Beaver College of Health Sciences

By Amanda Mlekush 

As an undergraduate student at App State majoring in Exercise Science, Jared Skinner remembers the impact and interest faculty showed him as he began his academic career. He says that faculty mentors guided him as he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Exercise Science from the university. 

In 2019 after earning his PhD from the University of Florida, Skinner returned to App State as an assistant professor in Exercise Science and said he hoped to mentor students and help them thrive, just as numerous faculty members helped him during his academic journey.

His knack for mentorship and making a difference encouraging students was recently recognized with the 2024 App State’s Excellence in Academic Advising Faculty Award. 

“I started as an undergraduate student here and fell in love with doing research, so I think–maybe some of my students will fall in love with conducting research too. I can see that tiny glimmer when they realize what they’ve accomplished, and they start to realize their own capabilities,” Skinner said. “Over the years, I experienced different mentoring styles so I have tried to take those components to create my own unique mentoring style.” 

(From left: students in the Locomotor Learning Lab are pictured with Dr. Jared Skinner (PHES) and Yosef. Photo submitted.)

Skinner offers students the opportunity to conduct research and work in clinical settings from working in the Locomotor Learning Lab using advanced technology to measure gait and balance and to participate in research and community support groups related to aging populations, particularly patients who have Parkinson’s disease.

Over the past three years, he has served as a mentor for 25 students presenting research at the university’s Student Research and Creative Endeavors poster competition, with several of those students presenting their research findings at regional and national conferences including the American College of Sports Medicine conference. He has also served as a thesis chair for 10 graduate students and 8 undergraduate honors students. 

Nominees wrote about the “passion Dr. Skinner has for teaching and cultivating younger minds,” and how he “holds his mentees to high standards and advocates on their behalf so that they may receive recognition for their work,” and how he creates a lab and learning space that “values critical thinking, determination, and curiosity.” 

Several staff members, including Callie Hutchens, Janice Koppenhaver and Hera Haas from the Beaver College of Health Sciences’ Office of Advising and Academic Success, have been recognized with the Undergraduate Advising Council’s professional advisor and student support staff awards; Skinner is the college’s first faculty member selected for the faculty advising recognition. 

“One of the notable aspects of Dr. Skinner’s work is the impact he has had on transfer students, who sometimes may feel challenged to develop a sense of belonging,” said Matt Crump, UAC awards committee chair and executive director of the Academic Advising Center in App State’s Walker College of Business. “Students credit Dr. Skinner with creating an inclusive environment that fosters critical thinking, determination, and curiosity and that his mentorship has helped transfer students find their footing and thrive. Many of his students have created research they were selected to present at national conferences, and even have published their research, and received recognition for their achievements—all thanks to his advocacy and support." 

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