Exercise and Sport Science Major, B.S.
Exercise and sport science examines the physics, physiology, psychology of sport and exercise, and the recognition and treatment of athletic injuries. The undergraduate program in exercise and sport science offers students a chance to go beyond the ordinary. This fast-paced and popular program is designed for passionate students ready to engage in hands-on experience in cutting-edge science. The B.S. program will prepare students for graduate program in the health sciences, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, athletic training, physician's assistant, and medicine.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the Exercise and Sport Science program, students should be able to:
- Demonstrate the ability to apply fundamental concepts of human physiology to explain how the human body responds to exercise and changing environments
- Describe neuromuscular control systems and concepts related to movement and motor skill acquisition, retention, and transfer
- Describe biomechanical and anatomical concepts of human motion and apply these concepts to understanding exercise, performance, and injury
- Demonstrate proficiency in the design, application and interpretation of research methods and scientific data commonly used in Exercise and Sport Science
- Integrate the content and approach of the natural sciences into Exercise and Sport Science.
- Prepare students to pursue graduate education and/or employment in areas related to Exercise and Sport Science, especially those related to the allied health/medical sciences.
Requirements
In addition to the program requirements, students must
- earn a minimum final cumulative GPA of 2.000
- complete a minimum of 45 academic credit hours earned from UNC–Chapel Hill courses
- take at least half of their major core requirements (courses and credit hours) at UNC–Chapel Hill
- earn a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.000 in the major core requirements. Some programs may require higher standards for major or specific courses.
For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | ||
| EXSS 155 |  Human Anatomy and Physiology I H, F | 3 |
| EXSS 256 | Human Anatomy and Physiology II | 3 |
| EXSS 273 | Research in Exercise and Sport Science | 3 |
| EXSS 376 | Physiological Basis of Human Performance | 4 |
| EXSS 380 | Neuromuscular Control and Learning H | 3 |
| EXSS 385 | Biomechanics of Sport | 3 |
| Five elective courses from the following list, with at least 9 credits from courses numbered 400 and above: | 13-15 | |
| Sport and Exercise Psychology | ||
| Fundamentals of Sports Medicine | ||
| Human Anatomy Laboratory | ||
| Emergency Care of Athletic Injuries and Illnesses | ||
| Sports Nutrition | ||
| Foundations of Sports Medicine Rehabilation | ||
| Undergraduate Research Course | ||
| Theory and Application of Strength Training and Conditioning for Fitness Professionals | ||
| Exercise Prescription for Special Populations | ||
| Exercise Testing and Prescription | ||
| Exercise Technique | ||
| Essentials of Corrective Exercise Training | ||
| Functional Anatomy | ||
| Sports Performance Training | ||
| Sport Injury Epidemiology | ||
| Exercise Endocrinology | ||
| Neuromechanics of Human Movement | ||
| Biopsychosocial Aspects of Sport Injury | ||
| Senior Honors Thesis | ||
| Additional Requirements | ||
| BIOL 101 & 101L | Principles of Biology and Introductory Biology Laboratory H, F | 4 |
| Select three courses from the following options: | 12 | |
| General Descriptive Chemistry I and Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory I H, F | ||
| General Descriptive Chemistry II and Quantitative Chemistry Laboratory II H, F | ||
| General Physics I: For Students of the Life Sciences F | ||
or PHYS 118 | Introductory Calculus-based Mechanics and Relativity | |
| General Physics II: For Students of the Life Sciences F | ||
or PHYS 119 | Introductory Calculus-based Electromagnetism and Quanta | |
| Calculus of Functions of One Variable I H, F | ||
| A choice of four additional allied sciences electives, selected from the course list below (some courses are more than 3 credits) 1 | 12 | |
| Total Hours | 60-62 | |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
| F | FY-Launch class sections may be available. A FY-Launch section fulfills the same requirements as a standard section of that course, but also fulfills the FY-SEMINAR/FY-LAUNCH First-Year Foundations requirement. Students can search for FY-Launch sections in ConnectCarolina using the FY-LAUNCH attribute. |
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Courses must be selected from at least two subject codes, one of which must be a life sciences subject code. No special topics courses (i.e., 190) can satisfy this requirement.
