Special Physical Education Doctoral Program
The objective of the doctoral program in Special Physical Education is to provide many and varied opportunities for graduate students to develop the competencies deemed necessary to teach at institutions of higher education and to train teachers to provide quality services in physical education to individuals with disabilities. Students will be provided opportunities to be mentored in the areas of grant writing, grant administration, teaching college courses, administrating special physical education programs, supervising students who are teaching programs for students with disabilities, conducting research, and publishing articles.
Practica
The practica experiences available to the graduate students include teaching and supervising undergraduate and Master's students teaching in the following programs:
- Basic Instruction Program which provides instruction in physical activities for university students and staff.
- Physical Education for the Disabled course at the university in which university students, staff, and individuals from the community who have a disability can participate in an individualized physical activity program.
- UFIT Program in which children with disabilities from the community participate in a physical activity program one night a week.
- Public and private schools in the Salt Lake Metropolitan area.
- Other practicum opportunities include providing instruction through community service organizations such as:
These organizations provide a number of outdoor activities to include alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, horseback riding, tennis, swimming, water skiing, rock climbing, river rafting, etc.
Program of Study
Mentoring
The following opportunities will be available for doctoral students to gain the skills and competencies necessary to teach at institutions of higher education. Doctoral students will mentor with a faculty member and will gain experience in the following:
- Grant writing and grant administration. Doctoral students can help in writing and administering preservice training grants in special physical education.
- Conducting research. Doctoral students will be expected to develop and implement a research project to fulfill the requirements of the doctoral program.
- Publishing articles. Doctoral students will be expected to write articles on their research project and submit the articles for publication.
- Administering a special physical education program. Doctoral students may have the opportunity to oversee the U FIT Program.
The Faculty
Assistantships Available
There are a number of assistantships funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education that are available at the doctoral level. Doctoral assistantships are $11,500 a year and a tuition waiver.
Research Opportunities
There are a number of opportunities to do research with individuals with disabilities in the public and private schools, the PE for the Disabled course, the U FIT Program, the National Ability Center, etc. In addition, there are faculty in a variety of disciplines at the university with whom to develop collaborative research to include sport psychology, exercise physiology, athletic training, pedagogy, special education, therapeutic recreation, physical therapy, occupational therapy, communication disorders, health education, medicine, etc.
Contact
Applications for a graduate degree in Exercise and Sport Science are due by January 15th of each year for acceptance into the graduate program for Fall of the following year. If there are openings in the graduate program after the deadline, applications will be reviewed as they are received.
For further information on graduate degree programs in Special Physical Education and available graduate assistantships, contact:
Hester L. Henderson, Ph.D.
Director of Special Physical Education Program
University of Utah
Department of Exercise and Sport Science
250 South 1850 East Room 241
Salt Lake City, UTAH 84112-0920
(801) 581-7964
E mail: hester.henderson@health.utah.edu
