students,” said Ryan. “Our faculty are compassionate, they’re caring, there’s an open-door policy.”
Compared to universities with larger cohorts, Ryan said, students can expect to get a lot more information from faculty, who are excellent at providing individual attention in and outside the classroom.
Faculty in Chatham’s exercise science program get to balance their time between teaching and scholarship—something that excites Ryan, who studies the effects of caffeine on human performance.
Research and publishing opportunities
Students also get the opportunity to get involved with faculty research. “It’s no secret that, when you’re doing research, it’s all-hands-on-deck,” Ryan said. Undergraduate students have the opportunity to get their names published alongside faculty in professional, peer-reviewed journals, such as the International Journal of Exercise Science.
“You have this nice integration of scholarship and basic coursework,” Ryan said.
With the majority of exercise science students pursuing graduate-level education after attaining their bachelor’s degree, having published research gives students a head start.
State-of-the-art equipment
“Our state-of-the-art equipment is very competitive, even with our larger, neighboring institutions,” Ryan said. In the exercise science lab, students have access to all the tools they’ll need for lessons and research.
For example, lab equipment studying metabolic systems is used in both classwork and research. That gives students the opportunity to get hands-on experience that complements the theory they learn in their courses.
“Students make that connection from theory to practice with the most advanced measuring techniques and tools available,” Ryan said.
There’s plenty of other benefits to studying exercise science at Chatham: an idyllic campus in the heart of Pittsburgh’s East End; an integrated degree program, which gives students a clear path to matriculating into Chatham’s highly regarded graduate-level programs; and small cohorts, where students can form close connections with each other and their faculty.
Learn more about Chatham’s exercise science and athletic training programs at chatham.edu.