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Mental health is a major concern for higher education and students are starting their college experience with psychological issues or developing mental health problems after enrollment. Because physical activity and exercise have known mental health benefits, the field of kinesiology can facilitate the delivery of physical activity and exercise programs aimed at reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as promote healthy coping mechanisms. The School of Kinesiology at Auburn University has implemented a framework to address mental health on campus and within our community. Our framework consists of coursework, outreach efforts, and establishing key partnerships to facilitate the delivery and sustainability of our programs. Our programs enable individuals to establish self-regulation skills, use a mindfulness-based approach, or participate in yoga, thereby establishing effective and healthy coping mechanisms. This paper discusses the evolution of our framework, as well as barriers and facilitators of implementation and sustainability.

Partnerships have been developed between faculty in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation at Southeast Missouri State University and professionals from several organizations. These include on-campus partnerships with other academic departments, Recreation Services, Counseling and Disability Services, and a wide variety of off-campus partnerships including those with hospitals, fitness centers, county health departments, local coalitions, not-for-profits, schools K–12, and local corporations. All of these partnerships have resulted in substantial experiential learning opportunities for the students in the BS in Health Management: Health Promotion Option Program. Some of the skills students have acquired include improved written and oral communication skills, public speaking, program planning, program implementation, data collection, program evaluation, exercise testing, and prescription and health screening. The experiential learning activities students completed in two of the required classes in the major are described in this article.

An injury care clinic (ICC) as part of a comprehensive campus-wide healthcare system is a cost-effective way to optimize the flow of patient care utilizing a collaborative model of healthcare in a time of physician shortage. Services include: basic first aid, injury evaluation, acute injury care, basic rehabilitation, preventative techniques including taping and stretching, and professional referrals. The ICC provides care to previously underserved campus community members, focusing on: club sport and intramural athletes, recreation center users, and the general student body, in addition to faculty and staff, going beyond the varsity athlete. The ICC functions through the efforts of athletic trainers, physicians, fitness specialists, administrators, faculty, and students across disciplines. After 3 years, the clinic has serviced more than 2,500 unique patients exceeding 4,800 patient encounters, demonstrating outcomes that access to affordable healthcare options with a licensed healthcare provider are warranted and needed.

Colleges and universities increasingly face pressure to take the lead in solving complex problems. Developing and sustaining interdisciplinary research centers that collaborate with community partners can be an effective method of approaching complex challenges. We use the example of interdisciplinary research centers designed to specifically work with tactical athlete organizations (e.g., military, police, fire) as one example of how research centers can be developed and produce important outcomes. A 10-step process is outlined for finding partners, executing projects, and growing research centers which are mutually beneficial to the partner organization and the academic institution. With vision, commitment, and persistence, interdisciplinary research centers can solve complex problems and have meaningful impacts in the community.

Internship experiences are currently embedded in a multitude of academic programs to provide students a more seamless transition from university to the professional setting. Research in a variety of academic fields (e.g., business, sport marketing, public health) reveals that internships enhance students’ professional knowledge and skills as well as increase opportunities for employment. Students studying kinesiology intend to enter a variety of professions (e.g., preprofessional, fitness development, physical education teaching), and departments frequently offer students multiple opportunities to engage in field-based learning experiences (FBLEs). As kinesiology programs have evolved to provide several degree programs and grown in the number of students serviced, challenges in managing the internship program have emerged. The purpose of this paper is to share the experiences of three university kinesiology departments in regard to internship management, placement, and site visits.

The mission of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports (ISYS) is to provide leadership, scholarship, and outreach that “transforms” the face of youth sports in ways that maximize the beneficial physical, psychological, and social effects of participation for children and youth while minimizing detrimental effects. Since its inception in 1978, ISYS has partnered with numerous organizations to promote healthy youth sports participation. In this article, the general steps ISYS takes to form and facilitate partnerships are addressed. Four long-term partnerships are also described. The services provided to these organizations are described and the advantages and challenges of working with partners, in general, are delineated. How these partnerships are used to facilitate the teaching, outreach-engagement, and scholarship components of the Michigan State University land grant mission are also described. The case of ISYS shows that conducting community outreach and engagement projects greatly enhance the scholarly mission of the university.

The decline in federal research grant funding and incentive-based budget models to support a university’s mission has necessitated a paradigm shift in the pursuit of available sources of funding. Programs built around federal funding are once again pursuing funding opportunities from industry. Universities are reevaluating their research funding models and career expectations (tenure, promotion) that support a researcher, laboratories, and a defined research agenda. Kinesiology departments are in a strong position to pursue industry funding for fitness, sports, and performance-related research. While grant funding focuses on empirical data-driven research, industry looks for product exposure, validation (empirical data to support claims), and commercialization. Industry partnerships can provide funding in supporting research, developing sponsor-named facilities that benefit both parties. With these cooperative efforts come some unique challenges (financial, proprietary, data interpretation, etc.) that must be addressed.

Chronic disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. One-half of U.S. adults have at least one chronic disease condition and 25% have multiple chronic conditions that can lead to a restriction in an ability to do basic daily living activities. Low-income adults have a high incidence of chronic disease that increases with aging due to ongoing psychological stress, higher risk exposure, less healthy living conditions, and limited access to health services. Community-based wellness programs, in collaboration with academic institutions, can serve this population by providing access to health services, quality educational and activity-based experiences, and continual assessment and support. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the expertise of numerous faculty, students, and staff can be used to help mitigate a myriad of health conditions presented by this population. This article shares one university’s creation, development, and delivery of an on-campus, multidisciplinary community wellness program for low-income adults.

This article presents an overview of how faculty in the School of Kinesiology at Auburn University (AU) are working with minority-serving institutions in similar disciplines to promote diversity and inclusion. Florida A&M (FAMU) and Albany State University (ASU) are both Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), and AU is a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Part of this initiative has been accomplished through the development of AU’s Future Scholars Summer Research Bridge Program in partnership with south-eastern HBCUs. Success has been measured as an increase in student recruitment and increased opportunities for students from underrepresented groups seeking graduate opportunities. The partnership between FAMU and AU has also provided opportunities for faculty and students to promote diversity and be more inclusive through research collaborations. These partnerships are addressing this important need to be more purposeful in our efforts of establishing greater diversity and being a more inclusive discipline.

Sexual harassment is a sensitive and pervasive topic in higher education. Programs and institutions have the responsibility to protect the students from sexual harassment under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (United States Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, 2011). While much attention has been focused toward on-campus interactions (i.e., professor/student, student/student), many students participate in off-campus fieldwork and internships associated with coursework, where the students are still protected under Title IX. The purpose of this discussion is to define sexual harassment, summarize research regarding sexual harassment in a fieldwork setting, consider how sexual harassment affects students, and identify resources to help programs identify and respond to sexual harassment.