The Professional Organization of Hope
Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP, EPC
Professor and Chair
Director, Exercise Physiology Laboratories
Department of Exercise Physiology
The College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811

Our First Encounter
The scene is my office in the Health Sciences complex at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth [1].  Seated in a chair is young man, whom I shall call Pat.  He asked to meet with me.  I understand he has just completed the doctorate degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science.  He refers to himself as an exercise physiologist.  He said, “My professors encouraged him to think of myself as an exercise physiologist.”  After about a minute or two of playful discussion, he gets to the point of the meeting. 

“I have accepted a position at a well-known university,” the young man is saying.  “Obviously, I will be the new teacher in the department.  It has taken a lot of work, including tuition and living money, to get to this point.  The success of everything I will do at the university depends largely on the role of being a ‘freshmen’ teacher and exercise physiologist.  By this I mean the tenured faculty has an established agenda and the power to shape my future.  The influence of the faculty is to some degree understandable.  On the other hand, he says that, "I don't think it is right to crash and burn just because my thinking may differ from their thinking.  Then he produced a research article that described the role of exercise physiology at the cellular level.  While raising the article, as if to pass it to me, he said that I’m interested in research but I'm more interested in building the profession of exercise physiology.”

As you might imagine his comments hit home with me.  In a sense, I was unsure if I should tell him the truth.  I also wondered what influenced him to want to put time and energy into building the profession.  The founding of the American Society of Exercise Physiologists [2] and its infrastructure involved a lot of work.  At times, it has been (as still is) frustrating and emotional but absolutely imperative.  Nothing in my life has compared to the challenge.  Yet, today, even with the abundance of evidence to show that the organization is critical to the professional development of exercise physiology, there appears to be relatively little interest by college teachers (especially those who do research) to support the organization.  While none of this is reason to stop the work to professionalize exercise physiology, it is on many occasions disconcerting, disappointing, and even emotionally troubling.  However, no one said it would be easy.  Hardly anything is easy when it comes to meaningful work or change.  Laying the foundation for a new profession is always about challenges and, therefore, it is inextricably grounded in time dependent thinking.

Many academic exercise physiologists regard themselves as "scientists."  They do research, but does research per se define individuals as scientists?  The answer to this question is obvious or at least it should be.  Yet, from their point of view, nothing is more ridiculous than the notion of a person with an undergraduate degree calling himself an exercise physiologist.  I should point out that what I’ve written is not original or new.  The idea that "I'm a physiologist" or "I'm an exercise scientist" has been around for decades.  Frankly, I couldn't understand it years ago and find it entirely wrong thinking today.  In my nearly 40 years as a college teacher, I have not defined myself as a researcher.  Research is part of what college teachers are suppose to do.  Strangely at this point in my career, I’ve come to realize that many of my colleagues think teaching is something that has to be done or something that is done after doing research.  Personally, I think what is missing is the passion to teach and to educate students.  This is not the case, however.  Today, many exercise physiologists hope for or, at least, expect to gain recognition and position from their research and publication efforts. 

Ideally one's position as a college teacher should develop from the established requirements of the job.  Yet teaching is a "given."  Anyone can teach and, after all, where is the reward in teaching.  Isn’t it clear that when a person retires, he can always teach somewhere, right?  Rather than the research integrated with the teacher's work in the classroom, it is often times, if not all of the time, separated from the student's education.  The idea that the teacher's task is to teach students how to think about thinking and enjoying learning isn't important.  Literature abounds with illustrations of this point.  Graduate students are often the "intellectual power" in the undergraduates' laboratory sessions.  Some even cross the great divide of assisting the actual teacher to teaching the undergraduate courses!  This approach to educating undergraduate students is consistent with the notion that it isn't an important academic degree, which is consistent with the work of exercise physiologists who have addressed the complexity or the lack of within the master's degree itself.

As I'm thinking these thoughts to myself, the young man before me continues to wave the research article in front of me.  “I have talked to exercise physiologists who read your articles on PEPonline [3],” he said.  “Frankly, some of them think you are way off base.  But, I have also determined that others have the same beliefs and experiences as you do.  Those exercise physiologists may not be in the majority, at least not yet, but are not without allies in the belief that exercise physiologists need their own professional organization.”  Then he said, "Shifting from the control of sports medicine on exercise physiology to your guys being in control will take time."  Most urgently, though, "You guys need to stay the course.  Eventually the students and others will wake up to the difference between what to think about exercise physiology and how to think about it.  Few graduate students I've talked to are happy with the way things are, but they understand that they need a job first before they can change the present reality.  Too often we neglect or put off doing what is obvious."