Allied Science Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropology 1 | ||
| ANTH 143 | Human Evolution and Adaptation | 3 |
| ANTH 148 | Human Origins | 3 |
| ANTH 151 | Anthropological Perspectives on Food and Culture | 3 |
| ANTH 217 | Human Biology in Comparative Perspective | 3 |
| ANTH 298 | Biological Anthropology Theory and Practice | 3 |
| ANTH 315 | Human Genetics and Evolution | 3 |
| ANTH 318 | Human Growth and Development | 3 |
| ANTH 412 | Paleoanthropology | 3 |
| ANTH 413 | Laboratory Methods: Archaeobotany | 3 |
| ANTH 414 | Laboratory Methods: Human Osteology | 3 |
| ANTH 415 | Laboratory Methods: Zooarchaeology | 3 |
| ANTH 416 | Bioarchaeology | 3 |
| ANTH 423 | Written in Bone: CSI and the Science of Death Investigation from Skeletal Remains | 3 |
| ANTH 437 | Evolutionary Medicine | 3 |
| ANTH 470 | Medicine and Anthropology | 3 |
| ANTH 471 | Biocultural Perspectives on Maternal and Child Health | 3 |
| Biology 1 | ||
| BIOL | Any three credit-hour class above BIOL 101 Principles of Biology, except BIOL 271, BIOL 272, BIOL 273 | |
| Biochemistry 1 | ||
| BIOC 107 | Introduction to Biochemistry | 4 |
| BIOC 108 | Introduction to Biochemistry | 4 |
| Biomedical Engineering 1 | ||
| BMME 150 | Introduction to Materials Science | 3 |
| BMME 207 | Biomedical Electronics | 4 |
| BMME 301 | Human Physiology: Electrical Analysis | 4 |
| BMME 315 | Biotransport | 3 |
| BMME 335 | Biomaterials | 3 |
| BMME 385 | Bioinstrumentation | 3 |
| BMME 435 | Biological Physics | 3 |
| BMME 505 | Skeletal Biomechanics | 3 |
| BMME 521 | Introduction to Synthetic Biology | 3 |
| BMME 543 | Biomechanics of Movement | 3 |
| BMME 545 | Systems Neuroscience | 3 |
| BMME 555 | Biofluid Mechanics | 3 |
| BMME 572 | Analysis of Tissue Engineering Technologies | 3 |
| BMME 585 | Biotechnology | 3 |
| Biostatistics | ||
| BIOS | Any course above BIOS 500H, except BIOS 540, BIOS 543, BIOS 690, BIOS 691, BIOS 693H, BIOS 694H | |
| Chemistry | ||
| CHEM | Any three credit-hour class above CHEM 102/102L | |
| Computer Science | ||
| COMP | Any COMP course | |
| Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences 1 | ||
| EMES | Any three credit-hour course above 100, except EMES 190, EMES 390, EMES 395, EMES 396, EMES 412, EMES 490, EMES 590, EMES 691H, and EMES 692H | |
| Environment, Ecology and Energy 1 | ||
| ENEC 108 | Our Energy and Climate Crises: Challenges and Opportunities | 4 |
| ENEC 202 | Introduction to the Environmental Sciences | 4 |
| ENEC 220 | North Carolina Estuaries: Environmental Processes and Problems | 3 |
| ENEC 222 | Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science | 4 |
| ENEC 256 | Mountain Biodiversity | 4 |
| ENEC 304 | Restoration Ecology | 4 |
| ENEC 324 | Water in Our World: Introduction to Hydrologic Science and Environmental Problems | 3 |
| ENEC 352 | Marine Fisheries Ecology | 3 |
| ENEC 403 | Environmental Chemistry Processes | 3 |
| ENEC 406 | Atmospheric Processes II | 4 |
| ENEC 410 | Earth Processes in Environmental Systems | 4 |
| ENEC 411 | Oceanic Processes in Environmental Systems | 4 |
| ENEC 415 | Environmental Systems Modeling | 3 |
| ENEC 416 | Environmental Meteorology | 3 |
| ENEC 431 | Sustainable Cities: Exploring Ways of Making Cities More Sustainable | 3 |
