Reorganization of the
Physical Education Department –
A Proposal
James R. Ebert
Dean of Science and Social Science
November 27, 2012
Executive Summary
The following recommendations are made in the following report and justified in the body of the
report:

There are no significant budgetary benefits that accrue from decentralization of the
Physical Education Department but major administrative problems would be created by
decentralization

Retain the Department of Physical Education under a new name (in consultation with
faculty)

Assign the department to the Division of Education and Human Ecology to facilitate the
synergies in the areas of health and nutrition mentioned in Dean Thomas’s report

Hire a new assistant professor as recommended in Dean Thomas’s report

Have the department share a chair with another established department along the lines
of SUNY’s model of shared services

Mentor departmental faculty so that eventually one can assume the position of chair

Retain Helen Van Houten as the full-time secretary of the department

Specify a budgetary limit for adjuncts and extra service to focus departmental scheduling
of PACT courses
Introduction
The recently approved reorganization of Academic Affairs reassigns the Department of Human
Ecology to the new School of Education & Human Ecology. In October 2012, Human Ecology
submitted the document, “Restructuring the Department of Human Ecology into the Division of
Human Ecology with 3 Separate Departments.” Included in this document is a recommendation
to establish a Department of Nutrition, Fitness, Food and Events, which would provide a new
location for the current Physical Education Department.
The present report assesses the aspects of the proposal from Human Ecology that directly
affect the Physical Education Department. The recommendations contained herein support and
elaborate upon the recommendations made by Dean Alex Thomas in his “Report on the
Proposal to Restructure the Department of Human Ecology.” The current report provides an
alternative to the recommendations of Dr. Julie Freeman, the previous Dean of Science and
Social Science. In her December 2011 report, “Recommendation for Decentralization of the
Department of Physical Education,” Dr. Freeman recommended dismantling the Department of
Physical Education and redistributing its various components to other departments. One of
these recommendations, the transfer of the Dance Minor and associated classes from the
Department of Physical Education to the Theatre Department makes excellent curricular sense.
This move has been accomplished and will be fully implemented in January 2013.
A Changing Landscape and Revisiting the Premises of the Freeman Report
When Dr. Freeman composed her recommendation to decentralize the Department of Physical
Education, numerous factors were considered. However, some of these factors have changed
in recent months and new factors have come into play. This changing landscape necessitates a
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new look at the proposal to decentralize the department. The principal recommendations in Dr.
Freeman’s report are examined below in the order in which she presented them.
Dr. Freeman recommended decreasing the number of minors in Physical Education, distributing
the remaining minors among several departments and creating a new position, the Director of
Physical Activity to handle the scheduling of the physical activity (PACT) courses that are not
connected to any of the minors, yet serve as an important avenue by which students can
improve their overall health and relieve stress.
A major change affecting Dr. Freeman’s proposed decentralization of Physical Education is the
impending reorganization of Academic Affairs from two divisions to five. This framework was not
in place at the time of Dr. Freeman’s proposal. Reorganization of Academic Affairs would create
numerous problems with scheduling of courses within the minors in Physical Education and the
PACT courses in that many of the adjunct faculty who teach these courses would find
themselves reporting to different departments in different divisions. For example, instructors for
some of the courses in the Health and Fitness minor and Outdoor Leadership could find
themselves reporting to chairs in the Division of Social Science and the Division of Education
and Human Ecology.
Aside from the reorganization of Academic Affairs, there are several premises in Dr. Freeman’s
report that are no longer valid or require re-examination. Chief among these premises is Dr.
Freeman’s assertion that the department is no longer viable with only two full time faculty (1
