Graduate students will have the option to receive a master of science in health and human performance with a concentration in integrative health starting in fall of 2014, said Tom Coates, Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) department chair.

This development comes after a more than four-year process of getting approval for UNA’s integrative health initiative from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) and the recent Florence City Council approval of a land sale to the Guizhou Shenqi Group March 19.

The land—former land of the Florence Golf and Country Club—was projected to sell to the Chinese group, which is partnering with UNA to develop the program, for $2.1 million, but the sale had not been completed by Zhang Zhiting, Guizhou Shenqi chair, at press time.

Zhiting was likely going to come to Florence in late May to complete the sale, said Terry Pace, UNA interim director of communications.

The integrative health initiative will provide a program for UNA graduate students to study alternative health practices—such as acupuncture, meditation and religious beliefs, Coates said.

Though the program has been approved, the only part of the program that is completely confirmed is the curriculum, Coates said. At press time, the plans for the facilities to house the program were completely up in the air, said UNA Director of Facilities Michael Gautney.

“When everything is finalized, we will be directly involved with the development of the facility,” he said.

Earlier reports by Zhiting indicate that officials would like to include apartment-style housing and community gardens in the new integrative health facility, but Gautney could not confirm these plans.

ACHE approved the academic program Sept. 14 of last year, after the approval by both the HPER department and the UNA College of Arts and Sciences, Coates said. The HPER department was searching for a faculty member to teach the new components of the unique program at press time, Coates said.

“This will be the only program of its kind in the state and probably the only degree-granting program of its kind in the Southeast,” he said.

Coates said the program will provide access to a growing field of health to UNA students.

“Integrative health is kind of where eastern medicine meets western medicine,” he said. “Western medicine is what we have for the most part in the U.S. right now. The cost is skyrocketing. Eastern medicine practices—like acupuncture, religious beliefs and meditation—are a different approach.

“Can they work as well or better than western medicine? That’s what we’ll be looking at.”

Chunsheng Zhang, UNA vice provost for international affairs, said last January that he believes the program will promote multicultural perspective sharing and learning.

“One of the huge benefits for all students, Chinese, American and other nationalities alike, is to be engaged with each other and to share and learn multinational cultural perspectives regarding integrative health and the best practices in staying healthy and productive,” Zhang said.

Graduates of the new program will have a growing number of job options available to them, Coates said.

“The graduates of this program will likely work with physicians or in private practices,” he said. “I expect a lot of nursing and physical education majors will transition into this program once it gets going. The market is very big on this.”

Despite earlier reports that the first class of the integrative health initiative would bring between 50 and 100 Chinese students, with later class sizes estimated to consist of approximately 500, to UNA through the Guizhou Shenqi-UNA partnership, Coates said enrollment is still uncertain.

“I’ve had probably 15 to 20 people indicate interest in this program so far, though I haven’t had any applications come across my desk just yet,” he said. “But, once it gets going, I suspect it’s going to take off.”

But the program will be open to all students entering graduate school, he said.

“We’ll have both international and domestic students involved in this,” he said. “The international students will likely come in with an undergraduate major in interdisciplinary studies (IDS) or spend a bridge year here before transitioning,” he said.

Coates said he and Craig Robertson, professor of professional and interdisciplinary studies, would finalize UNA-specific IDS requirements this summer.

Florence City Council members said they believed the integrative health program and facility would stimulate economic growth in the Shoals community before their March 19 vote to approve the land sale for the facility.

In addition to the new facility and program of study, the integrative health initiative will offer the possibility of integrative health services, Coates said.

“That would be things like community Tai Chi classes, nutritional counseling or stress management,” he said. “These would be non-credit courses conducted by the students in the program.”

Though specifics of the facility and land purchase were uncertain at press time, Coates said the concentration in integrative health could begin offering classes in spite of any potential problems that could arise.

“Since we have the curriculum nailed down, all we need to get started is a faculty member to teach and students in the classrooms,” he said.

The program is still evolving and will continue to do so as it gets underway, Coates said.

“As the program gets moving, we’ll need to fine tune it,” he said. “Some things might change depending on what the students and faculty think we need.”

UNA President Bill Cale, in a press release last January, said he and Zhiting believe the integrative health initiative will bring positive change to UNA and its surrounding community.

“Chairman Zhang sees in this venture a world-class learning center that will form the nucleus for adding botanical gardens, a visitor center, clinical outreach and continuing education,” he said. “The natural beauty of the city of Florence, warmth of the regional community, support of local and state leaders and the commitment of UNA combine to create a foundation from which an exciting future will emerge.”

Stick with The Flor-Ala this year for more updates on the program and its development.