Professional development - National Recreation and Park Association - 1997 NRPA Annual Report - Brief Article

NRPA's Annual Education and Training Congress for Recreation and Parks is the world's largest conference and trade show in the park and recreation profession. Attendees are exposed to more than 300 education sessions and the most recent products and services from more than 450 exhibitors displaying their wares and providing information on the latest products and services in the industry.

In 1996, the NRPA Congress was held in Kansas City, Missouri. More than 4,000 park recreation, and leisure professionals and citizen advocates met in America's heartland for four days of learning, dialogue, exchange, personal and professional growth, and socializing.

Accreditation/Certification/Continuing Education

Professional certification continues to grow, with a total of 5,105 persons boasting current certification in the National Certification Board's data banks Of these, 4,310 are Certified Leisure Professionals, 573 are Certified Leisure Associates, and 222 are Certified Leisure Provisional Professionals. "The Official Study Guide for the Certified Leisure Professional Examination" was released in August, and more than 135 copies were ordered before the document was off the press. In 1996, 324 candidates participated in the National Certification Examination, with an 85 percent success rate.

Through the Council on Accreditation, 95 park and recreation/leisure services programs at colleges and universities have been accredited Two institutions, Texas A&M University and Winston-Salem State (NC) University, have completed requirements for initial certification.

The Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies has accredited 14 park and recreation agencies The town of Gates, New York, and the city of Franklin, Indiana, are in the final stages of accreditation.

In addition to granting more than 7,000 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) at last year's NRPA Congress, some 10,000 hours of CEUs were granted through the various NRPA schools and NRPA-endorsed training programs.

Parks and Recreation: The Benefits are Endless..[TM]

More than 1,000 park and recreation professionals and citizens/board members have participated in NRPA's newest training and marketing program. This program is designed to document and publicize the various environmental, societal, political, and health-related benefits that result from recreational experiences. Through ADvisors Marketing Group, a new publication, publicity kit, and product catalogue have been developed so agencies may have a variety of items to support the Benefits message on a local level. Two studies are being conducted that relate to the Benefits program: Dr. John Crompton, CLP of Texas A&M University is assessing the economic impact of these Benefits, and Dr. Larry Allen of Clemson University is documenting Benefits at a number of pilot sites throughout the United States.

National Playground Safety Institute

The National Playground Safety Institute's (NPSI) program for Certified Playground Safety Inspectors was offered at 24 sites, bringing the total number of certified inspectors to more than 2,000. For 1998, 12 sites have already been established in the United States, and planning is underway for a program in Hong Kong NRPA is currently pursuing the availability of liability insurance coverage for Certified Playground Safety Inspectors.

NRPA Internet Resources

NRPA's Home Page (www.nrpa.org), present on the Internet's World Wide Web since November 1995, has received thousands of visitors Offering public policy news, conference and publication information, and updates, visitors can also obtain information on NRPA's special projects, including "Active Living/Healthy Lifestyles[TM]" and playground safety, as well as updates on each of the Association's professional branches Visitors can access the Parks & Recreation Online Buyer's Guide and link to other park and recreation-related Home Pages through the Related Web Sites section.

NRPAnet, the Association's online information system, is designed to link the park, recreation, conservation, and environmental community worldwide by computer. Accessible via the Internet through the NRPA Home Page, subscribers access several professional data bases, including NRPA's Research Database containing thousands of citations, abstracts, and the National Job Bulletin. NRPA has recently set up the NRPAnet Listserv, which is essentially an Internet mailing list that allows participants to share information via E-mail by addressing the message to one address.

Joseph Lee Memorial Library and Archives

The Joseph Lee Memorial Library and Archives was established in 1988 through a grant from the National Historical Publication and Records Administration. The current collection includes 3,384 volumes of books related to the parks and recreation field, as well as reference materials, 204 volumes of theses, and periodicals produced by NRPA The library is also a unique repository and includes rare archival material from NRPA and its predecessor organizations dating back to 1898.