Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies

Main Page Content

Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies

23 Hartwell Hall
(585) 395-2994

Chairperson and Associate Professor: Joel Frater; Assistant Professor: So-Yun Lee; Lecturers: Arthur Graham, CPRP, Nancy Vander Molen, CTRS; Adjunct Lecturers: Nancy Ballaron, Amanda Brown, Kirt Compton, Brian Emelson, Tonya Griffin, Scott Haines, CPRP; Colleen Tuffy; Professor Emeritus: David Jewell.

• Requirements
• Recreation Managment Emphasis
• Therapeutic Recreation Emphasis
• Courses

Recreation and leisure is one of the most exciting and diverse human service professions. The field provides opportunities to work with all types of people in a variety of settings, addressing the potential and problems of leisure in modern society. Students studying Recreation Management will qualify for employment in a variety of settings including military, public, private, campus, commercial, tourism, and corporate-sector recreation. Students studying Therapeutic Recreation will qualify for employment in clinical, transitional, juvenile and community settings, such as hospitals; nursing homes; schools or residential centers; treatment centers; centers for physical medicine and rehabilitation; psychiatric institutions; and public, private and volunteer agencies. The Management and Therapeutic Recreation emphases provide students with academic and experiential opportunities that foster an exciting undergraduate experience and a challenging professional opportunity.

The Recreation and Leisure Studies faculty has a professional obligation to deny admission or continuation in the program to any student whose level of performance and/or personal characteristics do not adequately meet academic, professional or ethical standards.

All students majoring in Recreation and Leisure Studies must earn a grade of “C” or better in REL core courses and the REL emphasis courses in order to satisfactorily complete the REL major and to be eligible for REL 403: Practicum. Also, only courses for which a grade of “C” or better was earned will be considered for transfer into the program towards satisfaction of the major requirements.

All students must be certified in CPR, AED and First Aid during the period they are to be performing their REL 403 internship.
All students must take the New York State Child Abuse Reporter Training. This is normally offered in REL 402.
Students changing majors to REL must possess at least a 2.00 GPA.

Major in Recreation and Leisure Studies

To complete the major in Recreation and Leisure Studies, students must complete 25.5 credits of core course work, 15 credits in an emphasis (either Recreation Management or Therapeutic Recreation), 18 credits of guided electives, and a 15-credit practicum experience.
Specific requirements are as follows:

Recreation Management Emphasis (15 credits)
The Recreation Management emphasis prepares students for professional positions in the public and nonprofit sectors, corporate and commercial recreation settings, and resort and tourism management. Students pursuing this emphasis must complete 15 credits from the following course list:

Students with an emphasis in Recreation Management must take a minimum of 18 credits in Guided Electives. Note: This is not a comprehensive list, other courses may be substituted with the permission of your academic advisor.

GROUP I: Management Skills (maximum 6 credits permitted)

• BUS 317 Intro to Management Information Systems (Prerequisite BUS 280, 285 or instructor's permission)
• BUS 345 International Business Environment
• BUS 365 Principles of Management
• BUS 375 Business Law I
• BUS 439 Retail Management (prerequisite BUS 335)
• CMC 314 Small Group Communication
• CMC 316 Interpersonal Communication in Business and the Professions

GROUP II: Communications Skills (maximum 6 credits permitted)

• CMC 201 Public Speaking
• CMC 224 News Writing and Reporting
• CMC 312 Argumentation and Debate
• CMC 317 Interviewing
• CMC 332 Public Relations Principles (prerequisite CMC 262 or instructor's permission
• CMC 415 Public Communication in Administration, Business & the Professions (prerequisite CMC 316)
• EDC 418 Conferencing Skills
• ENL 308 Business Writing

GROUP III: Marketing Skills (maximum 6 credits permitted)

