Context: Anecdotal information has been shared for several years that employers do not feel that new athletic training graduates are ready for the workforce. To date there have been no studies of employers and employees to determine deficiencies in order to confirm or refute this position. Objective: To explore the opinions of employers and employees (recent graduates within the last 3–5 years) about the level of preparation and readiness for the work force of new athletic training graduates. Specifically, the purpose was to examine the themes emerging from interviews with employers and employees about the employee's abilities. Design and Setting: A mixed methods quantitative/qualitative design involving in-depth focus group interviews. Interviews were conducted in a controlled environment during the National Athletic Trainers' Association Annual Symposium in June of 2010. Participants: Eleven employers and five employees were available at scheduled times during the symposium. Extensive networking efforts were conducted to solicit participants from 3 work settings; college/university, high school/clinic/outreach, and emerging practices. Data Collection and Analysis: Focus group interviews were videotaped then transcribed verbatim and analyzed deductively. Peer debriefing and member checks were used to ensure trustworthiness. Results: Several ‘thematic’ deficiencies, or abilities, that were lacking emerged from our analysis. Both groups cited: 1) interpersonal communication, 2) decision making/independence, 3) initiative, 4) confidence, and 5) humility/ability to learn from mistakes as abilities that were deficient in new graduates. Administrative skills was the only thematic deficiency cited by the employees but not the employers. Conclusion: Limitations of current curriculum education models and employer-driven on-the-job-orientation and experience were identified as areas of concern.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the reason for faculty and staff (N=657; 35 percent males; M age=45.20) at a large Southern university, for either using or not using the free fitness facilities on campus. Design/methodology/approach – Participants identified themselves as either current (n=306), former (n=213), or never-users (n=138) of the facilities, and completed an on-line self-report qualitative questionnaire asking them to describe their reasons for using or not using the campus fitness facilities. Findings – Thematic coding revealed that motives fell into three broad categories for all user types: personal (i.e. cost, location, social support), facility-specific (i.e. quality and amount of equipment, class variety, hours of operation), and motivational climate (i.e. feeling valued, welcomed, best effort was emphasized). Current users highlighted positive aspects of each category whereas former and never users described each category as a barrier to their exercise routines. Practical implications – The identified themes offer campus administration specific suggestions to entice more non-users and former-users to exercise in the fitness facilities available on campus. Originality/value – While researchers have considered barriers to exercise in past studies, the barriers identified were not specific to fitness facilities. The current work not only examines individuals’ reasons for choosing or not choosing a campus fitness facility for their exercise, but also compares the perspectives of former- and never-users to current-users.

Context: As the patient population continues to diversify, it is essential that athletic training students (ATSs) are educated to provide culturally competent care. This high-quality health care within the context of a patient's race, ethnicity, language, religious beliefs, or behaviors is a foundation of professional practice.Objective: Determine undergraduate ATSs' levels of cultural competence and their variability by gender, race, and year in school.Design: Cross-sectional design.Setting: Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education-accredited undergraduate athletic training programs.Patients or Other Participants: ATSs enrolled in their programs' professional-education phase (N ¼ 421), of which 366 were Caucasian and 55 were students of color.Intervention: Students completed a 20-question online Likert survey using Qualtrics. Items were based on prior research and a nursing measurement tool, rated on a 1 to 4 scale (from strongly disagree to strongly agree, respectively; maximum score of 80), and found to be reliable (Cronbach a ¼ 0.721). Main Outcome Measurements:Overall cultural competence score, means, and standard deviations were calculated for all students by gender, race/ethnicity, and year. One-way analyses of variance also compared each category.Results: Higher scores on the research tool demonstrate higher levels of cultural competence. There were no significant differences found between gender and year in school. Students of color showed higher overall cultural competence scores than Caucasians (F 1,420 ¼ 29.509, P , .01). The mean overall cultural competence score was 58.36 6 5.26.Conclusions: Students of color demonstrated higher levels of cultural competence, which is possibly because of their personal history and experiences. The current study demonstrates that athletic training programs must seek to better educate students on providing culturally competent care.

