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Historical OverviewDuring the school year of 1970-71, the administration of The University of Southern Mississippi saw a need to develop a department that placed major emphasis on training individuals to become athletic administrators, coaches, and athletic trainers. A full year of planning was devoted to the development of such a department to be housed in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, and was named the Department of Athletic Administration and Coaching. In the fall of 1971, the program was implemented and became the first undergraduate program in the United States. Faculty members hired had experience in the area of football, basketball, minor sports, and athletic administration. In 1974, it was decided that an athletic training specialization should be included in the department's course of study. A full-time faculty member was employed at this time to work with the varsity sports program's athletic trainer to develop, coordinate, and teach in the specialization. In 1975, the Athletic Training Program was approved by the National Athletic Trainers' Association, Inc., Professional Education Committee. The initial degree program lead to either a bachelor of science degree with teaching certification in Physical Education or a nonteaching degree program for individuals interested in areas such as YMCA, YWCA, golf or tennis pros, or athletic administrators. In 1974, the department responded to secondary education administrators' call for coaches and trainers who could teach subjects other than Physical Education at the secondary level. Programs were implemented that would allow students to major in Athletic Administration and Coaching and certify to teach any subject taught at the secondary school level. This type of program has placed graduates in high demand since 1974. Because of this type of program, as opposed to the traditional Physical Education major, every athletic training student seeking employment at the secondary level has been employed as a teacher-trainer. In October 1983, the University Academic Council approved the Athletic Training Program as a major emphasis of study in the Department of Athletic Administration and Coaching. In September 1988, the Department of Athletic Administration and Coaching changed its name to the Department of Coaching and Sport Administration. In 1988, the university went through a major reorganization. The structure of the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation was affected tremendously. A new College of Health and Human Sciences was formed and the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation was renamed the School of Human Performance and Recreation. The dean of the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation was removed and a director of the new school was appointed, who reported to the dean of the new college. Departmental status of the four academic majors within the school was reduced to major status and the School of Human Performance and Recreation operates as a department within the new college. In 1992, another reorganization was conducted that affected the number of majors and emphasis in the university. The Athletic Training emphasis, which was housed in the major of Coaching and Sports Administration, was moved to the major of Human Performance and with an emphasis in Sports Medicine. University administration has been very supportive of the Sports Medicine/Athletic Training Program. Since the 1990 visitation, the course syllabi have been rewritten and two new athletic training facilities have been built and equipped with modern modalities and rehabilitation equipment. The purchasing of the modalities and rehabilitation equipment was a joint effort among the School of Human Performance and Recreation, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, and the Recreational Sports Department. Adjunct faculty are used to strengthen the curriculum in the area of modalities and medical aspects of sports medicine. The Cook Library has been updated with textbooks, journals, and audiovisual aids needed to educate students who want to become athletic trainers, and computer software has been purchased for student use. An Athletic Training Learning Laboratory was developed in the HP&R building in 1991 and is available to the student for research, viewing videotapes, computer application, or practical application of taping. The athletic training facilities at The University of Southern Mississippi are such that co-educational training rooms do not present a problem. Male and female students work together in all sports. In August 1993, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics employed a full-time assistant athletic trainer, and in 1994, added a graduate assistant athletic trainer. Also in 1993, the Sports Medicine Institute of Methodist Hospital awarded the university a grant to provide assistantships to certified graduate students who would serve as athletic trainers for area high schools. This has provided a much needed clinical experience for the undergraduate students. With the Sports Medicine Outreach Program, affiliated settings could be used by the athletic training curriculum. Athletic Training became an academic major in the summer of 2001.The athletic training education program is currently housed within the School of Human Performance and Recreation, which is part of the restructured College of Health (Summer 2003).
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