SAVE the Date - Master of Athletic Training 50th Kickoff Celebration
Saturday, October 3, 2026
All day
Allendale Campus
Alumni, Community, Faculty, Staff, Students
Come network with the Master of Athletic Training Program Faculty, Alum, and current students.
The Master of Athletic Training Program Faculty as they kick off their 50th year at Homecoming. Joining them will be a tent full of alumni and current students. We are extending this invitation to any student wishing to pursue athletic training.
In 1977, Doug "Doc" Woods established the second athletic training program and what is now one of the most successful Accredited Athletic Training Programs in the country. In 1999, Dr. Shari Bartz-Smith was hired as the Program Director. In 2002, Shari led the program through a degree declaration from a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science with an athletic training emphasis to a Bachelor of Athletic Training. On May 20, 2015, the Commissioners of the CAATE (Commission of Accreditation of Athletic Training Education) and the Board of Directors of the NATA (National Athletic Trainers' Association), with the support of the BOC (Board of Certification) and the NATA Foundation, announced the change to a professional degree in athletic training at the masters level. On April 27th, 2018, Dr. Shari Bartz-Smith, with the support of her colleagues, made the announcement that the GVSU Board of Trustees had given approval to move the program from the bachelor's level to the Master of Athletic Training (MAT). In August of 2019, the GVSU Athletic Training Program accepted its first MAT graduate cohort. On July 1, 2021 the GVSU Athletic Training Program left the Department of Movement Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Science on the Valley Campus to move to the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training in the College of Health Professions located on the Health Campus on the medical mile in Grand Rapids, MI.
To learn more about the program, visit https://www.gvsu.edu/athletictraining.
More details to come.
Location Information
Lot B1 near W Ravine Drive
Download parking map for the Allendale Campus
Contact Information
Tags
academic alumni athletictraining chp clas homecoming
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This event was added to the calendar by Eliza MacDonald (macdonel@gvsu.edu) on Tuesday, August 25, 2026 and was last updated on Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 11:49 a.m.
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