Students help young campers prepare to use Ithaca's climbing wall.
Recreation is an important social, cultural, and economic force that influences well-being and quality of life. Recreation managers work in a wide variety of venues -- from public parks and recreation agencies to private for-profit recreation businesses such as clubs, resorts, and ski areas -- to help promote personal growth, fitness, and wellness through recreation and to provide healthy leisure choices.
As a recreation management major, you will study management, administration, and leadership theory in the classroom and apply it in a number of hands-on learning experiences that include two 120-hour, service-learning placements at local community agencies. Working with an agency supervisor, you will gain valuable firsthand experience in the design and implementation of recreation programs and with such issues as program management, staff supervision, budgeting, and public relations.
This combination of theory and experiential learning will also be put to the test as you participate in a required semester-long internship. You will have multiple opportunities to choose from: resorts in the Florida Keys, summer camps in New England, YMCAs, cruise ships, municipal recreation departments, and private health clubs are all recent internship sites for our students.
Our recreation management program will prepare you for a rewarding career in public parks and recreation, youth services, leadership development, commercial recreation, tourism, or hospitality. As Americans spend more and more time working at desk jobs and get less physical exercise during their daily lives, organized recreational activities become more necessary. The demand for trained recreation managers, therefore, is constantly growing.