| NCCU clears hurdle in athletic training
By NEIL AMATO : The Herald-Sun
DURHAM -- Athletic trainers no longer are the folks on the sidelines refilling water bottles and taping ankles. "There are so many different venues for athletic trainers to work now," said Lori Vazquez, head athletic trainer at N.C. Central. "We've come a long way." So, too, has NCCU's academic program in athletic training. Last month, the program received accreditation, making NCCU the first historically black college or university to achieve that status. The accreditation, granted by an allied-health governing body and good through 2010, is important because NCCU graduates in athletic training now are eligible to take the national certification exam. That was the not the case a year ago, when the National Athletic Trainers' Association decided to allow only graduates from accredited programs to take the exam. NCCU's accreditation also is significant because, according to NATA data, just 2 percent of the 30,000 NATA members are black. "With NCCU becoming the first HBCU to achieve this honor, minority students will no longer have to choose between attending an accredited athletic training program and attending an HBCU," said Dawn Maffucci, director of NCCU's athletic training education program. "Now they can attend both." The five-semester NCCU program, where graduates earn a bachelor's degree in athletic training, now can send its students out into the field -- not just sports venues at the local high school or college. Athletic training has branched out to include work in corporations, physical therapy clinics and elsewhere. Even NASCAR teams employ athletic trainers for their drivers and pit crews. "Some gyms are hiring athletic trainers to work with their members," Maffucci said. "In industrial settings, trainers are being hired to work with laborers at factories. Athletic trainers are broadening their range." In the past, students in the program got hands-on experience from people such as Vazquez, who has worked at NCCU for 11 years and is an instructor as well as a trainer. The students treated athletes at NCCU and local high schools, and NCCU also had agreements for its students to gain experience at local physical therapy and weight loss centers. Yet the students had to seek schooling elsewhere to qualify for the national exam. The program now has 10 students, according to Maffucci. But since it received accreditation, she has heard from more than 20 interested students. The certification, by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs, is the culmination of a lengthy process. It took nearly four years for NCCU to complete its self-study, answering questions on every aspect of its program, from financial aid to curriculum to evaluations. "It's a documentation of every single aspect," Maffucci said. "We had to check off a list of well over a thousand specific events -- 'Where do you learn how to do a knee evaluation?' 'Where are you learning nutritional aspects of training?' " When the paperwork is complete, it is submitted to the NATA's Joint Review Committee, which visited NCCU in November for its evaluation. The committee's recommendation to accredit was sent to CAAHEP, which made the official announcement last month. "We're relieved and excited," Maffucci said. "We've been putting so much work into it. Pretty much the entire time I've been here [2½ years], this has been the sole focus. Now we can market the program, putting all these things into place. We're not going to be spending every moment typing. "I think this is going to grow tremendously." NCCU Chancellor James H. Ammons praised faculty for their diligence in obtaining the accreditation -- and also said its work would not stop there. "Our faculty in the Athletic Training Program worked very hard to secure accreditation," Ammons said. "The accreditation is going to add value to the degree our students receive. While we are the only HBCU offering an accredited program, we are not going to rest on our laurels. We will work toward developing one of the top programs in the state and nation because we are committed to increasing minority participation in this field." |