• BUS 335 Principles of Marketing
• BUS 432 Sales Management (prerequisite BUS 335)
• BUS 433 International Marketing (prerequisite BUS 335)
• BUS 434 Direct Marketing (prerequisite BUS 335)
• BUS 435 Consumer Behavior (prerequisite BUS 335)
• BUS 437 Promotional Policy (prerequisite BUS 335 & 435)
• CMC 219 Advertising, Mass Persuasion & the Consumer

GROUP IV: Analytical Skills (must take one)

• ECN 204 Introduction to Statistics
• MTH 243 Elementary Statistics
• PLS 300 Political Statistics
• PSH 202 Introductory Statistics for Psychology
• SOC 200 Social Statistics

GROUP V: Accounting and Finance (maximum 3 credits permitted)

• ACC 281 Fundamental Accounting I
• ACC 282 Fundamental Accounting II (prerequisite ACC 285)
• BUS 316 Introduction to Operations Research
• ENC 202 Principles of Economics-Macro
• ACC 489 Accounting for Non-profit Entities

GROUP VI: Wellness Issues (maximum 3 credits permitted)

• HLS 301 Health Behaviors and Wellness
• HLS 311 Nutrition
• HLS 409 Introduction to Psychoactive Substance Use & Abuse
• HLS 418 Alcohol Use and Abuse
• HLS 426 HIV/AIDS: Issues and Implications
• HLS 470 Health Implications of Stress

GROUP VII: Issues of the Human Life Cycle (maximum 6 credits permitted)

• EDC 301 Introduction to Counseling
• HLS 306 Contemporary Issues in Health
• SWO 376 Gerontology
• REL 372 Child Abuse (be aware of the 54 hour rule)
• REL 406 Leisure and Aging (be aware of the 54 hour rule)

GROUP VIII: Miscellaneous Issues Relating to Recreation and Leisure (maximum 6 credits permitted)

• SWO 379 People with Disability: Issues, Legislation, Intervention
• PLS 312 Public Administration
• PLS 318 State and Local Government
• PLS 435 Legal Rights of the Disadvantaged (cross-listed: AAS 435 & WMS 435)
• CRJ 343 Juvenile Justice Process (instructor's permission)
• CRJ 431 Crime Prevention (instructor's permission)
• CRJ 477 Family Violence (prerequisites: Intro Sociology & Psychology)
• CRJ 479 Victimology (cross-listed as WMS 479, at least junior status)
• CRJ 481 Women and Criminal Justice (cross-listed as WMS 481)
• CRJ 485 Issues in Juvenile Justice (prerequisite CRJ 343 or instructor's permission)
• SOC 352 Sociology of Work (prerequisite any lower division sociology course

GROUP IX: Leisure in Society (maximum 3 credits permitted)

• ANT 301 Native Americans
• ANT 321 Culture Change
• ANT 331 Latinos in the USA
• ANT 342 Native American Culture History
• AAS 310 Urban Black Politics
• AAS 314 The Black Family (cross-listed as SOC 314)
• AAS 332 Urban Economic Problems
• AAS 370 Leadership Development I (cross-listed as EDI 370)
• AAS 371 Leadership Development II (cross-listed as EDI 371)
• AAS 428 Racial & Ethnic Relations (cross-listed as SOC 428)
• FCE 375 Latin-American Women
• FCE 420 Multiculturalism in the USA
• HST 387 Asian Survey
• SOC 304 Urban Sociology
• SOC 306 Social Change in the Third World
• SWO 321 Cultural Diversity
• WMS 315 Contemporary Black Women (cross-listed AAS 315)

Therapeutic Recreation Emphasis (15 credits)
The Therapeutic Recreation emphasis prepares students for positions as therapeutic recreation specialists in clinical, transitional and community settings. Students pursuing this emphasis must complete the following five courses:

Students electing Therapeutic Recreation as their emphasis must be aware that this program is constructed so that students are eligible to sit for the professional certification examination after graduation. Therefore, nine credits of guided electives are prescribed (BIO 221 or BIO 321, PSH 334 and PRO 204). Additionally, all recreation and leisure studies majors must take an approved statistics course.

