Why are club sports not offered for physical education points?
- The Physical Education GIR most importantly provides supervised, intentional, methodical instruction for skill acquisition by certified instructors in addition to providing practice opportunities. Additionally, physical education courses create a sense of community within courses so students can continue practicing the acquired skills with others when the course is completed.
- Clubs sports are student initiated, student run and student sustained organizations intended to provide MIT students with leadership opportunities. The students determine the direction of the club, whether it be competitive or instructional. Although clubs can take an instructional approach, they are not expected to provide structured progressions to beginners twice a week for six weeks. Also, clubs sports instructors or coaches are not required to keep detailed records including attendance or meet the same instructor qualifications.
- The Director of Physical Education, Physical Education Faculty, Director of Club Sports with the Club Sports Council reviewed the concept of offering club sports for physical education points. It was concluded that there is not sufficient infrastructure within the club sport program and available resources in DAPER to manage and sustain this initiative with appropriate integrity.
As a solution, the Physical Education Office will review a proposal by any club sport that would like to offer a course through Physical Education that is submitted in April for the following year. Clubs need to demonstrate student interest and recommend an instructor who would provide a 12 class syllabus complete with learning outcomes that meets required degree requirement and certifications. If the proposal is approved, the instructor is then interviewed, hired, and trained as a physical education instructor. These instructors would be expected to complete the same tasks as other physical education instructors. This is a feasible solution because it operates within the current physical education structure.