At that moment, it occurred to me that this young man knew something of the challenge before him.  He was not interested just in research but teaching, not just in ways to promote himself but in preventing the problems students have been experiencing for decades, not just in presenting at the next conference but in the professional development of exercise physiology, and finally in developing the kind of relationships with colleagues that would give him the opportunity to sustain an academic position.  As he put the research article away, we talked about the need for producing not just well-trained researchers but well-educated exercise physiologists.  One thing in particular that caught my attention was the statement that "some things are more important in the curriculum  than others."  For example, he said, "Why are some courses taught and others are not?  Why are teachers emphasizing some parts of a book time after time while leaving out other parts?  Where is the philosophy that speaks to what we teach and why?  Why isn't ethics taught in the exercise physiology curriculum?"

I told the young man that you are going to run into opposition to your thinking about exercise physiology.  Some champions of the sports medicine view argue that it has always been this way and, therefore, from their perspective there is no reason to change.  Hence, to serve their purpose, faculty members in many institutions have sidestepped the obvious need to embrace the ASEP organization.  Colleagues at your university, specifically, in your department, are likely to support you if you forget about ASEP.  I know you have attached great importance to the need for professional development and doing so through the ASEP organization.  However, it is important for you to know that many exercise physiologists don’t think that there is any reason for ASEP to exist.  They do research; they present facts and conclusions at national meetings.  They may say, “I respect your right to think differently.”  But, the truth is they will not support you on a daily basis.  You will be the only person in the department to support ASEP and, as a result, you must recognize the situation you will be in.

The young man just sat there and looked at me.   Then, after a few deep breaths, he said, “Looks like you are doing pretty good.”  We laughed.  Perhaps, it is a function of my age.  A few moments later I shared with him a few of the lessons that come from conflicts between colleagues.  Yes, I have some battle scars.  Then, we laughed some more and he said, “None of this is going unremembered.  When I start in the Fall Semester, it is important that I avoid the feeling of being helplessness.  I've learned that depression and anxiety get you know where, except possibly sick.  My hunch is that most academic exercise physiologists know that ASEP is needed.  They are uncomfortable making the transition from sports medicine to ASEP because they know it will lead to significant reconceptualization of exercise physiology and what they believe.  And, yet it is an essential task for all exercise physiologists to reflect on what exercise physiology has become.  As healthcare professionals, skills and competencies cannot be nutured outside of their own professional organization.  I’m going to share my hope of something better with them.  The ‘sharing’ will become an adventure in itself, although not without philosophical differences and disagreements.”

While I listened to him, I couldn’t help but feel good.  A smile came across my face.  He looked at his watch and said, “I’m late.  I need to go.  It has been good talking with you.  Thanks for everything you have done for exercise physiology.”  We stood up from our chairs.  I said stay in touch.  He smiled and left my office.  For a few minutes, I sat still reflecting on what we had talked about.  I knew only a handful of faculty across the 3,600 colleges and universities was ready to replace yesterday's thinking with the new 21st century view of exercise physiology.  A focus on the ASEP initiatives was simply too controversial.  The solutions required time and a growing sense of empowerment through the attainment of specific goals and objectives.  The very prolificness of the research emanating from exercise physiology laboratories attests to the power of inertia and groupthink.

The Encounter with Tenure
Since our conversation, the young man’s outlook has changed considerably.  Since taking the academic position he has met several exercise physiologists who are members of ASEP.  So far his faith in human beings hasn’t been destroyed.  And, little by little, his colleagues have asked encouraging questions about his involvement in ASEP.  Most encouraging of all, of course, is that one of his colleagues has become a member of ASEP.  These are encouraging signs.  The young man’s attitude and commitment to exercise physiology made a difference.  It is the beginnings of a statement about what exercise physiologists can be and do, if they choose to.  It is a good example of how one person can make a difference [4].  However, the young man’s commitment to ASEP did not sit well with one tenured colleague.  The talk about ASEP was eventually met with significant and powerful resistance.  It was only a question of time before the two would come face to face in a serious discussion about the young man’s failing to support the established thinking within the department.  He learned that professionalism, credibility, and a strong commitment to ASEP offered no promise of tenure, only proof of a person’s character and the opportunity to help build a profession that is better for all members.  After all, tenure is not the biggest or the most important bridge to cross in one's life or even in academics.  The most important is to live a life with integrity.  

