Auburn University's School of Kinesiology was recently ranked as the No. 22 kinesiology program in the nation, and was ranked before the new College of Education's School of Kinesiology building opened Sept. 12.
Mary Rudisill, director of the School of Kinesiology, said the new facility will allow the already nationally recognized program to grow and improve.
"We're really hoping we can get ranked close to the teens," Rudisill said. "In 10 years, we will be the top program."
She also praised the current state of the School of Kinesiology, and said the new building's design will undoubtedly help the program accomplish its goals.
"We were in a building that wasn't designed for what we do," Rudisill said. "Our primary goal is to give our students the opportunity to go out and help their country."
Rudisill said the research conducted in the building focuses on both physical activity and health.
"We're a more medically based program," Rudisill said. "We're not just physical education."
Rudisill said research in the near future will focus on mechanics of human movement, obesity, diabetes and how to motivate children to be more physically active.
The new building features a motor behavior lab, a new facility for the TigerFit program and a training center for USA Team Handball.
"We're going to turn our optimization center into an Olympic training center," Rudisill said.
James McDonald, director of the TigerFit program, said the new facility should have a positive impact as the TigerFit program.
TigerFit is a program open to the public and allows kinesiology students the opportunity to perform individualized-health evaluations.
"Students, faculty and the public can get their health evaluated," McDonald said. "The tests we can run would be more expensive at a different facility."
Some specific evaluations available through the TigerFit program are muscular endurance testing, pulmonary testing, musculoskeletal testing, a graded exercise test and body fat testing.
The TigerFit program is open Monday-Friday from 3-5:30 p.m.
McDonald said the program helps kinesiology students to gain hands-on experience and provides an opportunity for the community
The kinesiology building is also environmentally friendly.
Rudisill said the kinesiology building is a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, LEED, certified building.
"I'm very happy the building is efficient," Rudisill said. "There is a sense of being outside while being inside the building."
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