The Tennessee Board of Regents approved a restructuring for the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences at the University of Memphis.
The Sport and Leisure Management program, which was previously apart of the Department of Health Studies, is now moving to the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management.
“The merger of the SLM Program with KWS makes the school unique since only a handful of other institutions in the nation offer such a blended program,” said Radesh Palakurthi, director of the school in an email sent out to faulty, staff and students by Judy Alford on behalf of the provost, Karen Weddle-West.
The merging of the schools allows students to choose from a larger variety of careers, as well as a broader skill set.
“The merger offers students many career opportunities that cover the full spectrum of positions available across the hospitality and resort industries,” Palakurthi said. “Students can now go beyond the traditional hotel and restaurant industries and also seek careers in the golf industry, resorts and timeshare facilities, and with sports teams and stadiums. We are very excited about the merger.”
The Department of Health and Sports Sciences is now the School of Health Studies, and will umbrella over many existing programs; such as Exercise and Sports Science, Environmental Nutrition, Dietetics, Health Promotion, Healthcare Leadership, Clinical Nutrition and Physical Education Teacher Education.
Rick Bloomer, former chair of the Department of Health and Sports Sciences, was named the interim director for the new School.
“From a degree perspective, all of the concentrations and degree programs will remain the same,” Bloomer said. “We have plans for the future for possibly adding new concentrations. We think it will be very beneficial for students, but for students currently enrolled in these perspective concentrations, there will be no changes.”
The School of Health Studies, which currently has a renowned research program, is looking to boost it in the years to come.
“We have a very progressive research program, with individuals doing work from cell culture to animal to human trials,” Bloomer said. “We think that the new school structure, with some of the things we have in place like enhancing laboratories and research facilities will be very advantageous for our current students and faculty investigators, as well as those we want to recruit here.”
The College of Education, Health and Human Sciences is changing its name to simply the College of Education, and will continue being run by Ernie Rakow, the interim dean.
“The synergies created by these mergers and reconfigurations will lead to increased collaborations with University scholars and those in the greater community, enhanced visibility of the high-demand degree programs in each school and college, and greater marketability of the graduates from these disciplines,” said Provost Waddle-West.
The email noted that plans for a College of Health Sciences have been put on hold until a later date.
