A master?s program in physical therapy was awarded to Sacramento State, thanks to two new additions to the faculty and a strong show of support from the administration.

The program, which was denied to the university last year, is currently accepting applications and will begin instruction in Fall 2001.

“The primary reason the program was not awarded before was insufficient faculty,” said Director and Professor of Physical Therapy Susan McGinty.

McGinty said two doctors with experience on the graduate level were lured to Sac State to teach and gave the program the credibility it needed to receive the master?s program.

Jancis Dennis is from the Medical College of Georgia and has experience in cardiopulmonary physical therapy and distance education.

Nancy Urbscheit is the former director of electrophysiology at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.

McGinty said many factors made Sac State attractive for the doctors, including positive reactions to the city and the campus while on visits.

But McGinty said the major determining factor was the interest shown by President Donald Gerth and Provost Bernice Bass de Martinez.

“There was incredible support from the administration. I have never been at a campus where the administration gives such direct personal support,” McGinty said.

The master?s program has a capacity of 32 students per class, with a new class enrolled each year.

Reconstruction of a new lab in Yosemite Hall will eventually be necessary, as the two labs now being used in Solano Hall will be full when the program hits 64 students.

Like all departments, physical therapy will receive the majority of the funding for the new program from the state. The rest of the money will come from general operating funds, and the Department of Health and Human Services has begun recruiting the development office for assistance.

To ensure a full class, Health and Human Services has pushed back the application deadline.

The program will admit students with physical therapy, kinesiology, health science and biology degrees, and being a California resident is recommended.

“Our first obligation is to California residents, but we will certainly accept out-of-state residents to fill vacancies in the program if they are qualified,” McGinty said.

McGinty said that she is surprised the master?s program was awarded to a physical therapy department that is only six years old, and that it took a cooperative effort from the entire university to make it possible.

“At first, there was a lot of opposition because of how expensive the program is. We started at a time when some departments on campus were closing. But over the last six years there has been a total turn-around ? I came from the private sector, so I am used to working as part of a team. That is the way health care should be.”