October 15, 2014 — Life University (LIFE) has been awarded accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) for one of their newest degree programs, a master of athletic training (MAT), housed within the Department of Sport Health Science.
This two-year graduate program, which enrolls students every summer quarter, had its first graduating class in the summer of 2014. Those graduates are now eligible to take the Board of Certification (BOC) exam to become a certified athletic trainer (ATC). LIFE’s Department of Sport Health Science Chair Dr. Catherine Faust said she is excited about the uniqueness of LIFE’s program and the opportunity it gives prospective students looking to join the athletic training profession.
“The MAT program is one of only 35 in the nation,” Faust said. “We are also the only professional graduate program in the state of Georgia and have a highly competitive admissions process.”
Faust pointed out the team effort of everyone involved in the accreditation process, which included a two-year self study, an on-site review by the CAATE in the spring of 2014, a report of findings submitted by the CAATE, and a rejoinder submitted by LIFE back to the CAATE to show how they met the standards given by the accreditation agency before finally becoming an accredited program.
The team consists of Deloss Brubaker, EdD, a MAT faculty member at LIFE who helped start the program and teaches half of the lecture courses within the program; Tim Gross, DC, PhD, who was very helpful in getting the MAT degree approved by the University and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS); and Robert Scott, DC, LIFE’s senior vice president for academic affairs, who also helped in getting the SACS approval and contributed to getting the summer 2014 graduates the MAT degree.
One additional person on LIFE’s staff who was instrumental in this process is LIFE’s Athletic Training Program Director Donald Fuller, PhD. Dr. Fuller
Fuller has plenty of experience in developing athletic training programs, as he’s started up three of the 35 nationwide, while also consulting in the beginning of four additional MAT programs.
“With the CAATE accreditation, we should be able to attract more quality students and continue to grow our numbers each year,” Fuller said. “We are unique even within the 35 MAT programs nationwide in that our location is so close to one of the largest metro areas in the country, which gives us many relationships with premier healthcare institutions in Atlanta for clinical rotations, such as Emory University, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and even LIFE’s own chiropractic clinic—the Center for Health & Optimum Performance.”
For more information about Life University or the master of athletic training degree, call 770-426-2884 or 800-543-3202 (toll free) or contact Admissions@LIFE.edu.
Source: Life University