Students in the Therapeutic Recreation emphasis are permitted to select only six credits of 18 required elective credits. Further, it is required that students take the emphasis courses in a prescribed sequence. Students are required to take REL 305 as a prerequisite or corequisite for any other REL course work in Therapeutic Recreation.

Guided Electives for Therapeutic Recreation (minimum of 18 credits). Students must complete at least one course from Groups I (Anatomy and Physiology) and II (Statistics), both courses in Group III, and two courses from Groups IV, V and VI (total of 19 credits).

GROUP I: Biological/Physical Sciences (one course required)

• BIO 221 Survey of Anatomy and Physiology
• BIO 321 Survey of Anatomy and Physiology

GROUP II: Analytical Skills (one course required)

• ECN 204 Introduction to Statistics
• MTH 243 Elementary Statistics
• PLS 300 Political Statistics
• PSH 202 Introductory Statistics for Psychology
• SOC 200 Social Statistics

GROUP III: Psychology (Required)

• PRO 204 Developmental Assessment
• PSH 384 Child Psychology

Optional

• PSH 332 Social Psychology
• PSH 436 Psychology of Aging
• PSH 484 Adolescence
• PSH 486 Psychological Disorders of Children

Note: All psychology courses require a prerequisite of either PSH 110 or 112.

TWO COURSES FROM THE FOLLOWING FOUR GROUPS.

GROUP IV: Human Services

• ANT 313 Culture and Disability
• EDC 301 Introduction to Counseling
• HLS 306 Contemporary Issues in Health
• HLS 402 Women's Health
• SWO 379 People with Disability: Issues, Legislation, and Intervention
• PLS 435 Legal Rights of the Disadvantaged
• REL 406 Leisure and Aging (be aware of the 54 hour rule)

GROUP V: Health-related Issues

• HLS 311 Nutrition
• HLS 402 Women's Health
• HLS 409 Introduction to Psychoactive Substance Use & Abuse
• HLS 418 Alcohol Use and Abuse
• HLS 426 HIV/AIDS: Issues and Implications
• HLS 470 Health Implications of Stress
• REL 372 Child Abuse (be aware of the 54-hour rule)

GROUP VI: Sociology

• SOC 300 Sociological Theory
• SOC 317 Prejudice, Personality and Culture
• SOC 331 Sociology of Mental Illness
• SOC 361 Sociology of Sex, Marriage and the Family
• SOC 371 Deviant Behavior
• SOC 372 Criminology
• SOC 428 Racial and Ethnic Relations
• SOC 465 Sociology of Aging

GROUP VII: Miscellaneous Courses that Support NCTRC Requirements

• BIO 281 Elements of Human Biology (A)
• CMC 273 Interpersonal Communication (A)
• CMC 314 Small Group Communication (A)
• EDI 325 Understanding the Exceptional Learner (A)
• PES 325 Kinesiological Bases for Exercise and Sport (A)
• PES 413 Human Growth and Development (A)
• PES 445 Adapted Physical Education (A)
• PES 461 Theories of Play (A)
• SWO 376 Gerontology (A)

Practicum Experience Requirement (15 credits)
All students majoring in recreation and leisure studies must complete a practicum experience. The practicum is usually completed during the fall or spring semester of the senior year: REL 403 Practicum (prerequisite: REL 307 for 200 clock hours or 15 credits; REL 307 for 180 hours combined with PRO 421-426, totaling 200 clock hours.)

Minor in Recreation and Leisure Studies
The minor in recreation and leisure studies is designed for the student whose work is likely to call for understanding of and skill in coping with leisure and recreational implications of extended life expectancies, retirement, the needs of citizens with disabilities, high technology, and the changing family structure.

NOTE: Courses taken on a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory basis may not count toward completion of the minor.

Recreation and Leisure Courses