Department Information

The Department of Recreation Administration is a fully accredited member of the National Recreation and Park Association / American Association for Leisure & Recreation (NRPA / AALR).  The department offers a Bachelor of Science in Recreation Administration with an option in Therapeutic Recreation and a minor in Recreation Administration.
Recreation administration is the process that mobilizes an organization’s resources, human and material, to accomplish goals to benefit the leisure time of the community served.  Organized recreation services may have the stigma of being only fun-and-games operations, concerned chiefly with providing programs of sports, games and hobbies.  In reality, administrators are often responsible for much more as they oversee the operations of entire departments and agencies within the private, non profit and public recreation sectors.   Recreation administrators’ responsibilities often include; budgeting, trend forecasting, personnel and facility management, programming, employee training, risk management, and marketing.  Additionally, public recreation administrator may be involved with city council and planning boards as advocates for community recreation related programs, open space and facilities.

Our Recreation Administration majors are qualified for a large variety of occupations within public, commercial and non profit recreation oriented organizations.  Our majors would also compete well for jobs in tourist oriented recreation companies.  Persons interested in a recreation career should be organized, detail oriented, outgoing, able to encourage and motivate employees, peers and participants, and sensitive to the needs of others.  The following list indicates job titles commonly open to Recreation Administration graduates:

Director of Parks and Recreation
Activity Programmer
Facility Manager
Aquatics Supervisor
Activity Instructor
Director of Guide Services
Resort Recreation Director
Meeting and Event Planner
Recreation Supervisor
Assistant Camp Director
Recreation Center Director
Park Planner and Project Manager
Recreation Administration graduates are eligible to become a Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) by NRPA through its National Certification Board (NCB) or a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC).