Through the generous support of our alumni and donors, the School of Kinesiology is advancing excellence and making its mark on campus and around the world.

2022-23 By the Numbers

• 162 student scholarships and awards offered
• 121 student scholarships and awards given
• 86% increase in student recipients over the last 5 years
• $616,980 in total student support given - a 19.1% increase over last year
• 354 donors gave 849 gifts to our school
• 72% of donors gave $100 or less
• $2,161,719 total funds raised this year!

Concussion Scholars Program

With generous support from the Zatkoff family, the U-M Concussion Center created the Concussion Scholars Program to sustain its mission of fostering students' learning experiences around concussion prevention, diagnosis, recovery, and treatment.

Through the program, students have facilitated Michigan Athletics' baseline testing for a number of athletics teams. They have also enhanced the center's community outreach efforts by developing informational flyers, coordinating messaging campaigns, participating in cross-campus initiatives, and organizing community outreach events.

Notably, in the past year, two doctoral students were granted travel assistance to attend the International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sports in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to present their research findings. This invaluable opportunity allowed them to gain insights from globally acclaimed concussion researchers and clinicians, extending their knowledge beyond the boundaries of our own institution.

Making Athletic Training Accessible to All

The Michigan athletic training program merges rigorous classwork with immersive clinical experiences. Students have access to U-M’s world-class athletics and medical departments, and can work with faculty to create an off-campus clinical rotation of their choice. Graduates leave with excellent preparation for the Board of Certification Exam and robust hands-on experience to pursue an athletic training career at any level.

Because all athletic training programs have moved from the undergraduate to the graduate level, it’s more expensive for these students to complete their education. Through a generous bequest, the Andrew Overmire Scholarship Fund will support students with financial need achieve their dream of becoming an athletic trainer.

We thank Andy for leaving this legacy that helps our athletic training program recruit the best and the brightest students, regardless of their financial status.

Donor Innovation Grants

Each year, up to five $5,000 Donor Innovation Grants are awarded to faculty and staff members for a special project that directly impacts our students and/or the community at large. Here’s what the grant recipients accomplished in 2022-23.

Faculty member David Lipps expanded the wearable technologies available for students to experiment with in MOVESCI 452: Scientific Inquiry with Wearable Sensors, a popular movement science elective. He added these new technologies to the course:

• CORE sensors for continuous core body temperature monitoring
• Hexoskin smart shirts for precise and continuous cardiac, respiratory, and activity monitoring
• Drop hydration monitor to monitor sweat loss in real time
• CipherSkin biometric sleeve to monitor movement and physiological signals from the arm
• Runscribe gait analysis system to measure biomechanics metrics of running gait

Faculty member Rebecca Hasson optimized the user experience of the InPACT at Home website to further promote physical activity for kids and teens across the state of Michigan and beyond. She and her student team created QR codes for users to access custom workouts based on their interests, goals, and skill levels. They also added a brief description, intensity level, and motor skill level to each video to help users understand what equipment they need and the activity’s level of difficulty.

Faculty member Kerry Winkelseth expanded research and work experiences for students through the launch of KidSport Adaptive, a summer day camp designed to address the modifications needed by children with neurodevelopmental or physical differences. Kerry and her student team were able to provide 1:1 or 2:1 support in order to best meet the abilities of the campers, and purchase teaching equipment to help accommodate a wider array of learning needs.

Faculty member Susan Brown expanded the Hands and Health at Home program beyond its initial pilot. The program partners students with older Meals on Wheels clients to improve hand function and psychosocial health through a variety of exercises in their home. She created a home training equipment kit (including therapy putty, training chopsticks, and board games like Connect Four) for students to use in hand exercises with their clients.

Education Without Borders

The School of Kinesiology highly values the international learning experience. We encourage our students to study abroad through our partner universities in Australia, Ireland, and Spain; semester-long sponsored programs; faculty-led trips; and more.

This year, 24 awards totaling more than $20,700 were given to students through the Mitchell Experiential Learning Fund and Bruce & Claudia Resnikoff GoGlobal Fund, among others. These funds enable our students to participate in the amazing experiential learning that happens when you explore a new country and culture.

This summer, students traveled across Europe with Kinesiology faculty to learn more about international sports organizations and the relationship between art and anatomy.

Sport management students, led by faculty members Kelli Donahue and Ron Wade, spent two weeks visiting sports organizations in London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Bordeaux. They met with executives at Wimbledon, McLaren Technology Centre, House of Sports, International Olympic Committee and Olympic Museum, and Roland Garros (home of the French Open), and more. 

Movement science and applied exercise science students, led by faculty member Melissa Gross, criss-crossed Italy - including Florence, Milan, and Rome - over a three-week period. They visited art museums, historical sites, anatomical wax collections, anatomy theaters, crypts, and churches to see first-hand how the cultural history of art and anatomical sciences intersect.

Thank You for Being a Friend

Thank you to our amazing donor friends for supporting our students, faculty, and research this year through new scholarships and funds.

• Tom and Allison Garfinkel - The Garfinkel Scholarship supports students with demonstrated financial need, particularly those who express an interest in working in the NFL or Formula 1.
• Melissa and Steve Burnazian - The Burnazian Scholarship supports students with demonstrated financial need, with a focus on those from the New York Tri-State area.
• Dr. Jonathan Rose - The Rose Market Study Fund supports a market study to determine the feasibility of an online sport management master’s program within the School of Kinesiology.

Our Goals

Help us take it to the next level - you can make an extra impact on our school by:

• Giving to our top priority areas:
  -- Undergraduate and graduate student scholarships
  -- Experiential learning opportunities
  -- Faculty research and innovation
• Helping us grow our alumni giving from 2.5% to 3%
• Making your gift on Giving Blueday (March 13, 2024) to help boost our numbers on that day