Introduction

Life University offers a 52-credit hour Master of Science degree in Sport Health Science with specialty tracks in the professional fields of Exercise and Sport Science, Sport Injury Management, Sport Coaching, Nutrition and Sport Science, and Chiropractic Sport Science. The curriculum is designed to permit graduates with an interest in these specific areas to realize their personal and professional goals. Any graduate level course offered in the Sports Health Science  courses can be used as an elective for any of the specialty tracks.

Prerequisite Courses

All students must have taken at least one college level course with a grade of “C” or better in each of the following disciplines to be admitted into the program:

1. Anatomy and Physiology (may be a combined course)
2. Chemistry
3. Physics

Areas of Concentration

Tennis Fitness & Sport Science

This specialty track is designed to prepare the student for a career working with tennis athletes in the areas of strength and conditioning, personal training, athletic training, physical therapy, chiropractic and other health and wellness areas.  The graduates of this program will be able to work at country clubs, private facilities, junior training academies, national sport federations, collegiate athletic departments and also with professional players on the ATP and WTA tours.

Clinic and Field Experience Programs

A high degree of flexibility in the sport health science curriculum provides meaningful educational and technical preparation. Students are exposed to the current science and issues in injury management, coaching and sport science through classroom instruction complemented by a strong emphasis on practical experience.

It is the objective of Life University to provide its graduate students with high quality educational opportunities that fulfill their needs. The attainment of this objective may depend upon training in a specialized sports discipline, plus an interrelationship of educational content and field/clinical experience.

There are two field/clinical experience programs from which to choose (credit may only be earned for one of the following experiences):

• Practicum – students can earn up to 12 credit hours, which may extend up to three or four quarters with credit earned each quarter.
• Internship – the student enrolls in 12 credit hours, which are earned in one quarter.

Practicum Requirements and Policies

1. The student must obtain approval from their academic advisor and supervising professor at least one quarter prior to registration and complete all required paperwork.
2. The student must complete one quarter’s course work (12 credit hours) prior to registering for the practicum experience.
3. The student must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 to be allowed to register for an off-campus practicum experience.
4. The student must complete a practicum proposal prior to registration.
5. Grading for practicum is Pass/Fail to better reflect the practical nature of these courses.

The clinic/field experience hours are equated based on 30 contact hours equals one quarter hour of credit (i.e., 12-quarter hours of credit for an internship requires the student to complete 360 contact hours during the internship experience).

Internship Requirements and Policies

1. The student must obtain approval from their academic advisor and supervising professor at least one quarter prior to registration and complete all required paperwork.
2. The student must complete all required course work for their area of specialization prior to registering for an internship.
3. The student must have a minimum GPA of 3.00 to register for an internship.
4. The student must complete internship contract prior to registration.
5. Grading for internships is Pass/Fail to better reflect the practical nature of these courses.

Thesis or Non-Thesis Option

Thesis or Non-Thesis Option for all graduate degree programs (Clinical Nutrition and Sport Health Science) offered by the SHS Division

All graduate students are expected to select either a thesis or non-thesis option in order to meet the requirements of the degree and it will depend on the concentration or tract that the student has selected.  

• The number of credit hours required for thesis depends on the degree.  For example, the thesis option in the SHS Department requires the student to complete 12 credit hours of thesis which applies toward the elective category.  Whereas the thesis option in the Nutrition Department in the Research track requires the student to complete 8 credit hours.  
• The non-thesis option for either degree requires the student to complete a certain number of electives credits (defined per each concentration or track) and successfully pass a written comprehensive exam.  Therefore, the student will complete course work in the core and required area plus elective credits in order to complete a total of 52 credits hours for the degree.
• Both programs MS in Clinical Nutrition and the MS in Sport Health Science requires the student to complete a total of 52 credit hours.

Thesis – SHS Division

Students interested in pursuing the thesis option is a culminating graduate study experience.  This scholarly learning experience provides the student with an opportunity to explore a specific area of research interest using statistical analysis and research design.

Students are encouraged to pursue projects that are evidence-based practice in design. Each study will be supervised by a faculty member and all research projects will require the proposal to be submitted  to the Institutional Review Board prior to the start of the investigation. All research projects requiring use of Human Subjects must be approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Life University before the student starts working on the project.

Students must establish a thesis committee which consists of major advisor and 2 other departmental faculty (one outside the department is allowed). The thesis committee will supervise the graduate student research project until the student has officially completed and submitted the thesis as part of the M.S. requirement. 

Following the completion of the research project, the student will be required to submit a full written thesis.

Once the committee is formed, the student will develop a proposal with the supervision of the committee.  All students must hold a prospectus meeting and obtain approval to secure IRB approval.  Once the data collection, data analysis and findings are completed the student will hold a formal research presentation (thesis defense meeting) with a group of their peers and attended by department and Life University faculty. These formal presentations will be scheduled on a quarterly basis and open to the academic community.

Guidelines for thesis and project submissions can be obtained within the Department or the College of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies.

Written Comprehensive Examination within the SHS Division

For those students completing the non-thesis option, each candidate is required to take a written, comprehensive exam.  The examination will be drawn from all the core and required courses in each student’s specific area of study.  The written comprehensive exam is designed to measure the student’s ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate, and apply the knowledge acquired through the program.

Eligibility Requirements:

1.Completion of the Comprehensive Application

2. Completed all core and required courses for the track or area of concentration.

3. Minimum GPA of 3.0.

4. All required application materials are on file.

To be eligible for the Written Comprehensive Examination, the student must complete an application and review the eligibility checklist for completeness.  The application must be filed with the department no later than week six of the quarter before the comprehensive exam will be completed.  The application can be obtained in either department (Nutrition or SHS) within the Sport Health Science Division.  During the application process, the student is also directed to contact the registrar’s office to start the exit review process for graduation. 

The application is forwarded to the graduate advisor for review and approval.  The graduate advisor’s responsibility is to ensure that the student has met the eligibility criteria listed on the checklist. Once the file has been reviewed and approved by the graduate advisor, the application will be forwarded to the Assistant Dean for final approval.  Once the final approval is granted, the Asst. Dean is responsible for registration for MSHS 6990   or MNTR 6980  .  The deadline for registration is week 10 of the quarter before the exam is completed. 

The exam is offered on the Friday of the 4^th week of ever quarter.  The exam starts at 9 am in the Harris Assessment Center. The faculty members who teach in the program will grade the exam.  Faculty are given two weeks for reading and grading. The exam is graded as pass/fail.  The student will be notified by mail of the outcome of the comprehensive exam.

If the student does not pass the written comprehensive examination on the first attempt, there is one additional re-take of the exam (only retake the parts that one failed).  Suppose, on the second attempt; the student does not pass. In that case, the student is considered academically dismissed from the graduate program within the division of Sport Health Science (Clinical Nutrition and Sport Health Science degree programs).