WELCOME TO THE AKA WEB SITE

What is Kinesiology?

Kinesiology is the academic discipline which
involves the study of physical activity and its
impact on health, human performance,
society, and quality of life.

Physical Activity

Physical activity includes activities of daily
living, work, sport, dance, and play as well as
exercise for improvement of health and
physical fitness, rehabilitation from injury,
disability, and disease, and conditioning and
training for athletics and other high
performance activities

The Knowledge Base of Kinesiology

Kinesiology integrates information gained through experiencing physical activity, through professional application, and through multi-dimensional scholarly approaches to the study of physical activity—biological, medical and health-related aspects, psychological, and social-humanistic.

Careers in Kinesiology

The study of kinesiology can lead to a variety of careers involving teaching, research, and delivery of services related to physical activity, fitness, sports management, physical education, coaching, health promotion, rehabilitation, athletic training, and sports medicine. Positions are found in a variety of settings including schools, colleges and universities, public and private agencies, clinical environments, government, business and the military.

What is the American Kinesiology Association?

The American Kinesiology Association is an organization for departments of kinesiology in higher education. It is overseen by an elected Board of Directors and Executive Committee (Jerry Thomas, President) and staffed by a Business Manager (Kim Scott- KimS@hkusa.com) and an Executive Director (Shirl Hoffman- shoffman@americankinesiology.org).

Under AKA auspices, member departments are provided regular updates on matters of interest to academics within and outside the field of kinesiology, media, and laypersons interested in learning about physical activity.

Member departments and their faculties have access to an on-line newsletter (“Kinesiology Today”). It’s website provides links to AKA member departments, updates on research and research funding, profiles of member departments, profiles of selected faculty in member departments, overviews of doctoral programs in kinesiology, information regarding journals and their weighting in tenure and promotion reviews, descriptions and information about AKA affiliate organizations and their activities, and announcements of special interest to people who teach and conduct research in kinesiology departments. Through links on the website AKA members can list faculty position openings which are then distributed to all 800+ kinesiology departments nation wide.

The AKA also sponsors seminars/workshops on timely topics for chairs, deans, and other faculty in member departments. These have included workshops on professional development such as the leadership and strategic planning meetings held in Chicago in September, 2008, and the program development seminar on the undergraduate core curriculum in kinesiology that convened in Orlando in February 2009.

The Mission of AKA

“Advocating, Coordinating, Educating, and Serving”

Kinesiology is a young and rapidly expanding field of study and practice. From its early years as a profession devoted almost exclusively to the preparation of physical education teachers and coaches, it has blossomed into a multi-faceted academic discipline centered on the study of physical activity. From a single focus on teaching, it has expanded its reach to an impressive research enterprise and a variety of career tracks in the fields of sports, exercise, sports management, physical education, coaching, health promotion, rehabilitation, athletic training, and sports medicine.

The American Kinesiology Association has four overarching goals:

•Advocating for kinesiology in the academy, government, and the professions, both nationally and internationally.

Backed by substantial support from participating kinesiology departments in universities and colleges, AKA will represent its constituencies in the public arena, especially where policies relative to kinesiology are debated in government and higher education, and where national research program dollars are allocated, at regional, national, and international levels. This will be possible only as kinesiology departments work in concert with AKA and unite as a visible and respected discipline in higher education.

•Coordinating the exchange of information about kinesiology and physical activity between departments, affiliated organizations, and agencies.

AKA is committed to helping strengthen its affiliated organizations by facilitating communication about their activities to relevant constituencies and promoting their interests as they in turn promote the interests of AKA. It is also AKA’s mission to facilitate the flow of ideas and information among its member departments.

•Educating and providing opportunities for interaction among administrators of member departments regarding the organization and administration of academic departments in kinesiology, and serving as a primary information resource for anyone seeking information about the study of physical activity.

AKA sponsors workshops and seminars dealing with topics of interest to representatives of academic departments. Its website will be a clearing house for information regarding physical activity that is of interest to academics, media, and the lay public.

•Serving the needs of its member departments.

AKA serves the needs and interests of its member departments through various features on its website including its career center, syllabi-sharing feature, consulting services, data collection and reporting operations, and education functions.