Steven F. Siconolfi, Dean
Patricia E. Green, Associate Dean
Janet K. Wigglesworth, Associate Dean
For full faculty listing, see "Faculty and Administration."
Faculty and Administration
We are a community of learners who prepare health care, health, sport, and leisure professionals for lifelong practice and scholarship. As a community we value a strong faculty-student relationship, respect for various opinions, the free exchange of ideas, diversity, and a commitment to the expansion of knowledge through all forms of scholarly work.
Students who choose the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance follow a path of enriching experiences, with real rewards. Opportunities include rehabilitating people in clinical settings; coaching athletes; designing fitness programs for individuals or within corporate settings; working within a sport organization, government health agency, or community setting; managing hospitals and nursing homes; teaching health and physical education; leading outdoor adventure pursuits; and working as a recreation manager in the hotel or leisure industry.
HSHP currently enrolls more than 1,200 full-time students in more than 18 different undergraduate degree programs and 8 graduate programs (10 M.S. degree/concentrations and a clinical doctorate in physical therapy). In addition, students can choose from a variety of concentrations (e.g., nutrition) and emphases (e.g., medical sciences) within some of the undergraduate majors. The wide breadth of programs ensures that students who fall in love with Ithaca can find a major in HSHP that will meet their life goals. Upon graduation, students interested in developing further depth in an area can advance to graduate studies in many departments.
The HSHP Preprofessional Program is available for freshmen and sophomores who are undecided about a particular major but interested in related fields. Students receive intensive guidance and academic advisement concerning program choices before declaring a major.
The strength of an HSHP degree emerges from a dedicated faculty who believe in and practice their areas of expertise, engage in scholarship and research with their students, while fully supporting the integration of the liberal arts and sciences into their professional programs through the HSHP General Education Program.
The HSHP General Education Program fosters literacy in the liberal arts and sciences, enabling future professionals to be active participants in the diverse society they serve. Recognizing that our students will specialize in a variety of specific majors, the HSHP General Education Program ensures that all students will achieve a common set of learning objectives. HSHP students will acquire literacy in the following areas: communication -- oral and written; decision making -- critical and analytical reasoning; individual and community wellness -- individual wellness and community engagement; literacy in local (personal) and global (societal) issues -- social sciences and cultural and historical; and axiological appreciation literacy -- ethical, aesthetic, and political. Detailed information can be found at the HSHP General Education website (www.ithaca.edu/HSHP/GenEd).
HSHP General Education
HSHP students consistently perform above national averages in all programs that require licensure or certification exams. We strive to produce highly prepared entry-level professionals.
In March 2009, the Departments of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance at Ithaca College applied for and received a charter for a chapter of the Alpha Eta Society (AES). Founded in 1975 at the University of Florida, this national scholastic honor society for the allied health professions was formed to promote and recognize significant scholarship in, leadership in, and contributions to the field. Active membership in the Ithaca chapter of the society consists of candidates for a baccalaureate or a graduate degree in an allied health program, candidates for postdegree certificates in allied health programs, faculty in allied health programs, and alumni of such programs.
Alpha Eta Society (http://www.alphaeta.net)
Students in HSHP have a myriad of opportunities to apply the knowledge and skills developed in the classroom. The importance of experiential learning is demonstrated by our affiliation with approximately 2,000 sites and organizations, located throughout the United States and abroad, where our students complete fieldwork and internships. In addition, the school houses a faculty/staff wellness clinic, an occupational/physical therapy clinic, the Sir Alexander Ewing Speech and Hearing Clinic, athletic training facilities, and the Center for Life Skills (a center emphasizing the team approach to healthcare). Each year more than 650 HSHP students complete field experiences as part of their academic program. Annual faculty-led study abroad gives students an opportunity for a global experience.
Over 90 percent of HSHP graduates find employment in their field or a related field or are accepted into graduate schools of their choice. In the past two years the rate was over 95 percent.
School of Health Sciences and Human Performance