| ENEC 450 | Biogeochemical Processes | 4 |
| ENEC 462 | Ecosystem Management | 3 |
| ENEC 471 | Human Impacts on Estuarine Ecosystems | 4 |
| ENEC 479 | Landscape Analysis | 3 |
| ENEC 489 | Ecological Processes in Environmental Systems | 4 |
| ENEC 530 | Principles of Climate Modeling | 3 |
| ENEC 562 | Statistics for Environmental Scientists | 4 |
| ENEC 567 | Ecological Analyses and Application | 3 |
| Environmental Sciences and Engineering | ||
| ENVR 205 | Engineering Tools for Environmental Problem Solving | 3 |
| ENVR 403 | Environmental Chemistry Processes | 3 |
| ENVR 411 | Laboratory Techniques and Field Measurements | 3 |
| ENVR 412 | Ecological Microbiology | 3 |
| ENVR 413 | Limnology | 3 |
| ENVR 416 | Aerosol Physics and Chemistry | 4 |
| ENVR 419 | Chemical Equilibria in Natural Waters | 3 |
| ENVR 421 | Environmental Health Microbiology | 3 |
| ENVR 425 | Introduction to Health Physics: Radiation and Radiation Protection | 3 |
| ENVR 430 | Health Effects of Environmental Agents | 3 |
| ENVR 451 | Introduction to Environmental Modeling | 3 |
| ENVR 453 | Groundwater Hydrology | 3 |
| ENVR 468 | Temporal GIS and Space/Time Geostatistics for the Environment and Public Health | 3 |
| ENVR 470 | Environmental Risk Assessment | 3 |
| ENVR 472 | Quantitative Risk Assessment in Environmental Health Microbiology | 3 |
| ENVR 514 | Measurement of NOx, O3, and Volatile Organic Compounds | 3 |
| ENVR 575 | Global Climate Change: Science, Impacts, Solutions | 3 |
| ENVR 630 | Systems Biology in Environmental Health | 3 |
| ENVR 661 | Scientific Computation I | 3 |
| ENVR 662 | Scientific Computation II | 3 |
| ENVR 666 | Numerical Methods | 3 |
| ENVR 668 | Methods of Applied Mathematics I | 3 |
| ENVR 669 | Methods of Applied Mathematics II | 3 |
| ENVR 671 | Environmental Physics I | 3 |
| ENVR 672 | Environmental Physics II | 3 |
| ENVR 675 | Air Pollution, Chemistry, and Physics | 3 |
| Geography | ||
| GEOG 110 | The Blue Planet: An Introduction to Earth's Environmental Systems H | 3 |
| GEOG 111 | Weather and Climate | 3 |
| GEOG 212 | Environmental Conservation and Global Change | 3 |
| GEOG 253 | Introduction to Atmospheric Processes | 4 |
| GEOG 391 | Quantitative Methods in Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 412 | Synoptic Meteorology | 3 |
| GEOG 414 | Climate Change | 3 |
| GEOG 416 | Applied Climatology: The Impacts of Climate and Weather on Environmental and Social Systems | 3 |
| GEOG 440 | Earth Surface Processes | 3 |
| GEOG 441 | Introduction to Watershed Systems | 3 |
| GEOG 442 | Limnology and Freshwater Ecology | 3 |
| Mathematics | ||
| Any class above MATH 231 Calculus of Functions of One Variable I | ||
| Microbiology 1 | ||
| MCRO 251 | Introductory Medical Microbiology | 4 |
| Nutrition 1 | ||
| NUTR 240 | Introduction to Human Nutrition | 3 |
| NUTR 600 | Human Metabolism: Macronutrients | 3 |
| NUTR 620 | Human Metabolism: Micronutrients | 3 |
| Psychology 1 | ||
| Any PSYC course above PSYC 101 General Psychology | ||
| Neuroscience 1 | ||
| Any NSCI course | ||
| Statistics and Operations Research | ||
| Any STOR course above 155 Introduction to Statistics | ||
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
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Life sciences subject code.