During the transition to another university, the young man’s friends were still not convinced of the role of politics in contributing to a strategy of tenure.  If a good record of teaching, research, and service was demonstrated, they would tend to believe that the policy of the academic system was clear and unambiguous.  They lived in a world of documents and records designed to get at the right answers.  Everything and everyone had its place.  Tenure or no-tenure was not obscured by prejudice, bias, gender, skin color, or politics.  Thus, they were troubled by the decision that kept this young man from getting tenured.  Students found it difficult to understand as well, which reminded me of my comments to the young man when he was in my office.  For instance, years before I had witnessed first-hand the bad and ugly politics of tenure.  Not getting tenured had nothing to do with my teaching, research, or service.  It had everything to do with politics.  Of course, in the end, usually speaking, it doesn’t take a lot of arm twisting to convince colleagues who want something from "the powerful" to give it and vote accordingly.  It seems no one ever taught or expected college teachers to maintain their humanity in the face of a political society.  Plainly, the playing field is leveled in many ways.  The reason that this problem exists is probably because no one is inclined to sue someone with whom he has had a close relationship.  In any case, the young man learned the lesson the hard way.

Unfortunately, many exercise physiologists at the doctorate level go into university settings to do research and little else if possible.   Teaching is almost an afterthought, such as:  "Okay, I'm teaching what courses this semester?"  They are less motivate to teach and, therefore, more motivated to keep things as they have been or think they should be.  The most startling example of this fact is how little they teach, which isn't too terribly difficult to find out.  Equally startling is their insensitivity to the students’ educational and professional needs.  Not surprisingly, the kind of thinking is recognized by other healthcare practitioners who understand the role of teaching in  healthcare settings.  Unfortunately, as long as they have the freedom of choice in the selection of tenured colleagues, the way of “yesterday” will continue for years to come.  The fact remains simply this:  Many exercise physiology college teachers have missed the point of a professional organization?  In fact, it is unquestionably true that some teachers have openly discouraged the association of their colleagues with ASEP.  Others have discouraged their students from becoming a member of ASEP.  Still others believe that the key to a sound and credible profession of exercise physiology is ASEP is the way to the future, but are afraid of the truth and how it will influence them. 

Students, teachers, and others join a professional organization out of hope that it is the right thing to do for the right reasons.  The most important reason is to associate with other professionals in the field.  Networking is also important.  Similarly, if a physical therapist is asked, do you belong to APTA?  The answer is, "Yes, of course!"  Physical therapists, nurses, occupational therapists, music therapists, and all other such groups of professionals understand the connection between professionalism and the professional organization.  This thinking fits their history of professional development.  Hence the importance of time is critical to the interactions of concepts that speak to a profession.  The new healthcare kid (organization) on the block is ASEP.  Those who don’t get it are missing the point.  Taken together, ASEP and time, these two factors represent an important strategy for change.  Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that with time there can be only positive results.  And, yet, at this point, the young man is compassionately working towards another tenure position.  To what extent will the young man be successful still depends on ethical thinking men and women.  I’m especially encouraged by the efforts of more college teachers who contact the ASEP National Office and others who express an interest in joining.  A surprisingly large number of members of society other than exercise physiologists also contact the National Office for information about fitness, certification, and salary issues.  The very fact that time is on the side of ASEP is huge.  Again, others who don’t get this point are making a mistake.  If they believe the organization is going to disappear, they fail to understand the dedication of those who support it.

