Kayla Dickerson to Receive National Award for Athletic Training

ABILENE, TX (06/21/2012)(readMedia)-- Kayla Dickerson from Early, Texas, is one of 34 students nationwide who has been chosen to receive the NATA Foundation Scholarship from the National Athletic Trainers' Association Research & Education Foundation.

Dickerson, a junior in athletic training, will be in St. Louis, Missouri, next week, June 26-29, 2012, to pick up the scholarship, which is sponsored by the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine, during the NATA Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium.

David Stuckey, associate professor of fitness and sport sciences, head of the department, and the director of the athletic training program, says, "This is significant for Kayla and for our program. The scholarship is one of only 34 undergraduate scholarships awarded to undergraduates by the NATAREF. Kayla is the third HSU student to be awarded an NATAREF scholarship."

In addition to being an AT major, Dickerson is also an Honors Program minor. 

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.