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Joe Abel, Physical Education/Sports Management, B.S. (1985), believes that a college degree helps prepare students to become better learners in business and life. Abel serves as the director of Leisure Services with the Seminole County Government, Seminole County, FL, outside the Orlando area.  

Abel credits the sports focus of his education in expanding his knowledge and understanding of a multitude of different sports, the game and comprehending how to administer sports programs and facilities.   His career experience ranges from managing athletics, pools and community centers to a department that is now made up of libraries, extension, natural lands, trails and parks. His professional experience began in his home state of West Virginia and has continued for the past 28 years in Florida.  

Ashley Cranney, sport and exercise psychology doctoral graduate, has received Association for Applied Sport Psychology funding as an extension of her dissertation work.

Cranney emphasizes the importance of the grant. “This grant will maximize participant recruitment, expedite transcription, and refine analysis. Getting this grant affirms the importance of this line of research which will be a valuable step toward future grant applications and the development of an instrument of sport overconformity,” she explained.

Jamie Shapiro, associate professor of Sport and Performance Psychology and assistant director of the Master of Arts in Sport and Performance Psychology (MASPP) program, Graduate School of Professional Psychology, at the University of Denver has received tenure at the University.  

Shapiro earned a Ph.D. in Sport and Exercise Psychology from West Virginia University (2009), an M.A. in Community Counseling from WVU (2008), and an M.S. in Athletic Counseling from Springfield College (2005). She earned a B.S. in Psychology from Brown University, where she competed on the gymnastics team for four years.