The kinesiology department recently hired a student worker and two college assistants to train to use the BOD POD body composition tracking system in the Human Performance Lab (HPL).
The BOD POD uses air displacement plethysmography, a technique for measuring changes in the circumference of a limb by recording the changes in pressure in an air-filled cuff surrounding the limb, which uses whole-body densitometry to determine body composition (fat and fat-free mass).
Those who have been hired to train on the BOD POD are student worker Nicole Brown and college assistants Heriberto Feliciano and Edwin Liddie.
The hires come after the kinesiology department received a $3,000 grant from the PCC Foundation intended for student training on the BOD POD.
Members of the PCC Foundation toured the facilities and equipment on Feb. 2, and some even learned their own body fat content.
Instructor Tamara Knott-Silva is head of the HPL supported by Dr. Paul Jarrell, Dean of Instructional Support, and David N. Douglass, Dean of Science & Math..
“The lab was definitely a team effort. [We] discussed in detail what type what type of equipment we needed, how much it was going to cost and how we were going to tie the HPL into our curriculum,” said Knott-Silva. “We are excited to bring testing and measurement into our curriculum … to ensure we maximize student success and prepare them for transfer.”
Associate Professor Daryl Taylor has taken the lead organizing student workers, training faculty and getting students staff tested along with writing the grant for the student worker training.
“I think we are looking at this as just the beginning,” said Douglass. “We would like to create a fitness and wellness program which could not only serve our campus, but also our broader community in the district.”
According to Douglass, The HPL has been open since the fall 2015 semester and since then 600 students from 24 Kinesiology, nutrition and physiology classes have visited the HPL.
“Students, student athletes and faculty can use the POD for now,” said Douglass. “At some point we hope to train some of our kinesiology majors to run the BOD POD. This will allow other people, such as elite athletes who live in the area, to take advantage of the facility.”
Superintendent-President Dr. Rajen Vurdien is scheduled to get his body composition measurement in the BOD POD on March 7.
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