Students looking to pursue a career in athletic training or the medical field can now earn a degree from the fully accredited Athletic Training Education Program offered by Southern Arkansas University, Magnolia.
After five years of preparation, the SAU program was recently notified it had received full accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and the Joint Review Committee on Athletic Training Education Programs.
“I would like to recognize and thank Jan Kiilsgaard, ATEP director, for her hard work and long hours spent reworking our self-study, coordinating the on-site visit, and making sure that we surpass this process,” said Ken Cole, head athletic trainer at SAU.
By receiving full accreditation, the program can now graduate students who can pursue a career in the athletic training field.
“We have a solid program, and it showed during our site visit last fall,” said Kiilsgaard.
Prior to the on-site visit, Kiilsgard had to develop new classes that met national standards and prepare a self study that was approximately 800 pages long.
“We are excited for our students,” she said. “They now have a lot of career alternatives available to them.”
In May, the program will graduate its first nine students.
“We want to congratulate these athletic training students for their hard work and patience throughout the accreditation process,” said Cole.
If you would like to learn more about ATEP at SAU, call 870-235-4161.
