Recreation Administration - Mission Statement

The Recreation Administration program is dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyles in society by developing students’ understanding and ability to plan, organize, and facilitate challenging and rewarding recreation and leisure experiences in preparation for future careers in leisure services.

Recreation Administration - Foundational Curriculum

The curriculum in the recreation program is built around the three foundational curriculum areas for leisure services.  These three areas include leisure foundations, provisions of services and experience opportunities, and management/administration.

Leisure foundations include the background, nature, and scope of the profession, including its history, philosophy, and social and behavioral science underpinnings.

Provision of services and experience opportunities includes, but is not limited to recreation programming and leadership, heritage and environmental interpretation, site design and management, experience design, and related processes.

Management/Administration refers to both operations and strategic management/administration.  Operations management/administration includes planning, organizing, staffing, directing, leading, controlling, reporting, finance, resource acquisition, marketing, and critical thinking.  Strategic management/administration refers to processes that managers in leisure services use to optimize the success of the organization within the external systems in which their organization operates. Strategic management/administration involves creating, maintaining, and deploying plans-of action that address changing circumstances in social, economic, environmental, or financial environments; new technology; and new competitors. 

Recreation Administration - Program Objectives

Lindenwood University Recreation Administration graduates will…

• Understand the philosophy of and human need for leisure
• Understand the historical development and trends in leisure
• Understand the basic concepts of facilitating challenging and meaningful recreational experiences
• Understand the process and logic of designing recreational facilities
• Understand the operation of recreation facilities
• Understand how to secure financial resources and be able to operate within an specified budget
• Understand the basic concepts of recreational human resource issues including both paid and volunteer staff
• Understand the professional ethics of the recreation leadership profession
• Understand the various career opportunities in recreation and leisure

Recreation Administration - Student Learning Outcomes

Lindenwood University Recreation Administration graduates will be able to… 

SLO #1 Demonstrate entry-level knowledge of the foundational concepts of the leisure profession and industry.

Components: Components of this learning outcome include the nature and scope of the leisure profession and their associated industries; techniques and processes used by professionals and workers in these industries; and the foundation of the profession in history, science and philosophy. 

SLO #2 Demonstrate a variety of skills appropriate for provision of services and experience opportunities for the population served.

Components: Components of this learning outcome include assessing, designing, implementing, and evaluating leisure services that facilitate targeted human experiences and embrace personal and cultural dimensions of diversity.

SLO #3 Demonstrate entry-level knowledge about operations and strategic management/administration in leisure services.

Components: Components of this learning outcome includes strategic planning and organizing; financial management and resource acquisition, marketing, liability and risk management, leadership, and human resources.

SLO #4 Demonstrate entry-level comprehensive knowledge and skill in a leisure professional setting. 

Components: This learning outcome is demonstrated through two seperate internship with leisure providing agencies of which one is a minimum 400 hour 10 week long internship. 

SLO #5 Demonstrate competence in written and verbal communication and presentation.

Components: This learning ouctome is demonstrated through using primary and secondary sources, oral presentations, and written work.