ASEP is a Lifeline
The story about the young man isn’t over.  Several lessons are to be learned from his journey.  The first is that full recovery from not getting tenure is 100% possible.  The second is that fear, anxiety, and heart problems do not have to associate with the no-tenure decision.  The third is that not every young professional must follow an old outdated paradigm.  The fourth is that emotional and intellectual strength can help with transitions.  It is not surprising that these lessons are self-evident truths.  The reality of course is that too often we take the easy road.  However, rather than being profoundly disturbed from not getting tenure, the young man is disciplined and creatively engaged in his new work.  The change in the mood and possibility thinking of the young man and other exercise physiologists couldn’t be more striking when they find out about ASEP.  They, too, get it and they are emotionally elated.  I can’t help but believe they understand the “hope” that comes from belonging to a professional organization.  Reassurance that the future is going to be better is a good thing.  Finally, deception is taken out of the picture.  Yes, finally, the professional organization offers a way of putting their professional lives on the right path.  Why, then, would anyone argue against the ASEP organization?  Reassurance and hope are powerful ways of minimizing doubt. 

Especially poignant for me is the recent telephone call from an exercise physiologist who is failing to pay his bills.  He said, “The money he is getting as a cardiac rehab tech just isn’t enough to make payments on the car, apartment, school loans, and on and on.”   He questioned getting a degree in exercise science.  Frankly, he didn’t see much use in going back to school or how he was going to make it at work.  His phone call was in desperation for a reason to be hopeful.  I shared with him the ASEP vision [5].  After a several minutes, a new picture of exercise physiology had emerged.  Everything is driven by time and decisions.  Why not take the EPC exam?  That will earn you the professional title, Exercise Physiologists.  My points about ASEP left him with some hope.  In other words, he knew for the first time that it was foolish not to dream of better things.  I told him that the exam was a formidable undertaking and that it had a price tag like all other exams.  But, it sets the stage for new possibilities, new jobs, and new perspectives.

A week later he called the Office again.  At first, I didn’t recognize his voice.  Then, it hit me.  Yes, I remember you.  Wow…you sound so different today.  He said, “I’ve talked to my parents and they are willing to help me pay for the exam.”  He was convinced of what the EPC credential would do for him.  He got it.  He put the ASEP 2 + 2 together and came up with a lifeline.  In short, I’ve learned this is the power of a professional organization.  It’s all about providing an organization of hope.  And, what is most significant of all is that it exists today because it is needed.  ASEP is the gateway of professional development [6].  Members defy the fatal outcomes of staying the same.  They do not accept the verdict of a financially grim inevitability.  They do not accept the fitness professional views so characteristic of yesterday's views.  They provide emotional support for each other.  ASEP provides these things and more.  It is important that all exercise physiologists know that the ASEP perspective is all about a vigorous determination to promote exercise physiology as a healthcare profession.

As exercise physiologists gain control over work opportunities, their mental states improve dramatically.  They are no longer confined to a job that is going no where fast.  Everything inside them comes alive.  ASEP is about gaining control and communicating new possibilities.  This raises the question, “Why should ASEP exercise physiologists feel confident about their future?”  The short answer is that the up turn in their thinking is coincident with the ASEP vision.  Members embrace ASEP with a determination to make it.  They understand the problems before them.  They aren’t in denial.  They have joined forces not just to professionalize exercise physiology, but to help meet the emotional needs of each other.  Gaining control is all about not accepting the illusion and pitfalls of a failed rhetoric.  ASEP is the window of opportunity to new ideas, thinking, and hope [7].  And, since this is the case, one wonders why more exercise physiologists (or those who dream of becoming an exercise physiologist) don’t connect with ASEP to gain control over their lives?  Gaining even a little control can be exhilarating.  Those who do become aware that they are able to do things that were believed to be beyond their reach.  Hope is their strongest ally.

References

1. The College of St. Scholastica. (2006). CSS Home Page. [Online]. http://www.css.edu/
   
2. American Society of Exercise Physiologists. (2006). ASEP Contact Page. [Online]. http://www.asep.org/
   
3. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline. (2006). PEPonline Archive Page. [Online].  http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/FLDR/pro1a.html
   
4. Boone, T. (2006). Speak Up...One Person Can Make a Difference. [Online]. http://www.boonethink.com
5. American Society of Exercise Physiologists. (2006). The ASEP Vision. [Onine].  http://www.asep.org/vision.htm
6. Boone, T. (2004). The Courage to Create the Future. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline. 7:9 [Online].  http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/CourageToCreate.html
7. Boone, T. (2002). The Power and Influence of Beliefs. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline. 7:9 [Online].  http://www.asep.org/asep/asep/ExercisePhysiologyBeliefs.html