Objective: To explore the effect of an intentional Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL) program on peer-tutors and peer-tutees for performance on specific psychomotor skills. Design and Setting: Randomized, pretest-posttest experimental design. Participants: Undergraduate students (N = 69, 42 females and 27 males, all participants were 18 to 22 years old, 19.5±1.2) enrolled in the professional phase of an accredited Athletic Training Education Program. Measurements: Pretest and posttest performance for the peer-tutors and post-peer interaction for the peer-tutees on identified therapeutic modality and orthopedic assessment psychomotor skill sets. Peer-tutors were randomly assigned to one of four groups; PAL only (PAL), PAL and the focused review session (PAL+), focused review session only (REV), and a control group (CON). Peer-tutees were randomly assigned to interact with the peer-tutors from the PAL and PAL+ or no interaction as a control group. Pretest-posttest percentage correct average changes for the peer tutors were analyzed with an ANOVA. Results: The pretest-posttest skill scores were found to be significantly different for the peer-tutors (F3,102 = 4.703; P = .004). Post-hoc means comparison revealed significant differences between the peer-tutor groups PAL versus CON, PAL+ versus CON, and REV versus CON. Analysis of the peer-tutee means revealed no significant differences (PAL; .906 ± .087, PAL+; .918 ± .077, and Control; .881 ± .061). Conclusion: These data suggest that peer interaction can increase student skill performance scores for the peer-tutors. A visual review of the means indicates a trend of increased skill level for the peer-tutees that received peer-tutoring from the PAL+ peer tutors. No significant difference was found with the REV group. It would appear from the peer-tutor perspective that a focused review session has more of an effect on student learning than peer interaction.

Researchers using an achievement goal theory and caring climate framework have highlighted the connection between fitness center members' climate perceptions and their exercise motivation. However, much of what is known comes from current members, with little known about former and non-members' perceptions. The purpose of this study was to compare current, former, and non-members' perceptions of the motivational climate of a university campus fitness facility. Faculty and staff ( N = 657) at a large American university completed a one-time mixed-methods survey about their perceptions of the motivational climate (i.e. caring climate; preference for caring, task-, ego-involving climate), staff behaviors (i.e. caring, task involving), and usage of their campus fitness facility. Despite usage, quantitative analyses indicated that all participants reported valuing a caring, task-involving climate over a non-caring, ego-involving climate when choosing a fitness center. When asked about the particular fitness center for this study, current members were more likely than former and never users to perceive a caring climate where staff engaged in task-involving behaviors. Content analysis of the qualitative comments revealed that three main themes emerged with regard to perceptions and fell into positive, negative, and neutral categories. Overall, current users were more likely to perceive caring behaviors among the staff such as taking measures to welcome members and supporting their individualized goals. Former and never users were more likely to perceive staff as unhelpful, unwelcoming, and unfriendly. In an effort to remove barriers to physical activity, fitness professionals should consider how their behaviors, interactions, and promotional materials impact individuals' decision of whether to exercise at their fitness facility. The findings include a discussion for fitness staff to consider when creating advertisement and outreach efforts as well as how to foster the most effective climate to attract and retain exercisers.

Researchers have reported that the percentage of Americans considered overweight or obese continues to increase. Specific populations, such as university students, may be at greater risk for becoming overweight or obese. This can be combated by the significant health benefits accrued from regular exercise and physical activity; thus it is important that universities develop and implement methods to incorporate healthy living into its students' lives. The purpose of this paper is to provide a description of a college-student focused wellness initiative known as the Biggest User program. The Biggest User addresses components related to beginning and maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a particular focus on structured exercise, physical activity, and dietary choices. A secondary purpose of the paper is to provide a template for the creation of similar programs at university wellness centers, as such centers are increasingly seeking new and innovative approaches to improving health and wellness of its constituents (Talley, 2013).

Context: Measurements of the opinions of alumni and employers are utilized by many athletic training education programs (ATEPs). Information obtained from such measurements can be useful in determining the strengths and weaknesses of a program. Objective: To describe the development of two instruments designed to elicit the opinions of recent athletic training (AT) graduates and employers of AT graduates. The Athletic Training Alumni Opinion Survey (ATAOS) and Athletic Training Employer Opinion Survey (ATEOS). Design and Setting: A critical review of the instruments by groups of recent AT graduates, employers of recent AT graduates, and ATEP directors established validity. To determine reliability, we used a test-retest method in which participants completed the assessment twice. Participants: We solicited recent graduates (n = 121 first completion and n = 52 for second completion) from a random sample of accredited ATEPs across the nation. Participants gave us permission to contact their employers (n = 47 first completion and n = 23 second completion). Data Collection and Analysis: We collected data via Qualtics (Qualtrics, Inc., Provo, UT). For our analysis, we entered test-retest data into SPSS 17 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). For both alumni and employers, we calculated Cronbach's alpha scores for each variable on the first completion set of data and Pearson product correlations between the first completion and second completion data set for each variable. Results: Cronbach's alpha scores for both the ATAOS (〈= .820) and ATEOS (〈= .971) instruments were high. Correlation values for each variable were moderate to high except for one variable within the ATAOS instrument (Importance of Advising) and one variable within the ATEOS instrument (Foundation Professional Behavior of Legal Practice). Conclusions: We have developed a valid and reliable set of instruments that we hope all accredited ATEPs use as part of their overall assessment system.

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