CHS Professor Appointed to THECB Subcommittee

Published November 10, 2022
By Darlene Muguiro
UTEP College of Health Sciences

Dr. Jason Boyle, associate professor and chair of the Department of Kinesiology, was recently selected to join the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Subcommittee for Transfer Credits in Kinesiology. He is one of 28 members representing public two- and four-year institutions across the state.

Over the course of his three-year appointment, Boyle will work with other members to review the Field of Study (FOS) for the field of Kinesiology. The mandate comes from Texas Senate Bill 25, designed to streamline curriculum from community colleges to four-year institutions. Essentially, the bill ensures that if students complete a 60-hour associate’s degree, it will fit neatly into any four-year degree in Texas, thereby ensuring that students do not go over 120 semester-hour limits for bachelor degrees.

The subcommittee’s work will focus specifically on identifying a modern “field of study,” a subset of courses within the 60 semester hours of the associate’s degree. The current field of study in the ACGM includes courses like community health and wellness, and coaching techniques. According to Boyle, these types of courses don’t necessarily translate well for a Kinesiology major who ultimately wants to pursue a career in biomechanics or exercise physiology.     

“Kinesiology has grown so much in the last 25 years since the origination of this bill and is leaning heavier and heavier on a science-based curriculum, particularly at the four-year institutions,” he said. “But this has not kept pace at the two-year institutions, so our job as a committee is to review this and make a major update. With so many variations within the field, it hasn’t been an easy task.”

Despite the challenging period ahead for the subcommittee, Boyle can proudly point to UTEP’s Kinesiology Department as an example of success. Over the last year, Kinesiology faculty worked to identify areas for improvement within their own curriculum. A proposal was recently submitted to the college’s curriculum committee for changes that will go into effect in fall 2023, if approved. The new plan will offer flexibility to both traditional and transfer students, and will ensure that transfer students’ degrees fit neatly into the UTEP degree.

“I’m really proud of what we’ve done as a group,” Boyle said. “Our curriculum was too restrictive. Now, we’re all about offering students recommendations for the various paths they can take, like becoming a physical therapist, owning their own gym, or becoming a clinical exercise physiologist. Students won’t be locked into a particular path. I believe they’ll love the freedom we’ll be offering in the curriculum.”

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Go Miners!
For more information about the Kinesiology Department, please visit: https://www.utep.edu/chs/kinesiology/