tenure track and 1 lecturer) and no major. The reality of the situation is that the department
never had a major, yet was successful for many years as measured by the headcount of
students taking courses within the department. Further, the department provides important
opportunities for the student body (e.g. PACT courses) that are not appropriate to focus within
the structure of a major. These courses are, however, important to maintaining students’ health
and wellness, an especially important function when one considers the nation’s current health
crises in obesity and diabetes. PACT courses align directly with one of Chancellor Zimpher’s Big
Ideas: SUNY and a Healthier New York.
With regards to staffing, the current staffing situation is one that the college has created through
failing to replace vacant lines in the department. The characterization that there exist only 2 FTE
faculty is not accurate in that it does not account for the 54 credits taught by coaches who are
contractually obligated to teach 6 semester hours per year (nine coaches total). Assuming a 21
semester hour load, the teaching obligations of the coaches equates to 2.57 FTE faculty,
bringing the equivalent total faculty in the department to 4.57. The 54 credits taught by coaches
are at no cost to Academic Affairs. Dissolution of the department could potentially result in
inconsistent oversight of the teaching obligations of coaches and a duplication of administrative
functions spread among several departments.
The minors in “Health and Wellness” and “Personal Training” have been combined into a new
minor entitled “Health and Fitness.” This new minor was offered to the Department of Human
Ecology but rejected prior to their proposal to reorganize as separate departments. However, in
the proposed reorganization of Human Ecology, the Department of Nutrition, Fitness, Food and
Events has suggested that they would be willing to adopt the Health and Fitness minor.
Although this might seem like a reasonable solution it would create problems in that some of the
faculty involved in the minor also teach PACT courses. The probable chair of the newly
proposed Department of Nutrition, Fitness, Food and Events has expressed reluctance to take
on the PACT courses and a lack of appreciation of the importance of these courses to the
student body. Therefore, the proposed merger would create scheduling difficulties and
potentially a lack of support for some of the most sought after courses that the current
Department of Physical Education offers. Barring acceptance of the Health and Fitness minor by
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Human Ecology, Dr. Freeman recommended elimination of the minor, which would affect the
approximately 80 students that are currently enrolled in this rapidly growing minor and its
predecessors. It would be beneficial to the College and the students to continue this program
and to continue to house it in a refocused Physical Education Department. This serves as an
important compliment to the exploding enrollments in the pre-health professions and students’
growing interests in lifestyle coaching and personal fitness. Retaining the department would also
provide consistent oversight of the budget and equipment necessary for this minor and PACT
courses.
At the time that Dr. Freeman wrote her report, it appeared there was growing momentum for the
creation of an Environmental Science Department and that this new department would be an
appropriate home for Dr. Marchand and the minor in Outdoor Leadership. When it became
apparent that this department would not be created, negotiations were begun with the
Geography Department, the current “home” for Environmental Science. It appears that both the
department and Dr. Marchand have reservations about linking Outdoor Leadership with
Geography. The alternative of moving Dr. Marchand and the minor to the newly proposed
Department of Nutrition, Fitness, Food and Events is not viable. There is no commonality
between these programs. It would be a poor arrangement and would likely result in the eventual
demise of the Outdoor Leadership minor.
Dr. Freeman argued convincingly for the elimination of the minor in Sports Management. There
are few students in the minor and no compelling evidence that the minor helps attract student
athletes to the college, as claimed by Intercollegiate Athletics. None of the changes that have
taken place since Dr. Freeman’s report directly affect this minor. If it were to be retained, it
would only detract from the Department of Physical Education’s emerging focus on health,
