Undergraduate Enrichment Program

The University of Connecticut's Department of Kinesiology is unique in offering undergraduate students the opportunity to thoroughly immerse themselves in practical experience. All students with any interest in applying to the Kinesiology department are encouraged to begin as early as their freshman year. Such students are provided with more and more challenge and responsibility as they gain experience and demonstrate their reliability.

The program is structured to expose students to laboratory work, research training, and training of athletes. The first year is often simple, with an emphasis on exposure to each experience. Subsequent years often involve significantly more responsibility, including the ability for students to conduct their own honor's thesis in the laboratory, lead training sessions and/or work with teams with more independence. Although at times the responsibilities may be simple at first, undergraduates are given responsibilities of high importance to those relying on them. Responsibility and reliability are therefore the two key traits we look for in undergraduate helpers.

Students are encouraged to begin as early as their freshman year, most volunteering several hours a week as they are trained in laboratory techniques from blood processing to exercise testing to training. As students gain more experience, students may work as an independent study for credit or as work-study students. We recommend that students attempt to come in for about 10 hours per week to obtain a thorough understanding of a wide variety of laboratory techniques, but no more than 20 hours per week.

Students working in the laboratory should have their EHS Blood-Bourne pathogens certification (available on campus at: http://www.ehs.uconn.edu/index.php) and their CITI program certification (available online at: http://www.citiprogram.org/ - please consult an HPL member for guidance).