AMERICAN SOCIETY
OF EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGISTS
Founded, 1997
President’s
Report
October,
1999
It has now been almost three weeks since the conference, and for those who were not in attendance, I have accepted the presidency of ASEP for the second consecutive year. I expressed an interest in retaining the presidency to the Board of Directors for three purposes: to allow me to oversee recent developments that require a consistent direction at the presidential level, to reorganize ASEP committees and JEPonline editorial staff, and respond to the realization that apart from Tommy Boone there has been no other individual who qualifies to be a candidate for the position.
The recent developments that have further stimulated my motivation to professionalize exercise physiology are, 1) the interactions ASEP has had with state exercise physiology associations and their efforts towards licensure, 2) the related need to complete an official ASEP Scope of Practice for Exercise Physiologists, 3) the increasing submissions to JEPonline, 4) the continued shunning of ASEP by ACSM, and 5) the need for my continued efforts to reach the thousands of exercise physiologists in the USA who are still non-members of ASEP.
As I emphasized on several occasions during the conference, there is a need to delegate ASEP responsibilities to additional individuals. There have been numerous requests for added involvement within ASEP, and I am currently organizing documents/letters that will assist in both stabilizing committees that are functioning fine, and reorganizing and stimulating committees that need to function better. A detailed summary of the 1999 conference can be linked to from this report.
There is also a need to lighten my load with editing JEPonline. As submissions are increasing, the task of organizing the responsibilities of the review and preparation of accepted manuscripts has grown to be a task too big for me to handle on my own. Consequently, there will be three new editors that assist me in handling submissions to JEPonline: Darryn Willoughby, Ph.D., David Armstrong, Ph.D., and Gid Leadbetter, III. Darryn, David and Gig will each have the title of Associate Editor, and be responsible for supervising the review of manuscripts received by the editor-in-chief using the current list of Topics Editors (including themselves). The associate editors will decide on the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts, and forward all accepted or rejected manuscripts to the office of the editor-in-chief. I will then be responsible for formatting the manuscripts for publication as PDF and html documents. To ease my load with this duty, I have recruited a volunteer Ph.D. student. This student will also be responsible for formatting past accepted manuscripts into PDF documents so that all manuscripts, dating back to April, 1997, will be posted in both PDF and html formats. Once accepted, manuscripts will then be sent to the Managing editor of JEPonline (Tommy Boone) for final html editing and posting to the website, as is currently performed.
As you might be aware, my abilities to function professionally in my work place, as well as handle the loads of ASEP president, editor-in-chief of JEPonline, and organizor of the 2000 national meeting necessitates considerable delegation of responsibilities. I am thankful to those who volunteered their time to support these functions of ASEP, and their realization of the professional responsibility they have to the functions of their profession.
Apart from issues concerning JEPonline, I want to stress the need to publish our thoughts and attitudes on the professionalization of exercise physiology in ASEP’s journal Professionalization of Exercise physiology PEPonline. I, as well as many of you, have ideas that suit publication in a journal concerned with the dissemination of professional thought, both positive and negative, on the professionalization of exercise physiology. This journal is unique in that it provides a professional peer-review outlet for non-research based content in exercise physiology. As a emerging professionals in a developing profession, we need to realize that research is just one of the many bones in the skeleton of professionalism. As such, important contributions can be made to our profession, and are desperately needed, that are based on thought processes. Such content could include what you think about who you are professionally, how you view the professional identity of your peers and colleagues, and where exercise physiology needs to be directed in the present and future. In addition, we need to improve on the expression of the historical development of exercise physiology. I realize that several sources already exist on this topic, but none have been written with the purpose of chronologically detailing the historical record to justify/clarify the need for professional status. It is ironical that the content of past sources often reveals the evidence to support professional development, yet these documents seem at times to divert around the topic of professionalism. It is the purpose of viewing history from the perspective of the development of a profession that makes a newly revised historical development of exercise physiology a needed document for all exercise physiologists and individuals of related professions to read and understand.
I will not include additional comment in this month’s report. During November there will be considerable effort at completing all that I have outlined. In addition, I hope to reveal in my November report of organized attempts to contact professional and non-professional organizations that have an interest in exercise physiology, as well as inform you of continued effort towards a final ASEP Academic Program Accreditation proposal. As the president of ASEP, I am pleased to share with you the realization that the 1999 meeting provided added direction in how I am to function for you for the next year. I encourage you to stay in touch by reading these monthly reports, and responding back to me on the content. We need your continued comments so that we can function more optimally for you and your oganization.
Have a productive transition towards the end of the Fall semester, and a joyous start to the 1999 festive season.
Robert
Robergs, Ph.D., FASEP
President
- ASEP
