Jessica Thorman Named to ASC Academic Honor Roll

2012 Jun 21

Jessica Thorman, an athletic training major from McKinney, Texas, has named to the American Southwest Conference 2011-12 Winter/Spring All-Academic Honor Roll. Thorman is a student at Hardin-Simmons University.

To be eligible for ASC All-Academic honors, students must be classified academically as a sophomore, junior, senior, or graduate student during the competition season and have been in attendance and completed at least one academic year, holding a minimum grade point average of 3.0.

Of the 16 universities with students receiving this designation, HSU has 10 out of 53 AT students who were awarded the distinction.

HSU's head athletic trainer and adjunct instructor, D.J. Gililland, was recently awarded the Bobby Gunn Unsung Hero Award from the Southwest Athletic Trainers' Association.

David Stuckey, department head, associate professor of fitness and sport sciences, and director of the Athletic Training Education Program was also recognized by the National Athletic Trainers' Association at its June convention in St. Louis with the National Athletic Trainer Service Award.

The athletic training major was started at HSU in 1999. Stuckey says HSU is one of only 16 athletic trainer programs in Texas that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. "Being accredited is what allows students who graduate from the HSU program to be eligible for national certification," says Stuckey, "allowing them to work in any state.

"We typically have about 20 to 25 students in the program each year, and 100% of them can get a job in the field," he says.

About Hardin-Simmons University:

HSU has an enrollment of approximately 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students from 28 states and 20 countries.

HSU sits on 220 acres and has a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio. Eighty percent of HSU's faculty members hold the highest available degree in their fields.

Tuition rates for full-time students do not increase while they are enrolled in consecutive fall and spring semesters and make continuous, satisfactory progress toward a degree. (The tuition freeze does not apply to some programs.)

• Ranked in the Top Tier of U.S. News and World Report's Best Universities in the Western Region

• Cited by The Princeton Review as a Best in the West University

• Recognized by Colleges of Distinction for teaching, learning, and service

• Named to the 2011 Honor Roll by The Chronicle of Higher Education as a Great College to Work For

• Named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll

Through seven schools and colleges, HSU offers seven undergraduate degree programs encompassing more than 70 major fields of study. Eighteen graduate programs are offered, including doctoral programs in physical therapy, ministry, functional manual therapy, and education.

Special programs include Honors, International Studies, and Leadership Studies.

Hardin-Simmons University, founded in 1891, is a private Christian institution, affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Texas Baptists) since 1941.