RECR 151 - Syllabus

• Semester Credit Hours: 2 hours

• Course Description: The demands placed on parks agencies is outpacing the resources provided from traditional tax supported revenue sources. Park and recreation administrators are being challenged to find non-traditional revenue sources to meet the demands. This course will identify and explore creative and innovative ways that successful parks systems are meeting the challenge of "doing more with less."

• Course Prerequisites/Co-requisites: {Course Prerequisites and Co-requisites Go Here}

The overall course goals are:

1. To identify and discuss traditional methods of acquiring parks and leisure facilities.

2. To identify the types of budgets used by parks and recreation agencies.

3. To discuss the benefits and values of am effective park system.

4. To discuss the pros and cons of privatization.

5. To identify the benefits that volunteers bring to a park agency.

The topics covered in this course include:

• Foundations of financing and acquisition
• Emergence of park and recreation managers as entrepreneur
• Property taxes, sales taxes and bonds
• Capital funding mechanisms
• Budget processes
• Types of operating budgets
• Budget preparation
• Alleviating social problems
• Privatization and partnerships
• Contracting of service
• Support from volunteers
• Sponsorships
• Supportive roles of foundations

Rationale for the course: This course will acquaint students with solutions used by successful park and recreation administrators in meeting the ever increasing demands for quality leisure facilities and programs, while dealing with the continuous decline of tax supported revenue.

Assignments and Tests	Point Value
Posting Personal Biography	10
Discussions	30
Read /Discuss - Chapter	100
Mid & Final Exams	100
Total Points	240

Final Points	Letter Grade
230 - 240	A
220 - 229	A-
210 - 219	B+
200 - 209	B
190 - 199	B-
180 - 189	C+
170 - 179	C
160 - 169	C-
150 - 159	D+
140-149	D
130-139	D-
Below- 129	F

Additional Requirements: This class includes field and Internet research.

Grading Policy: Grades are based on accumulated point total.

Attendance Policy: Students are expected to contribute to post at least one message per week to be in compliance with the attendance requirement. Attendance is taken electronically.

Required Text:

• Crompton, John L., Financing and Acquiring Park and Recreation Resources. Human Kinetics: Champaign, IL 1999

Special procedures:

Participation means posting notes in the main discussion board to which everyone has access. Posting elsewhere does not count toward overall participation in the course. Students are expected to contribute to the class discussion in a sustantative way. Full credit for discussion is earned by posting at least three (3) messages, including assignments, on four (4) days out of seven (7) days each week .Responses to discussion questions and your weekly summary are part of the participation evaluation. In responding to questions or providing information, you should explain your point of view and offer examples of its application.

Late Assignments:

The deadline for assignments is midnight of the due date. Late assignment will be accepted up to two (2) days after the deadline. Ten (10) % per day will be automatically be deducted for lateness.

Here are some tips you should follow which will help you to succeed in this course:

• Set aside a specific time each week to work on this course. The estimated amount of time you should spend is 15 hours/week
• Keep in touch with me and your classmates by frequently checking your course e-mail, discussion board, and calendar. This will help build a sense of community among us. Using the various communications tools provided in this course effectively is the same as "raising your hand" and participating in class discussions.
• Be aware of the time lag that is inherent in most on-line courses. Although the communications tools make it appear that the transfer of information such as assignments is "instantaneous", it does not mean that the reply will be instantaneous. One of the hardest things about an on-line course is becoming comfortable with its asynchronous nature. In general, expect assignments to be returned within five to seven business days (this excludes weekends and holidays) .
• Familiarize yourself with published deadlines.
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Remember that there are traditional ways for keeping in touch. Use the telephone, fax, or email.
• Work off-line and save your assignments on your computer before submitting them electronically. You can use the saved version of your work to copy and paste to an on-line assignment or you can attach the saved file to an e-mail or bulletin board message. This will prevent a lot of frustration should your Internet connection or your system "fail".
• Be sure you check the course syllabus and other course material for instructions on how to submit assignments. In many cases your instructor will specify that you submit your assignments using a specific file format. If your instructor does not specify a particular format for text documents, it is suggested that you save your files in Rich Text Format (.rtf format). This will minimize the potential for inadvertently transmitting computer viruses.
• Be sure to install anti-virus software on your local system and check all downloaded files before opening them.

Feedback on all graded assignments will be sent to your mailbox within seven (7) days of receipt.