The Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) program at Oakland University has partnered with World Instructor Training Schools (W.I.T.S) to bring a personal trainer certification program to campus.

The program, which has been in the works since November 2017, is the result of a growing demand both on campus and in the professional world.

“Anywhere from nursing homes to hospitals to places you wouldn’t normally think of—they all hire personal trainers to work with physical therapists in various capacities,” said PACE Assistant Director Amy Olind. “You can tailor it to what your other interests are.”

After careful consideration, PACE decided to partner with W.I.T.S to provide the program because, unlike many other companies that offer personal training certificates, the course offered is not exclusively online.

“What drew us to World Instructor Training Schools was it still had those legitimate accreditations, but they had a practical component [too] that required people to meet with another master personal trainer and actually perform some of the exercises with a fake client,” Olind said. “Any time you’re working with people, you want to have them demonstrate how they would actually do it with a client. You don’t want to just, ‘Hey, I have an online certificate that says I can do a job that’s very heavily people-involved,’ you know?”

The program will allow students to obtain Certified Personal Trainer – Level 1 status through 30 hours of coursework, 15 hours of lecture and 15 hours of hands-on training.

The course will be taught by Fitness Programs and Erin Davidson, services coordinator of the University Recreation and Well-Being.

“I am excited to work with the W.I.T.S personal training students and help them to develop and prepare to work in a field where they can have a positive impact on other people’s lives,” Davidson said. “Personal training can be a very rewarding career and I hope the participants feel confident after the course is finished to go out and develop workouts and work one on one with clients. I hope participants learn a lot and have a positive experience in the course.”

The tuition cost is $700 for current OU Rec Center members, which includes students and members of the campus community, and $800 for non-members. Included in the tuition cost is the $350 testing fee, a four-month membership to the Rec Center for non-members and an optional internship that will allow students to further engage in hands-on training. The internship requires a minimum of 30 hours of work and will qualify students for Certified Personal Trainer – Level 2 status.

“This is a content-heavy class, but it’s not going to be the same as an undergraduate-level credit class,” Olind said. “Students don’t need to feel like it’s something that’s going to go on the entire semester and have all kinds of homework. It’s designed as a continuing education class. We understand people are busy, they have other jobs, other things that they’re doing, so a lot of the work that you’re doing is in-class. You use the in-class opportunities to complete those activities.”

PACE currently has plans to offer the course twice a year. The first offering will take place on Monday and Wednesday nights from July 23 to August 22. Registration is currently open, but the course will be limited to 20 students to maintain interpersonal interaction.

Individuals who plan to enroll in the course must be 18 years of age or older, have a minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent, and have a valid adult CPR and AED certification, both of which can be obtained through the Rec Center.

For more information and to register for the course, visit the PACE website. Students can also sign up for registration updates here.