ORPT 4740/4745 "Organization and Administration for ORPT + Lab" is a senior-level course required for all Outdoor Recreation in Parks and Tourism (ORPT) majors. The course provides an opportunity for students to apply their knowledge and skills related to managing outdoor recreation and leisure programs for participants. Students learn about planning, programming, evaluation, budgeting, human resources management, risk management, policy, and procedures. Students work in small groups with a variety of on- and off-campus organizations to plan and implement their program. With the supervision of a Program Mentor, students are responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating an outdoor recreation or leisure program. A focus for the 2018/2019 Academic Year is to integrate curricular innovations to improve the level of community engagement among students, improve relationships with our community partners, and enhance student learning outcomes.
This presentation will discuss the motivations for changing the ORPT 4740/4745 curriculum; the specific innovations and changes that were incorporated, why they were chosen, and how they enhance student learning; how the effectiveness of the innovations were assessed; and examples of student programs and how they more effectively fostered community engagement and positive relationships with partner organizations.