Special Opportunities in Exercise and Sport Science
Honors in Exercise and Sport Science
The senior honors program provides exercise and sport science majors the opportunity to pursue an independent, two-semester research project. A student must have an overall grade point average of 3.3 or above prior to acceptance into the departmental honors program and must maintain an overall average of 3.3 or above to remain in the program. Students complete EXSS 693H and EXSS 694H. Honors study involves the completion of a substantial piece of original research and the formal oral presentation of the results. Those successfully completing the program are awarded their degree with either honors or highest honors. Previous senior honors thesis topics and more information can be found on the EXSS department web page. Please contact Dr. J.D. DeFreese by email if you are interested.
Departmental Involvement
In addition to its academic offerings, the department houses many research laboratories, and the campus recreation program. Both provide experiences outside the classroom. Students may also affiliate with the Carolina Sports Business Club and the Carolina Sport Administration Club.
Experiential Education/High-Impact Experience
The following courses satisfy the experiential education requirement in the Making Connections curriculum and some satisfy the high-impact experience requirement in the IDEAs in Action curriculum.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| EXSS 51 | First-Year Seminar: Entrepreneurship in Human Performance and Sport | 3 |
| EXSS 207 | Coaching Principles | 3 |
| EXSS 393 | Sports Medicine Clinical | 1 |
| EXSS 395 | Undergraduate Research Course | 1-3 |
| EXSS 420 | Program Planning in Recreation Services | 3 |
| EXSS 493 | Field Experience in Sport Administration | 3 |
| EXSS 593 | Practicum in Physical Fitness and Wellness | 1-3 |
| EXSS 693H | Senior Honors Thesis | 3 |
| EXSS 694H | Senior Honors Thesis | 3 |
Laboratory Teaching Internships and Assistantships
The fitness professional students serve a practicum with local fitness organizations.
Study Abroad
The Department of Exercise and Sport Science offers summer study abroad programs depending on faculty availability. Refer to the department’s website and the study abroad website for more information. For other study abroad experiences the department will gladly work with its majors in advance of the experience to determine appropriate credit.
Undergraduate Awards
The Patrick F. Earey Award, named in honor of a longtime faculty member, is given annually to the outstanding senior major in the department. The award signifies exemplary leadership, academic achievement, and extracurricular involvement by a senior exercise and sport science major.
The Ronald W. Hyatt Scholarship, named in honor of the late Dr. Hyatt, one of Carolina’s “priceless gems” and a faculty member in the department, is a merit-based scholarship awarded annually to an outstanding full-time undergraduate exercise and sport science major with junior status.
Undergraduate Research
Students are encouraged to explore research interests by taking EXSS 395, completing independent research studies, or writing senior honors theses. Please review the EXSS website under the research laboratories tab to determine where your research interest lies. Contacting individual faculty in your area of interest is encouraged, or reach out to J.D. DeFreese, the EXSS director of undergraduate research.
Department Programs
Majors
- Exercise and Sport Science Major, B.A.–General
- Exercise and Sport Science Major, B.A.–Fitness Professional
- Exercise and Sport Science Major, B.A.–Sport Administration
- Exercise and Sport Science Major, B.S.
Minors
Graduate Program
Department of Exercise and Sport Science
209 Fetzer Hall, CB# 8700
(919) 843-9630
Chair
Troy Blackburn
