Welcome to the Health and Human Performance Department

Our core mission

is a drive to understand and encourage the human body in motion.  The United States has seen a significant challenge to the health of its population in recent years as a result of inactivity, poor nutrition and sedentary work environments. The health of the population is served by the graduates of the HHP programs as they support and encourage better health through movement, through messages and assistance delivered in schools and in the community, through physical therapy or in other venues where movement is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.

Students

in HHP programs study the functions of the complex human body through examination of its anatomy, physiology and kinesiology. Nutritional input to provide energy for the body is examined and the study of biomechanics provides students with an understanding of the “body in motion.”  Research into the way that our bodies move – in sports or everyday activities -- constitutes an important part of our program.  HHP students also prepare to educate diverse populations on the need for more healthy lifestyles, preparing for the distribution of these messages in schools and the community.  Finally, many students in Health and Human Performance prepare to assist those whose bodies have been limited in their ability tomove as we provide the foundation for physical therapists to engage in rehabilitation of the ill or injured body.

Our support for the common good

starts at the most basic level: how can we understand more fully the workings of the human body and encourage our community members to live more healthy lives with proper nutrition, appropriate exercise and better mechanisms to live with the stresses of a challenging world. 

For information about the specifics of our programs, please visit our Majors & Minors page.

Opportunities are endless in the health promotion field. Health Promotion Science majors should get involved in their field early in your schooling. Find a career that feels natural to you; then it won't feel like work. The health field is a wide open market - be aware of all the options. To secure a PE teaching job, strongly consider a double major in Health or Adapted PE. Take advantage of every opportunity to volunteer, intern or monitor health programs. Job shadow as much as possible! Get to know your professors well and maintain those relationships. Background in health can take your career in so many different directions.