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Like Patrick Mahomes, West Virginia University sport management students are making going to the Super Bowl a bit of a habit.

Last year, Arielle Friedman made her way to Los Angeles to help execute fan events and hospitality for Super Bowl LVI, and this year, Rocco Agostino is headed to Phoenix to work the big game in a similar capacity.

The College of Applied Human Science has reinforced its commitment to students and research with the addition of two administrators. Zach Thayer joins the college as the director of the Office of Student Success, and Matt Witt will serve as grants administrator.

Thayer will lead the unit responsible for the recruitment, retention and advising efforts for CAHS. He comes to CAHS from the John Chambers College of Business and Economics where he served as the director of graduate programs: systems, operations, and data analytics since August of 2020. Prior to that he spent three years as a program coordinator for first-year pathway for WVU’s Center for Learning, Advising and Student Success. He earned his master’s degree from WVU in political science and is currently pursuing a doctorate in higher education.

As WVU continues to grow as a national leader in the collegiate esports scene, Chris Scroggins is taking on the role of director of the esports academic program while also serving as a service assistant professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences.

“One of the most exciting things about it is that WVU is one of the first major R1 institutions to go all in on esports,” Scroggins said. “It’s exciting that we’re offering esports at an institution of this caliber. This is the flagship school of this state, and it’s spectacular that we’re willing to invest in it and really be a trailblazer at this level.

West Virginia University Ware Distinguished Professor Eloise Elliott is the newest member of the Cooper Institute FitnessGram Advisory Board, designed to promote life-long fitness and wellness through research and education.

The Cooper Institute works to provide research and programs that focus on the importance of physical activity across all stages of life. FitnessGram is one of the institute’s youth initiatives that strives to educate children and adolescents about the benefits of physical activity now and later in life.

John Gay, EdD, loved students with drive. He could recognize those who had potential and ambition, and then poured encouragement into them to help them believe that they could achieve and do more. He was the kind of professor, dean, scholar and man whom a student would stop in an airport years later to thank him for the nudge he gave them to be better.

He would have loved Chloe Simpson.

The West Virginia University commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 17 marks the first time degrees will be conferred from the College of Applied Human Sciences. While the name is new, the rich experiences and thorough education is the same as it ever has been.

This group of graduates dealt with the challenges of COVID during their collegiate careers along with the challenge of resuming learning in a new way. Several students cited a personal connection between their professors that helped them to succeed during that time.

Cassie Smith, a West Virginia University physical education graduate (1993), is passionate about getting people outdoors to become more active. As director of the West Virginia Interscholastic Cycling League, Smith counts on dedicated coaches and other volunteers as the key to the success of the WV National Interscholastic Cycling Association.

Celebrating five years in the Mountain State, Smith says establishing WV NICA is a huge accomplishment. “Not only are we seeing more kids on bikes, but we are recruiting parents as coaches. In five years, we grew from 130 athletes and 50 coaches to 405 athletes and more than 200 coaches,” Smith said.

The American Council on Rural Special Education has established a new award in honor of Kim Floyd, associate professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences School of Counseling and Well-being, and her son, Kasey.

The ACRES board created the Kim and Kasey Floyd Rural Social Justice Award to recognize individuals or organizations who have worked to personally address inequities in educational opportunities or access due to systemic social injustice for persons with disabilities who live in rural areas and are further disenfranchised or disempowered.

J. William (Bill) Douglas, an alumnus of West Virginia University and former dean for the WVU School of Physical Education, died on Monday, Oct. 31.

A native of Morgantown, W.Va., Douglas earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WVU and was a member of the Mountaineer baseball team. He earned his doctorate degree from Ohio State University in 1969.

Maria Vito, physical education and kinesiology major, chose the West Virginia University PEK program because it combined two of her passions: working with children and seeing them succeed and promoting a physically active lifestyle.

As a PEK student, Vito says that the professors in the department and college have provided “massive” amounts of support. “They are always there to make sure that everything is going well, whether it be with my academics or mental health,” said Vito, from Bentleyville, Pa.