Fitness Management

Current Degree Requirements

How Do I Transfer Into This Major?

The department reviews applications from University of Delaware students who wish to change majors twice a year, with applications being accepted and the end of each Fall and Spring semester. Applications are available 30 days prior to each due date. Students are notified of admission decisions after semester grades are posted. Students not admitted to a major may apply again the following semester.

Fitness Management requires a formal application process

A faculty admission committee for Fitness Management will make decisions on acceptance based on the following criteria:

• Successful completion (minimum grade C-) of the following courses:
• HESC 155 – Personal Health Management: An Approach for a Lifetime
• HESC 160 – Health Behavior Science First Year Seminar
• ENGL 110 – Critical Reading and Writing
• MATH
• Psychology or Sociology
• Competitive GPA
• Completion of the appropriate application with essay
• Submission of resume

Career Opportunities

Employment and educational opportunities for Fitness Management graduates are diverse and rewarding. With increased attention on health and fitness, career possibilities have expanded into new and exciting areas. Some examples of potential careers are:

• Health Promotion
  Preparation for work in the health promotion field in diversified setting, including corporate, club, private, and governmental. Reviews the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease, including the theory and principles of major risk factor development. Prepares the student to plan, create, and implement health promotion programs in the workplace, focusing on program selection, promotion, evaluation, and expansion. Qualifies the student to pursue clinically oriented programs in preventative and rehabilitative health programs, and provides an excellent background for advanced study.

• Exercise and Wellness
  Programmatic approach where the contributions of exercise to optimal health and professional application of exercise are emphasized through research on the development, implementation, and evaluation of exercise programs.

• Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiovascular Health
  Designed for students who wish to work in the area of cardiovascular health, both in the prevention of cardiac disease, and in the rehabilitation of those who have experienced cardiovascular problems.

• Stress Management
  Focuses on the phenomenon of stress and includes application of various techniques in a laboratory setting with the emphasis on individual measurement, awareness and improvement of relaxation. Principles include tension reduction, relaxation techniques, or the refinement of relaxation techniques, or the refinement of relaxation techniques.

• Fitness Management
  Integrates managerial skills with scientific and clinical knowledge of exercise physiology, human physiological chemistry, behavioral psychology, and nutrition. Experiences may include publication of newsletters and articles for professional journals, worksite health promotion cost-benefit research and health promotion development, management, and evaluation. Requires skill in both cardiovascular health and management. Designed for those who wish to function as a manager in organizations with cardiovascular fitness programs. May also identify concepts in general management principles including organizational structure, personnel management, and budgeting. References made specifically to the health/fitness industry, addressing promotion and marketing, facility development, and risk management.

• Health Education/Counseling
  Provides training for careers in public, non-profit and private health agencies. Health educators in local and state health departments assess health problems and concerns of the community; plan, implement, and evaluate programs, conduct workshops, make presentations, and attempt to promote health through various educational means. Opportunities in environmental health are open to health educators in the government setting. Corporate settings provide opportunities for the health educator to develop and administer wellness programs, counsel, and assist employees and their families inbehavioral change. Other job opportunities are found in the medical field in hospitals and clinics, where the health educator works with patient rehabilitation and medical compliance. Health educators are also employed at many of the nonprofit agencies to plan programs, conduct workshops, and initiate fund-raising events.

For further information about the major of Fitness Management please contact:
Dr. Beth Orsega-Smith at 302-831-6681 or eosmith@udel.edu