Recreation In MichiganGreat ProfessionalOpportunitiesEditorsBetty van der SmissenTheodore HaskellII~jJ KENDALL/HUNT PUBLISHING COMPANY0Weatmark Drive Dubuque, Iowa 520021Fayette State Park Boat Harbor, Delta County. (Photo courtesy of Theodore Haskell.)KENDALL/HUNT PUBLISHING COMPANY 4050 Westmark Drive Dubuque, Iowa 52002RECREATION IN MICHIGANGREATPROFESSIONALOPPORTUNITIESMICHIGAN RECREATIONEDUCATORS’ CONSORTIUMBe apart of the future!Enjoy a lifetime of service and adventurethrough professional opportunities inRecreation, Parks, Leisure Services, and Tourism.This book is a publication of the Michigan Recreation Educators’ Consortium. This organization is composed of the faculty ofthe ten higher education institutions in Michigan that offer a baccalaureate degree in recreation, parks, leisure services ortourism. These institutions, their locations and addresses are on the following page. Each has its own unique academic thrust.Write or telephone for further information about this professional field.MIMichiganRecreationEducators’ConsortiumRecreation in MichiganBetty van der SmissenRecreation in Michigan!!When one thinks of recreation in Michigan, many pleasurable thoughts and enjoyable mo ments come to mind.For each person these are unique and meaningful—for some it may be playing in a band or singing in a barbershopquartet, while for others it will be listening to a symphonic concert or a children’s operetta; for others it may beriding in the backcountry on a snowmobile or traversing the countryside on cross-country skis in winter; orswimming in the Great Lakes or sunning on the beach; it may be the exhilaration that comes from the challenge ofadventure sports or the gratification of personal accomplishment of mastering a craft skill; it11may be the socialization while bowling or the competitiveness of a vigorous tennis match. Recreationpursuits, indeed, are as diverse and expansive as individual human needs and interests.The opportunities to engage in recreational pursuits do not just happen—usually they are provided bypublic agencies, by nonprofit organizations, or by private commercial (profit) enterprises. Public agenciesinclude local, state, and national governments. The nonprofit organizations, called the nonprofit sector orsometimes quasi-public organizations, focus on services to people, sometimes human services andsometimes special interests. The third provider is the private-for-profit or commercial sector, which expectsto make a profit by offering recreation opportunities. The chapters in this book are grouped by the type ofprovider—private (chap. 3, 4, 5), nonprofit (chap. 6, 7), and public (chap. 8, 9,10,11). Chapters 12 to 15 are“cross-sector” topics.These three sectors or types of providers have certain distinguishing characteristics which relate to therecreational programs/services or opportunities each provides. These characteristics, which relate primarilyto the delivery system, are the target audience or constituency served, the primary funding source,operational philosophy, nature of leadership, use of promotion, and to whom the provider is responsible.Within the three sectors are subgroups, which also may have distinguishing characteristics (see Table 1).Not all opportunities and services are provided for all people. Some are directed toward persons withspecial needs, while others are provided only to members of a club or organization. Particularly in the privatesector, a service may be marketed to a targeted audience. The operational philosophy will, to a large extent,determine for whom the service is intended. Similarly, the intended recipients of the service will determinethe primary funding source, and perhaps vice versa, the funding source may be restrictive in whom mayreceive certain services. As for promotion or marketing one’s services, sometimes the intended recipientsmust be sought out or they may be a “captive” audience. In other situations there is active marketing totargeted audiences, trying to entice people to participate in offered services and recreational opportunities. Inthe different chapters these characteristics will be able to be noted.The leadership also will vary among the three sectors and within a sector’s subgroups. Some providersmay use primarily a management and operations team with no direct leadership, while others may haveprofessional leaders in face-to-face leadership roles and also use volunteers. The nature of this leadership isthe determinant of professional career opportunities. The career opportunities are set forth in each of thechapters. It is important to understand the characteristics of leadership for the specific provider with whichone seeks employment. However, it is not just the provider that must be considered in a career choice. Thereare three basic interrelated perspectives from which you can explore recreation careers: (1) the provider,which has just been discussed, (2) the program/service, and (3) the population served.The same program/services (recreational activities) may be offered by any of the provider sectors.Activities are not specific or exclusive to any delivery system. Some program/services (activities) tend to beoffered more by certain sectors, but usually because of the nature of the service being provided by that sector.For example, opportunities for family camping may be offered by the public sector through provision ofcampgrounds at state parks, or by the private sector in a commercial campground, or by the nonprofit sectoras a family weekend outing at the agency’s camp. Programs (activities) are really modalities to be used inmany different settings. The point is that no particular provider has exclusively any particularprogram/activity. Different providers may offer the same activity through a different “service”; for example,golf may be offered through private club membership (private sector), a public golf course open to all (publicsector), or instruction offered by an organization through their youth program (nonprofit sector)—of course,the private or the public sectors also could offer instruction, just to emphasize the cross-sector nature ofactivities/programs.2 Recreation in Michigan: Great Professional Opportunities2 Recreation in Michigan: Great Professional OpportunitiesTable 1Sector (provider) Characteristics2