fitness and outdoor leadership. Therefore, I concur with the original recommendation that the
Sports Management minor should be eliminated.
Dr. Freeman correctly pointed out that PACT courses offered by the department have grown
unchecked at great cost to the college. The impetus for offering these courses came from “the
desires of individual instructors rather than a rational scheduling plan which is mindful of costs”
(J. Freeman, 2011, p. 6). As acting chair of Physical Education, Dr. Freeman curtailed the
offering of PACT courses based on frequency of offering, high program cost, high instructor cost
and low enrollment. I have continued this policy in the scheduling of courses for Spring 2013.
The central problem here is a lack of leadership in the department, a situation that the College
created by failing to replace faculty. Dr. Freeman suggested that the scheduling of PACT
courses could be handled by creating a new position, a Director of Physical Activity (a Staff
Associate position, SL 4, with a salary range of $36,358 - $69,348), who would report to
“someone in Academic Affairs” (Freeman, 2011, p. 7). Without direct oversight by someone that
understands the role of PACT courses, it is not clear how such a director would control the
proliferation of PACT courses (To whom would this director report?). Moreover, if the
responsibilities of the proposed director are primarily in scheduling, it is not clear who would
have responsibility for oversight of the adjuncts and coaches that commonly teach PACT
courses. Such oversight is normally the responsibility of department chairs.
It is not clear how decentralization of Physical Education will save money for the college. The
proposed hiring of a Director of Physical Activity might provide a mechanism for the scheduling
of PACT courses, but such an individual would not have any responsibilities for teaching or
supervision of adjuncts and coaches. Hiring a new faculty member in Physical Education, as
recommended by Dean Thomas in his Report on the Proposal to Restructure the Department of
Human Ecology, would be in a similar salary range as that of the proposed director, but such an
individual would contribute to the refocused curricula of the department, could teach activity
courses and could provide guidance in the scheduling of PACT courses.
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Revitalization of the Department and a Re-Focused Mission
Faculty of the Physical Education Department have engaged in discussions on focusing their
mission and re-branding the department to better communicate their mission to the campus
community and prospective students, and increase the visibility of the campus’s commitment to
meet the demands of a health-conscious student population. As a result of these discussions,
the two minors in “Health and Wellness” and “Personal Training” have been combined into the
new “Health and Fitness” minor. Elimination of the minor in Sports Management is currently
under discussion and the Outdoor Education minor has been renamed as Outdoor Leadership.
Discussions have also taken place with respect to renaming the department to better describe
the role that it plays in the health and wellness of the student body. Although a new name has
yet to be determined, it is apparent that the new name will be something along the lines of
“Fitness, Wellness and Outdoor Leadership” or “Personal Fitness and Outdoor Leadership.”
The Physical Education Department’s current course offerings have been refocused into the
complementary areas of the Health and Fitness and Outdoor Leadership minors and PACT
courses which provide fitness opportunities and health education for students, provide
opportunities for elective credit, and fulfill the contractual teaching obligations of coaches. This
new focus has resulted in the elimination of special interest and low enrollment courses with
concomitant savings in adjunct and extra service salaries. From the Spring semester of 2012 to
the Spring semester of 2013, the department has reduced the number of semester hours
offered by 22% (from 180 to 148) with a savings of $29,219 or 20.4%. Such savings will grow
even more with proper oversight and leadership in the department.
The department feels quite strongly, and I concur, that retaining Physical Education as a
department will enable the faculty to better serve the health needs of the students, make it
easier for students to locate courses and faculty and will facilitate better stewardship of campus
resources if proper leadership is supplied.
Recommendations

