Recommendations for Plans of Study
Ad-hoc Committee
Irene Davis, John Scholz and John Novotny
October 24, 2006
This committee was formed to re-evaluate the requirements for course work within the
Biomechanics and Movement Science Program and to make recommendations for further
clarification of these requirements within the Program Policy Statement. In this document, it is
stated that we have 'a mission to study the body from an interdisciplinary approach'. The
interdisciplinary nature of this program attracts students from a wide variety of disciplines
including engineering, physical therapy and exercise science. It has always been the belief of the
faculty that all students should have some breadth of knowledge in the area of biomechanics and
movement science. It was in this spirit that the following requirements were developed.
All students must fulfill the following course requirements (from the Program Policy Statement)
MS Degree
"The Master of Science in Biomechanics and Movement Science requires 24 credits of
graduate-level coursework and 6 credits of thesis. The 24 credits of coursework are
specified in the student’s planned program of study, and must include at least 3 credits of
Experimental Design or Statistics, and 3 credits of coursework in Instrumentation. Six of
the 24 credits of coursework must come from areas outside of the student’s principal area
of study. In addition, students must register for and attend Seminar (BMSC 865) each
semester they are enrolled.
Students in the Master’s degree program are allowed to take a maximum of six credits of
independent study. Additional independent study credits will not count towards
graduation.
A maximum of 9 graduate credit hours may be transferred from another institution to the
degree. Candidates for the degree must have regular status."
PhD Degree
"The Doctor of Philosophy in Biomechanics and Movement Science requires 33 credits
of graduate-level coursework beyond the master’s degree and 9 credits of dissertation.
The 33 credits of coursework are specified in the individual planned programs of study,
and must include at least 3 credits of Experimental Design or Statistics, and 3 credits of
coursework in Instrumentation, Computing, or Engineering applications. Six of the 33
credits of coursework must come from areas outside of the student’s principal area of
study. In addition, students must register for and attend Seminar (BMSC 865) each
semester they are enrolled.
Students in the Doctoral degree program are allowed to apply a maximum of twelve
credits of independent study and a maximum of six credits of research (BMSC 868).
However, no more than twelve combined credits from research and independent study
courses may can be used to meet the 33 credit requirement.."
There has been confusion regarding what constitutes being "outside the student's principal area
of study". The committee felt that this was due, in part, to the lack of definition of potential
areas of study.
Based upon some of these identified problems, the committee submits the following
recommendations:
Recommendations:
1.
After some discussion, we are suggesting five general areas of study within the
Biomechanics and Movement Science Program.
These are Biomechanics, Motor
Control/Behavior and Applied/Exercise Physiology, Rehabilitation Engineering, and
Molecular/Tissue Biomechanics. Each student must explicitly declare one of these areas.
2.
In order to satisfy the breadth requirement, the two outside courses should be from one of
the areas outside the student's declared area. For example, a student whose area of study is
biomechanics may take the two “breadth” courses from Motor Control/Behavior,
Applied/Exercise Physiology, Rehabilitation Engineering or Molecular/Tissue Biomechancis.
Students may also take one course from any two of these concentrations.
3.
Additional courses in statistics or instrumentation should not be used to fulfill this
breadth requirement but could contribute to the 33 required credits for graduation.
4.
There are some courses that are generic to all three areas of study and therefore, would
not be used to satisfy the breadth requirement. These include math and signal processing and
anatomy classes but could contribute to the 33 required credits for graduation.
5.
Independent Study courses that are being used to satisfy the breadth requirements of the
program must be submitted with a syllabus to the executive committee for approval.
6.
All plans of study must indicate the student's area of study and indicate the classes being
used for each of the program requirements.
7.
Specific courses will be assigned to the different areas of study by the executive
committee. Faculty who teach a specific course or students may petition the executive
committee to request assignment of a course to a specific area of study. If there is no precedent
defining the area to which a course should be assigned, the executive committee should be
provided with a syllabus for the course by the student or faculty member and the Executive
Committee will assign the course
If these are agreed upon by the Biomechanics and Movement Science faculty, the Program
Policy Statement should be revised to reflect these changes.