Project Coordination and Management

The Iowa FITNESSGRAM Initiative is managed by faculty and students affiliated with the Physical Activity and Health Promotion Lab within the Department of Kinesiology at Iowa State University. Programming is guided in collaboration with colleagues involved in our Physical Activity Research Team for Youth (PARTy). Key faculty contributors in the PARTy team include Dr. Greg Welk, Dr. Senlin Chen and Dr. Spyridoula Vazou from ISU as well as Dr. Jodee Schaben (a Ph.D. graduate from ISU now working at the University of Wisconsin - River Falls). Key student contributors included Ph.D. student (Yang Bai) who coordinates most of the FITNESSGRAM related research in the lab.
The Iowa FITNESSGRAM Initiative has a noteworthy linkage since Dr. Welk serves as the Scientific Director of the national FITNESSGRAM program for the Cooper Institute. He worked at the Cooper Institute in the 1990's and has continued serving in this ad-hoc role since coming to Iowa State University. He has played a leadership role in FITNESSGRAM programming and the development of the new health related standards along with other members of the FITNESSGRAM Scientific Advisory Board. He has also supervised the development of the Youth Activity Profile (along with another former Ph.D. student - Pedro Saint-Maurice). The Youth Activity Profile is now fully integrated into the FITNESSGRAM software but schools affiliated with the Iowa FITNESSGRAM program can use the customized web-application to facilitate data collection. Dr. Welk and his research team work closely with the Cooper Institute staff to oversee the evaluation for the FITNESSGRAM / NFL Play 60 Partnership project. The Iowa FITNESSGRAM Initiative was launched to help support and promote physical education programming in Iowa and to test new tools and features that could be included in FITNESSGRAM.
Please contact Dr. Greg Welk by email (gwelk@iastate.edu) for more information about the project. Information about our team is also available on our lab webpage (www.physicalactivitylab.org)
The Iowa FITNESSGRAM Initiative has a noteworthy linkage since Dr. Welk serves as the Scientific Director of the national FITNESSGRAM program for the Cooper Institute. He worked at the Cooper Institute in the 1990's and has continued serving in this ad-hoc role since coming to Iowa State University. He has played a leadership role in FITNESSGRAM programming and the development of the new health related standards along with other members of the FITNESSGRAM Scientific Advisory Board. He has also supervised the development of the Youth Activity Profile (along with another former Ph.D. student - Pedro Saint-Maurice). The Youth Activity Profile is now fully integrated into the FITNESSGRAM software but schools affiliated with the Iowa FITNESSGRAM program can use the customized web-application to facilitate data collection. Dr. Welk and his research team work closely with the Cooper Institute staff to oversee the evaluation for the FITNESSGRAM / NFL Play 60 Partnership project. The Iowa FITNESSGRAM Initiative was launched to help support and promote physical education programming in Iowa and to test new tools and features that could be included in FITNESSGRAM.
Please contact Dr. Greg Welk by email (gwelk@iastate.edu) for more information about the project. Information about our team is also available on our lab webpage (www.physicalactivitylab.org)