Winston-Salem State University News May 9, 2016 Honors Thesis Projects Bring High-Impact Learning Opportunities Five Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) exercise physiology students will be the first to graduate with honors through their major at the university's Commencement Ceremony on May 13. To earn the honors designation, the students, Donald Brown, Dara Green, Kenya Raynor, Malik Miller, and Tevin Taylor, each worked with a faculty member to complete a rigorous thesis project over the course of the last academic year. The project paired students with faculty mentors to identify a problem, propose and complete an investigation, and report their findings. The topics of research included: * Norms for collegiate strength and conditioning training programs Donald Brown mentored by Kevin Ritsche; * The effects of music on exercise heart rate recovery Dara Green mentored by Jesse Pittsley; * Inflammation following exercise and caloric restriction Kenya Raynor mentored by Chad Markert; * Health behaviors of WSSU students based upon their major Malik Miller mentored by Amanda Price; and * Time to exhaustion following consumption of Gatorade Chews Tevin Taylor mentored by Mike McKenzie. "These types of high-impact experiences allow students to solve real-world problems while honing the skills they will need when they enter the workforce or continue their education," said Mike McKenzie, associate professor of exercise physiology. "These are invaluable experiences that speak directly to our strategic goal of increasing the number of high-impact opportunities available to students on campus." The students involved in the project all have plans to work or continue their education after graduation. Brown will continue his education in strength and conditioning at the University of Miami. Green and Miller have been accepted into WSSU's highly competitive doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program while Taylor plans to pursue his DPT at Duke University. Raynor will spend two years with Teach for America. "The Honors Thesis showed me something I wasn't sure I was capable of doing, but in the end I was very successful," said Green. "It let me put all my previous years of coursework into real-world practice." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-592-4820 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/ 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 150 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.