There are no significant budgetary benefits that accrue from decentralization of the Physical
Education Department but major administrative problems would be created by decentralization

Retain the Department of Physical Education with a new name (in consultation with faculty)

Assign the department to the Division of Education and Human Ecology to facilitate the synergies
in the areas of health and nutrition mentioned in Dean Thomas’s report

Hire a new assistant professor as recommended in Dean Thomas’s report

Have the department share a chair with another established department along the lines of
SUNY’s model of shared services. Likely candidates include Drs. Freeman and Ebert who have
served as acting chairs of the department. However, any experienced current or former chair
would be suitable.

Mentor departmental faculty so that eventually one can assume the position of chair

Retain Helen Van Houten as the full-time secretary of the department

Specify a budgetary limit for adjuncts and extra service to focus departmental scheduling of
PACT courses
Table 1 compares the recommendations in this report with the 2011 recommendations from
Dean Freeman’s report. Circumstances that have changed since 2011 are included in Table 1
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along with a rationale for each of the 2012 recommendations. The appendix provides the results
of a survey of students in PHED courses.
2011
Recommendations
Disband department and
disperse minors and
activity courses
Changing
Circumstances
Restructuring of all
of Academic Affairs
Reduce courses offered
The number of
courses offered has
been reduced.
Hire Director of Physical
Activity (Recommended
at $36,358)
Predicated on
dispersal of
elements of the
department to other
departments.
Creation of ENVS
Department with Chair
and Secretary
ENVS will not be a
separate
department so there
is no “destination”
for Outdoor
Leadership (with
possible exception
of Geography).
Reduce number of
minors
Dance Minor
Outdoor Leadership –
add fee to offset high
cost of these courses
Health and Wellness
Personal Training
Accomplished
partially
Moved to Theatre
Sports Management
Combined to make
new minor in Health
and Fitness
Under consideration
for elimination
Move Lifeguarding,
Water Safety and
CPR/AED to Continuing
Education and charge
fees
Move cross-listed PHED 150
Self Defense for Women to WGS
Effect on Athletics
Insufficient
considered
recognition of
teaching
contributions of
coaches (54 s.h.)
per year
2012
Recommendations
Retain department status
and refocus mission with
new name to reflect
focus.
Continue to reduce
number of courses with
focus on non-minor and
low enrollment courses
Hire full time tenure-track
faculty (Salary of
$50,000) to support
Health and Fitness and
scheduling of activity
courses.
Retain current
department secretary.
Administer the
department via a single
chair that administers a
home department and
PHED – similar to shared
services model promoted
by SUNY
Continue Outdoor
Leadership Minor and
institute fees.
Continue Health and
Fitness Minor
Eliminate Sports
Management Minor
Lifeguarding, Water
Safety and CPR/AED
could be retained in
department or moved to
Continuing Education.
Continue cross listing of
course
Better oversight of
teaching responsibilities
of coaches
Table 1: Summary Comparison of Recommendations
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Rationale
No apparent cost saving by disbanding
department
Further reduction in course offerings will save
money on adjuncts and extra service.
Salary of assistant professor is only slightly
greater than director. Hiring an assistant
professor carries the additional benefit of
teaching courses, which a director would not.
The problems of unchecked expansion of
courses and use of adjuncts are a failure of
adequate leadership rather than a fatal flaw in
the department. An experienced chair from
another department could provide the
necessary leadership and would only require a
modest stipend which would be more than
offset by the savings realized by a tighter rein
on courses and adjuncts. Logical candidates
include Drs. Freeman and Ebert who have
served as Acting Chair of Physical Education
Minor is unique and is the area of expertise for
the only tenure-track member of the faculty.
Health and Fitness for students’ lifetimes will
become a major focus of the realigned
department.
Low enrollment, weak curriculum and outside of
refocused mission. There is no sports
management course in the minor
No advantage to discontinuing cross listing.
Teaching obligation of the coaches is
equivalent to 2.57 FTE faculty, a significant
contribution with no cost to Academic Affairs.
The existing department is accustomed to
dealing with Athletics whereas the decentralized
model easily might lose track of the teaching
obligation of the coaches.
Appendix: Results of Survey of Students in PHED Classes, Spring, 2012
In February 2012, 818 students completed surveys in PHED classes. This encompasses 70 class
sections. The total number of seats filled that semester was 1315. Students were asked not to fill
the survey more than once.
Year level
As shown in this table, a majority of students were seniors. Freshman only accounted for 7% of the
students taking PHED classes that semester. From anecdotal data, this is generally the case since
freshmen’s are often busy taking General Education classes.
Majors, minors and certifications
Over 50% of the students were majoring in 7 of the top 11 majors, including:
Biology – 12.4%
Mass Communications – 5.8%
Communications – 8.6%
Business Economics – 7.3%
Dietetics – 6.1%
Psychology – 7.6%
Criminal Justice – 7.2%
13% of the students taking classes in PHED were enrolled in a Minor
38% were planning on complete a certification, with the NYS Coaching certification being the most
popular.
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Number of classes taken in PHED
