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Despite barriers and delays caused by COVID-19, partners around the state have found imaginative solutions to empower communities striving to overcome West Virginia’s health-related challenges.

A year ago, the Center for ActiveWV, at the West Virginia University College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, set out to empower communities to create opportunities for physical activity through a statewide initiative. Amid a global pandemic, access to physical activity in communities has become a valuable tool to boost immune systems and manage stress.

West Virginia University sport management students have learned firsthand how to combine data analytics and technology within sports. The students partnered with  Athstat, an international application service, to compile data analytics and technology in the sport of rugby during the virtual marketing project.

College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences SM 387-Issues in Sport Studies and SM-167 Intro to Sport Management students met with Athstat representative and team leader Kisset Chirengende through Zoom presentations. Chirengende provided a behind the scenes look into the sports industry while introducing the class to the company’s sport-related analytics technology. He selected students to lead the project marketing team: Daniel Yoo, Jake Ours, Konnor Davis, Broc Glover and Joseph Beutel.

Undergraduate students within the West Virginia University College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences will soon have expanded opportunities for online learning. Beginning January 19, 2021, Dana Voelker will serve as the college’s director of undergraduate online education to enhance the college’s online programming.

Voelker will team up with WVU campus partners, including WVU Online and WVU Career Services, along with the CPASS Office of Student Success, to increase the college’s online education efforts.

Brooke Pataky, athletic training major with a minor in sport and exercise psychology, strength and conditioning, and nutrition, plans to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in 2023. After earning her degree, she wants to help athletes perform at their best in a Div. 1 college or professional sports setting.

As a high school student, Pataky discovered a passion for treating athletes and helping them return to the field or court. Pataky, from Fredericksburg, Va., says she chose athletic training as a major after enrolling in a sport medicine class taught by the school’s athletic trainer.

In a recent online brief, the Health and Well-being major, housed in the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, was identified for its cutting-edge degree-certification pathway. The article, by Higher Ed Dive, focused on four-year schools that are embedding industry credentials into their programs to prepare graduating students for the workforce.

“Combining industry certifications and college degrees is advantageous for everyone,” Valerie Wayda, CPASS associate dean for undergraduate education academic affairs, said. “CPASS strives to blend innovation within the college to ensure student success.”

Samantha Strejeck earned two degrees from West Virginia University, a Sport Management MS (May 2017) and Strategic Communications with a concentration in Public Relations, minor in Leadership Studies BS (2015). Strejeck talks about her passion for sports, experiences as a CPASS sport management student and her internships with WVU Athletics. Strejeck, who grew up in Annapolis, MD, explains how experiential learning opportunities at WVU helped launch her career in the professional sports industry.

Read below to learn how Samantha Strejeck turned hands-on learning experiences while at WVU CPASS into establishing her career goal in social media in sports and then landing her dream position with the NFL.

An ongoing collaboration with the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) and the Human Performance Innovation Center (HPIC), which allows CPASS students to gain practical learning in support of classroom work, has taken another step in growing this unique educational experience and partnership.

Guy Hornsby, assistant professor, Coaching and Performance Science, recently received an adjunct faculty appointment with RNI and the HPIC. "This partnership establishes a more formal relationship between CPASS and RNI HPIC that I believe creates a nice bridge between the two programs. It is particularly attractive for our coaching and performance science students working in the HPIC lab and in sport science roles with WVU athletics,” Hornsby said.

Two CPASS graduate students attended a virtual experience titled A Long Talk About the Uncomfortable Truth. The format featured a three-day course focusing on discussions about race and diversity. The purpose of the session is to erase racism and dismantle systematic oppression in America. 

WVU recently welcomed 29 new Fellows to the graduate student community. These first-year Fellows will begin building groundbreaking research projects once they arrive on campus this fall semester. Three CPASS graduate students also received Fellow awards.

Currently, more than 70 graduate students are attending WVU through one of seven highly competitive Fellowship programs. Stellar incoming PhD students, as well as other doctoral and MFA students, are nominated for these prestigious awards by program coordinators.

A group of sport management master’s students shifted their end-of-semester research presentations into a lesson in virtual partnerships — and it’s paying off.

CPASS Associate Professor Floyd Jones explains how the semester-long sport industry partnerships with graduate students worked in the realm of remote collaboration.