Education: cornerstone of professional development. (Tip-Off).

More training, for more people, more often, and in more places," is the goal that T. Destry Jarvis, NRPA Executive Director, stated to a group of national leaders who convened at NRPA headquarters in July to help the association develop new educational opportunities. "This meeting is about reaffirming our strong commitment to education," Jarvis continued. "Professional development is an evolving arena. NRPA recognizes the need for change." And with that call to action, the leaders in education, meetings planning and recreation management got to work.

Today's options for educational venues are enormous--meetings, teleconferences, online education, mentorships and videos are just some choices. Add to the mix the various levels of education needed, not to mention differing styles for learning, and you could have quite a quagmire. But with all these options you also get many opportunities.

"The biggest limitation in our ability to do training is the lack of resource for agencies to travel for education," said Larry Zehnder, NRPA Southeast Regional Director. "All too often, the upper-level administrators get to use the travel money to go to meetings, when there are knowledge gaps throughout the agency. And while there are great schools that focus on aquatics, therapeutic recreation, maintenance, marketing and programming sprinkled around the country, finding the time to get there is another constraint."

State affiliates have done a wonderful job of stepping up to the plate and providing high-quality educational opportunities closer to home. But they, too, have budgetary issues. The number of attendees at state meetings is generally small, and thus the meeting coordinators can't cover the costs of bringing in nationally recognized educators.

"Good training should be systematic," said Dr. Dennis Ulrey, Elk Grove (Ill.) Parks and Planning Manager. "Employee learning should be directed." In today's mobile society, high-quality educational programming should be consistent from Maine to Montana.

Educational programs should also be diverse. It has been suggested that close to 50 percent of today's parks and recreation professionals will retire in the next five years. That will create a huge knowledge gap that can be bridged only by creative programming. "Tracks should be developed for each station in the professional's continuum. Basic-level courses for those new to the profession. Developmental curriculums for mid-level professionals, and leadership programming for management," said Ulrey.

The profession's diversity is also seen in the range of knowledge. "We should look to new partners and benefit from their knowledge," said NRPA Trustee Dr. Phil Rea, CPRP, who chairs the department of parks, recreation and tourism management at North Carolina State University. "Landscape architects, social workers, sports administrators. These are just some of the related fields that can support parks and recreation and share their knowledge."

"Each agency and staff person is unique, and to create a successful educational outreach, NRPA needs to meet the needs of everyone involved," said Walter Johnson, CPRP, NRPA Director of Field Services, who chaired the meeting. "No one system will work for everyone. By approaching education from a variety of directions, but with one core curriculum, standards can be raised and the needs of a wide audience can be met."

In the coming months, NRPA will inventory the industry to see what programs are available, to whom and at what cost. Likewise, recreation professionals from the entire industry spectrum will be surveyed to determine who needs what, where, and how often.

"The face of education will be changing," said Johnson. "My guess is that, in the future, it will be coordinated so that no matter how the training was presented--online, at meetings, through mentors--the core knowledge is consistent and the results are the same: professional excellence."

NPRA needs your input to further develop its education programs. Please complete the survey on p. 29 and return it to NRPA by Nov. 1. You be helping NRPA develop educational programs that advance the parks and recreation professional, and you also will be entered into a drawing to win free airfare to an NRPA educational program in 2003.