2.05.03

Evidence of Compliance:

The metrics used in the Program Review and Assessment of institutional learning objectives are in addition to the student learning outcomes the department has identified as addressing the COAPRT 7.0 series standards. The Program Review and Assessment metrics are described here, with the COAPRT 7.0 series standards described in section 7.0 below.

The Program Review and Assessment measurements include

Student success and professional leadership

Critique: In order for students to be fully prepared and successful in the job market after graduation, the faculty determined the students should each develop a professional portfolio highlighting his or her academic skills and awards. Based on this, students enrolled in the REC 480 course are required to complete a professional portfolio which consists of a resume, cover letter, personal awards/honors, and a culmination of all major assignments and academic work that is relevant to the recreation industry. The student is graded based on completeness as well as usefulness in obtaining a job based on the materials provided. The Department expects to see 75% of the students obtaining an 80% or better on this assignment at the end of each semester.

Written communication skills

In order for a student to be competent and competitive in the job market, effective communication skills in both spoken and written forms must be evident prior to graduation. The Department has determined that written communication skills can be assessed through assignments in two capstone courses in the REC major, REC 480: Philosophy of Recreation and Leisure, and REC 451: Management of Therapeutic Recreation Services and the student internship, REC 498.

In the REC 480 capstone course, students are required to write a philosophy paper defining their personal philosophy of recreation, leisure and play. The Department expects, for this assignment, that 70% of the students will receive an 80% or better.

In the REC 451 course, Therapeutic Recreation (TR) students are required to complete and verbally present a project/paper that defines the profession of Therapeutic Recreation and practice perspectives based on a policy and procedure manual. After the students papers/projects are graded by the course instructor, the manuals are shared with the TR faculty for review and feedback. The Department expects to see that 80% of the student receive an 80% or better on this assignment.

In REC 498, the students are expected to complete a 400 hour internship (600 for RT) in a recreation-based program/service. Each student is expected to provide feedback to a faculty supervisor each semester in the form of bi-weekly reports, a mid-term and final evaluation and other special reports. Faculty supervisors read each report and meet with students/agency supervisors for feedback. The Department expects to see 80% of the students obtaining a grade of “B” or better on all of their assignments based on the grading scale used as described in the Internship Manual. Each faculty supervisor will provide the Department with a grid showing each student’s scores on all areas for each semester.

Eligibility for state and national professional certification in Therapeutic Recreation

All students who declare Therapeutic Recreation as a certificate, either in conjunction with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or a stand-alone certificate, will be eligible to sit for both the state and/national certification exams at the completion of their academic programs. The Therapeutic Recreation Certificate Coordinator will do an annual review of all TR students (in REC 451 the capstone TR course) who are eligible to graduate via the certificate program checklist and verification form. Expected goals include 95% of TR students will be eligible upon completion of their program. In addition, the coordinator will continually monitor industry standards and requirements to assure the curriculum is up to date and meets the standard qualifications for students to be eligible to sit for both exams.

Information competency

In REC 498, all students are evaluated by their site supervisor at the end of their internships, assessing their competencies of knowledge based on the Recreation and Leisure Studies curriculum. Site supervisors fill out an evaluation and send it in to the internship supervisor with the student’s final performance evaluation. Overall scores of competency are reviewed annually by the Department Chair and reported in the annual Accreditation report for the Department. Areas of concern are identified and faculty, at the annual fall retreat, will discuss and determine changes and modifications to the curriculum to enhance student competencies.