The Department of Sport Science and Health Education will be releasing a new Health and Exercise Science major and minor coming to Simpson in the fall of 2019.

The program was originally announced to the students over email February 17 and stated that it will be replacing the Clinical Health Science and Exercise Science majors.

For this program, the department is trying to cover the same material that they are replacing except under one major.

“[The new program] gives students flexibility to really pursue what they want under this big umbrella of health wellness, sports medicine or whatever it may be,” Cal Busby, instructor for the sports science department said.

The program focuses on having a wide area of study with many ways to obtain a certain credit. Similar to how a student is required to have a credit of art but the student is allowed to pick the art class that they would like to take.

“I really like this program because it makes it easier to combine the healthcare and medicine side with the exercise side of health.” Jacob Becker, senior exercise science major said. “It opens a lot of new doors because the program makes it clear how they work together.”

There are no required classes to take within the major and minor, only required areas of study. A student even has an option to take whichever capstone class they offer.

“What I think people need to realize is that there are many areas that Sports science and health cover,”  Busby said. “The program lets student really figure out what area they want to work within their given field. “

After meeting with outside reviewers of the program and reviewing American College of Sports Medicine and National Strength and Conditioning Association guidelines, the program started developing in early 2018.

All of the reviews and most discussions had taken place before the fall cuts were announced. The program, however, does a more efficient job with how the department runs, which helps the school with extra cost.

“To be honest I’m very excited about the program because the major offers the flexibility but gives students the opportunity to dive in and explore topics deeply,” Busby said.

The program is also trying to cater to what the students want to get out of their experiences in college.

“If I’m a cook and the people stop eating what I have laid out then it’s about time I change what I’m offering to keep my people happy. This applies to the classes we teach. We want to make sure these students are learning what will help them out the most,” Busby said.

The program is set to roll out in the fall of 2019. As stated in the original email that was sent out to the public the last day to declare for the majors that the program is replacing is Friday, March 1.