Fayette State Park Boat Harbor, Delta County. (Photo Courtesy of Theodore Haskell.)

Recreation In Michigan Great Professional 1 Opportunities

Editors

Fayette State Park Boat Harbor, Delta County. (Photo courtesy of Theodore Haskell.) Betty van der Smissen Theodore Haskell

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Weatmark Drive Dubuque, Iowa 52002 KENDALL/HUNT PUBLISHING COMPANY 4050 Westmark Drive Dubuque, Iowa 52002 RECREATION IN MICHIGAN

GREAT PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

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Weatmark Drive Dubuque, Iowa 52002 MICHIGAN RECREATION EDUCATORS’ CONSORTIUM

Be apart of the future!

Enjoy a lifetime of service and adventure

through professional opportunities in

Recreation, Parks, Leisure Services, and Tourism.

This book is a publication of the Michigan Recreation Educators’ Consortium. This organization is composed of the faculty of the ten higher education institutions in Michigan that offer a baccalaureate degree in recreation, parks, leisure services or tourism. These institutions, their locations and addresses are on the following page. Each has its own unique academic thrust. Write or telephone for further information about this professional field.

MI Michigan Recreation Educators’ Consortium

Recreation in Michigan

Betty van der Smissen

Recreation in Michigan!! When one thinks of recreation in Michigan, many pleasurable thoughts and enjoyable moments come to mind. For each person these are unique and meaningful—for some it may be playing in a band or singing in a barbershop quartet, while for others it will be listening to a symphonic concert or a children’s operetta; for others it may be riding in the backcountry on a snowmobile or traversing the countryside on cross-country skis in winter; or swimming in the Great Lakes or sunning on the beach; it may be the exhilaration that comes from the challenge of adventure sports or the gratification of personal accomplishment of mastering a craft skill; it

1 may be the socialization while bowling or the competitiveness of a vigorous tennis match. Recreation pursuits, indeed, are as diverse and expansive as individual human needs and interests. The opportunities to engage in recreational pursuits do not just happen—usually they are provided by public agencies, by nonprofit organizations, or by private commercial (profit) enterprises. Public agencies include local, state, and national governments. The nonprofit organizations, called the nonprofit sector or sometimes quasi-public organizations, focus on services to people, sometimes human services and sometimes special interests. The third provider is the private-for-profit or commercial sector, which expects to make a profit by offering recreation opportunities. The chapters in this book are grouped by the type of provider—private (chap. 3, 4, 5), nonprofit (chap. 6, 7), and public (chap. 8, 9,10,11). Chapters 12 to 15 are “cross-sector” topics. These three sectors or types of providers have certain distinguishing characteristics which relate to the recreational programs/services or opportunities each provides. These characteristics, which relate primarily to the delivery system, are the target audience or constituency served, the primary funding source, operational philosophy, nature of leadership, use of promotion, and to whom the provider is responsible. Within the three sectors are subgroups, which also may have distinguishing characteristics (see Table 1). Not all opportunities and services are provided for all people. Some are directed toward persons with special needs, while others are provided only to members of a club or organization. Particularly in the private sector, a service may be marketed to a targeted audience. The operational philosophy will, to a large extent, determine for whom the service is intended. Similarly, the intended recipients of the service will determine the primary funding source, and perhaps vice versa, the funding source may be restrictive in whom may receive certain services. As for promotion or marketing one’s services, sometimes the intended recipients must be sought out or they may be a “captive” audience. In other situations there is active marketing to targeted audiences, trying to entice people to participate in offered services and recreational opportunities. In the different chapters these characteristics will be able to be noted. The leadership also will vary among the three sectors and within a sector’s subgroups. Some providers may use primarily a management and operations team with no direct leadership, while others may have professional leaders in face-to-face leadership roles and also use volunteers. The nature of this leadership is the determinant of professional career opportunities. The career opportunities are set forth in each of the chapters. It is important to understand the characteristics of leadership for the specific provider with which one seeks employment. However, it is not just the provider that must be considered in a career choice. There are three basic interrelated perspectives from which you can explore recreation careers: (1) the provider, which has just been discussed, (2) the program/service, and (3) the population served. The same program/services (recreational activities) may be offered by any of the provider sectors. Activities are not specific or exclusive to any delivery system. Some program/services (activities) tend to be offered more by certain sectors, but usually because of the nature of the service being provided by that sector. For example, opportunities for family camping may be offered by the public sector through provision of campgrounds at state parks, or by the private sector in a commercial campground, or by the nonprofit sector as a family weekend outing at the agency’s camp. Programs (activities) are really modalities to be used in many different settings. The point is that no particular provider has exclusively any particular program/activity. Different providers may offer the same activity through a different “service”; for example, golf may be offered through private club membership (private sector), a public golf course open to all (public sector), or instruction offered by an organization through their youth program (nonprofit sector)—of course, the private or the public sectors also could offer instruction, just to emphasize the cross-sector nature of activities/programs.

1 Table 1 Sector (provider) Characteristics

Everyone in Government Environmental Limited General Elected jurisdiction— funded/user quality for publicity only governing right to fees/taxes use of people body participate Everyone Government Human Limited General Elected funded/user services information governing fees, some only body entitlements Members of Membership Human Yes Limited Membership organization, and user services/ but open to fees, quality of life community donations, United Fund, fund raisers Groups in Donations, Human Yes Extensive Limited Board of need some service services/ Directors fees, quality of life entitlements, UCF Specific User fees Marketing No Yes Financial target and Extensive base- audience individualistic advertising stockholders, $ profit customers, owner Special Patient fees Prescriptive Yes No Hospital populations and administration rehabilitative Employers Company Quality of life No No Company of benefit, Productivity companies employee Health care organization costs Community Members, Specialized No Member Ownership clientele user fees service- recruitment quality of life Students Student Enrichment of No Voluntary Limited Student activity fees; life participation affairs office user club fees Members of Donations, Quality of life Yes No Church church members, governance rentals Inmates Government Human No No Prison funded or services/ structure contract quality of life

2 Recreation in Michigan: Great Professional Opportunities Chapters 12 through 15 are concerned with program areas which are cross-sector. Further, providers should take advantage of the many activity opportunities available, which are within their organizational objectives. So, if a person is interested in a career involving a sport, aquatics, cultural arts, or the outdoors, it is possible to be involved in such a program field in any of the sectors. The third perspective for career consideration is the population served. Some individuals prefer to work with one age group, such as pre-school, elderly, young adults, and for others a program for all ages is fine. There are special populations, such as youth-at-risk, emotionally disturbed, single parents, economically disadvantaged, which individuals find great satisfaction in serving. These individuals seem to have the prerequisite competencies and disposition to be successful. Others prefer to work with ethnic populations or affluent persons. Some of the sectors and subsectors service specific populations, and it is these providers which one would seek out to find a career opportunity. However, after considering the provider and type of leadership, the program/service, and the population in making career choices, people must evaluate their own interests, style, personal goals, philosophy of life, skills and competencies—some will be comfortable and successful in one type of setting and leadership expectation, while other people would not. While there are many aspects of recreation presented in this book, there are still some aspects which have not been included, such as campus recreation, but which are, indeed, viable career opportunities in Michigan.

2 Recreation in Michigan: Great Professional Opportunities