HHP program to become school

With appointments of an interim dean and acting department heads completed, East Carolina University is set to open its newest professional school—the School of Health and Human Performance.

Composed of study programs and research labs from the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Safety (H.P.E.R.S.), the school was under development for several years. It won approval from the ECU Board of Trustees in October and from the University of North Carolina Board of Governors in May. It becomes ECU’s eleventh professional school on July 1. Dr. Carolyn H. Hampton was named this week as the new school’s interim dean. A long-time science education professor at ECU, Hampton is currently the associate dean for research in the ECU College of Arts and Sciences.

Hampton said she welcomes her new role and she looks forward to helping the school in its early development. “It’s something the H.P.E.R.S. faculty has wanted for several years and I think its great that the department has attained school status,” she said. She said some of the high visibility programs within the school have already achieved state and regional acclaim. The programs include Sports Medicine and the Human Performance Laboratory. “These programs and the other academic disciplines will help the new school become one the best in the country,” she said. Chancellor Richard Eakin, who appointed Hampton to the interim post, will name a search committee this summer or early in the fall to select a permanent dean. Other members of the ECU faculty appointed to acting positions include Dr. David White, named acting chairman of the Department of Health Education. Catherine Bolton will become the acting chair of Department of Physical Education, and Dr. Karen Hancock will head Leisure Systems Studies.

Initially, the school will contain three departments. They are Health Education, Physical Education and Leisure Systems Studies. The Department of Health Education will include Sports Medicine and the Human Performance and Biomechanics Laboratories with its other academic programs. The School of Health and Human Performance joins with 10 other ECU professional schools in offering programs in specific career fields. The other ten schools are Allied Health Sciences, Art, Business, Education, Human Environmental Sciences, Industry and Technology, Medicine, Music, Nursing and Social Work.

The ECU College of Arts and Sciences also provides study programs in a variety of other subject areas and emphasizes a strong liberal arts curriculum. The Graduate School coordinates work at the master’s and doctorate levels.