Students had taken between 1 and 18 classes in the PHED department.
Total number of classes taken:
2 – 24.2%
3 - 14.8%
4 - 11.9%
5 – 6.8%
1 – 30.8%
Reasons for taking PHED classes
The most important reason for students to take a class in PHED was to be Physically Active,
followed by Fitness and Exercise and Health and Wellness.
Plans after graduation
Of the students that answered the survey, about 50% said they were planning on working after
graduation and almost 40% said they were planning on going to graduate school.
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Graduate school
Of the students who provided a field of study for Graduate School, about 57% (255/450) mentioned
a subject related to an area taught in the Physical Education Department. Physical Therapy was the
most often mentioned.
Medicine, Physical Assistant, Nursing
Law enforcement, criminal justice, law, police
Nutrition, dietetics, food
Personal training, athletic training, coaching
Environmental science, geography, field biology
Physical therapy
Psychology, holistic approach, social work, counseling, child family
studies
Education, health education, physical education
Dance
Sports Management, sports broadcasting
15%
11%
9%
3.50%
7%
19%
11%
16%
1%
5%
Employment after graduation
Of the students who provided an area of employment for after graduation, about 56% (397/770)
mentioned a subject related to an area taught in the Physical Education Department. Jobs where
health and wellness knowledge are important were most often reported, followed by
understanding of personal training skills.
Job where personal fitness is important
Job where outdoor knowledge is important
Job where understanding of personal training skills is important
Job where sports management knowledge is important
Job where health and wellness knowledge is important
Job where coaching skills are important
Job where dancing/choreography is important
Education/ Teaching in general
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14%
8%
16.60%
4.50%
34.50%
5.00%
3.80%
13%
100%
Conclusion - Recommendations
As shown in the number of students enrolled in PHED classes, it is evident that there is a desire for
students to take classes in PHED. The reasons for taking these classes vary. Among these, students
often reported the importance of personal fitness, being active and health and wellness. Comments
also support this and a large number of students say they would be upset and greatly affected by
the loss of PHED classes.
It is also evident that a majority of students taking classes in PHED are currently learning work
skills through these classes and are planning on continuing their studies or career in fields related
to PHED. This is seen both in the information collected from quantitative questions and comments
offered by students. Students reported how this would affect their ability to coach, enter graduate
school and gain important experience for the workforce.
The current Physical Education Department is better equipped and experienced at serving these
students than several departments across campus. Further, a strengthening of the current
department would mean that we can continue offering rigorous and innovative classes to serve our
students. This includes reinstating faculty positions that were left vacant after retirements or
departure from campus.
Examples of comments fr0m students in response to the questions: “If PHED classes were not
offered or were greatly diminished, how do you think this would affect you?”
“It makes completion of credits more difficult as well as increases the chances of obesity on
campus.”
“Wouldn’t offer variety. Feel as if the school is taking away from my opportunity to grow”
“I wouldn’t have gotten my red cross and had a job this summer”
“It would make this college experience poor”
“It would impact the completion of my minor”
“I wouldn’t learn about health issues and how to get in shape”
“ I would not be able to learn about health and wellness that I would need for Physical Therapy.
Also, I could not get NYS coaching certification that I hope to do next year”
“Students wouldn’t know how to stay fit and healthy”
“ I would transfer”
“I would not be able to learn about things that interest me in the department that I cannot learn in
other department”
“ I would be very un-active while attending college”
“I wouldn’t be able to gain the knowledge needed to achieve the goals and jobs I wish to attain”
“I came here for a reason to become a personal trainer and my future as a physical therapist and I it
would take the majority of my education away from me”
“I won’t have the opportunity to get hands on work and learn from people who are currently in the
field. Doing this, I feel will help me be successful as a personal trainer.”
“Offering PHED classes gives SUCO students a little something extra”
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“Staying active is always hard as a college student so taking classes that help you stay active or
learn how to better improve overall health is important”
“Admissions results may be altered due to the lack of PHED”
“I think this would negatively affect my college experience”
“It makes me workout which is good”
“Completely affect my coaching abilities in the future”
“I wouldn’t be as physically active”
“I would not have physical education knowledge for graduate school and would fall behind”
“I think it would affect the school negatively”
“I would not be going to graduate school”
“With busy schedules, these classes help people to stay active when they have little time”
“I’ve learned a lot from each of these classes that aided in other classes, like stress management.”
“I would be very stressed out”
“It would have made this school a lot less appealing”
“I could not fulfill the pre-requisites to apply for athletic training programs. I would transfer
immediately.”
“I would be less physically active”
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