Programs

As an EXSS major, you'll: 

• Learn from experienced and dynamic professional faculty that teach evidence-based practices.
• Utilize and learn in state-of-the-art facilities, including the $63.5 million Falcon Center.
• Receive hands-on, personal instruction in classes where professors know you as more than a number.
• Participate in two internship experiences (one sophomore year, one senior year) to confirm your career choice, apply coursework firsthand and make professional connections.
• Be encouraged to participate in undergraduate research in your specific field of study.

As an HPE major, you'll: 

• Have a unique variety of clinical field experiences in rural, urban and suburban schools, some as early as your first semester and continuing throughout the program.
• Learn through numerous hands-on experiences. You'll teach everything from movement to sports skills to fitness and rhythm activities.
• Integrate technology into your learning and teaching.
• Have the opportunity to teach homeschooled students (K-12) right here on campus in methods and techniques courses and have the opportunity to teach classes in local partner public schools.
• Experience 18 weeks of student teaching, split evenly between elementary and secondary-level classrooms. You'll spend that time gaining valuable experience teaching all ages.
• Receive regular professional development and networking opportunities by participating in state, national and international conferences. Learn more about Wisconsin Health and Physical Education and the Society of Health and Physical Educators.
• Be licensed as both a Wisconsin DPI 910 Health Professional Educator and 530 Physical Education Professional Educator upon graduation.
• Have the opportunity to study in Poland with our partnering university, AWF.

Things of Note:

• Our program has a 100% placement rate the past two years with our recent graduates and over 90% the past five years.
• We have many Minnesota natives who graduate from our program. To teach in Minnesota, you'll need to take the Minnesota MTLE exams for licensure in Health, Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education. Our graduates are well prepared for the exam thanks to our standards! Learn more about the Minnesota Teacher Licensure testing process. 

Transfer Students and Post Baccalaureate Certification Candidates must:

• Have an undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75.  
• Review the course sequence for HPE.
• Meet with the university certification officer to review general education requirements and request an evaluation of transcripts. Please note that all HPE methods and techniques courses need to be taken in the UWRF HPE program.
• Pass the exam or meet the Praxis Core requirements for an ACT composite score of 23. No section score can be lower than 20.
• Interview with HPE faculty.
• Post Baccalaureate Certification candidates with a strong academic background in exercise science, kinesiology or teacher education will likely see a reduction in the number of required credits.

This certification is an add-on minor for the HPE major as part of the baccalaureate or post-baccalaureate programs and is not a stand-alone minor. HPE undergraduate majors must complete PED 370 Adapted Physical Education Practicum PRIOR to student teaching. The majority of classes are offered in the daytime during the school year and the adapted physical education minor does not offer online classes. Classes must be taken on campus. 

• Our students learn first-hand by teaching students with disabilities.
• We teach fundamental motor skills and patterns, physical and motor fitness, aquatic skills, disability sports and group games.
• Our students spend numerous hours in public schools and on-campus programs such as the Falcon Adapted Physical Education program working with disabled children.
• The adapted physical education minor makes HPE majors more marketable to Pre-K and K-12 schools.
• Graduates with an adapted physical education minor are eligible for Wisconsin Adapted Physical Education, Grades K-12, Teaching Licensure (DPI Code: #1860).

Clinical experiences depend upon the student's skills, present competencies and their goals. Some may include:

• Observing special education and adapted physical education classes.
• Assisting in adapted physical education classes and in aquatic activities.
• Working with experienced teachers in schools and clinical settings.
• Planning, assessing and evaluating individualized programs for students aged 3-21 who are disabled, in segregated and mainstreamed classes.
• Working with the parents of students with disabilities.
• Attending IEP Meetings.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of teaching strategies through recorded lessons.