As the new Director of the eight state National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Great Lakes Region, I am pleased to have the opportunity to bring NRPA news to you through the Illinois Parks and Recreation magazine.

The park and recreation movement is rapidly gathering its forces at all levels. Our professionals are increasing in numbers and are better qualified than ever before. More and more lay leaders are becoming actively involved and adding momentum to the movement. The general public is becoming more leisure conscious and government has exerted greater support of programs and services. Your national organization—the NRPA—will continue to demonstrate strong leadership in molding and advancing the park and recreation movement. We have adopted goals to: 1) promote public awareness of, and support for, the value of recreation and parks in the lives of individuals, and 2) provide services that contribute to the development of NRPA members both professional and lay.

With this in mind, I would like to share with you some highlights of the work of your national association.

LEGISLATION

NRPA continues to monitor legislation related to parks, recreation and leisure. Within recent months, NRPA has presented testimony or taken an advocacy position on such important issues as the Welfare Reform Act, Air Quality, Land and Water Conservation Fund appropriations ($725 million), and Clean Water Act. NRPA has offered input for the BOR study. (Effective January 23, BOR is now referred to as Heritage Conservation and Recreation Services.) NRPA prepared and presented a statement on HR 9030 for the Welfare Reform Act. Of the 1.4 million jobs, 400,000 are potentially targeted for recreation-related functions. I would encourage all professionals to subscribe to the Washington Action Report, a biweekly publication to keep you informed of legislation which does affect local and state park/recreation agencies.

ACCREDITATION

Accreditation of park and recreation programs at the baccalaureate and masters degree levels is now a reality following twenty-five years of effort. Accreditation is designed to assure high quality education programs in developing competencies required of our graduates and future practitioners. The program is administered by the Council on Accreditation which is sponsored by NRPA in cooperation with the American Association for Leisure and Recreation. Currently, over 20 colleges and universities have applied for accreditation. The Council, through the Society of Park and Recreation Educators (SPRE), is beginning the process of developing accreditation standards for two-year, associate degree programs.

MEMBERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Greater attention has been given to membership development in recent months. Without national staff working in concert with members from branches, regions and states, our statistics reflect a membership increase of over 3,000 in four months.

Plans are currently being formulated for a more highly concentrated and far-reaching membership recruitment and retention program for Fiscal Year 1978-79. In preparation for the program, as Regional Director, I am in the process of identifying an NRPA membership chairman in each respective state of the Great Lakes Region.

Presently, the Great Lakes Region represents approximately 30% of the total NRPA membership.

REGISTRATION/ CERTIFICATION

Tied closely to standards of academic preparation (accreditation) is the concept of registration/certification. NRPA, through its National Registration Board, has developed a Voluntary Model Registration Plan which sets standards that must be in State/NRPA Branch plans for "Professional" and "Technician" level recognition. The "Professional" must now have a minimum of baccalaureate degree, and a strong preference is given to park/recreation graduates. To date 26 registration plans have been approved by the NRPA Registration Board. The National Therapeutic Recreation Society (NTRS), a branch of NRPA also has a registration program with some 2,000 registered. Increasingly, the NTRS registration is a therapeutic recreation job requirement.

The NRPA National Registration Board is evaluating a number of potential future programs including the development of national registration and examinations, continuing education as a requirement for retention of registration status and others.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

The National Congress, regional conferences, special workshops, forums and institutes, the Maintenance Management School, two Revenue Sources Management Schools, the Arts Management School, the Public Safety School and two Executive Development Institutes are a few of the continuing education programs that are now being provided under the auspices of NRPA. Annually NRPA publishes a calendar of training programs, including state conferences and other specialized continuing education opportunities.

The Great Lakes Regional Office is planning to become more involved in state and regional forums, seminars and institues. What are your interests? In addition, what are your preferences for a regional conference? Should there be a regional conference? If your response is favorable, what should be the focus of a regional conference?

Illinois Parks and Recreation 24 May/June, 1978

PERSONNEL SERVICES

NRPA is currently involved in a large number of employment and career services projects. For example, publication of a bi-monthly National Job Bulletin market to 2,700 individual NRPA members;

publication of the EMPLOY newsletter designed to assist individuals in their own job search and operation of the National Congress job mart. There are 800 individuals and 70 colleges subscribing to EMPLOY.

NRPA worked with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and was successful in getting major revisions in the nationally-recognized "Occupational Outlook Handbook" publication.

NRPA has also produced a publication on employment in the public sector by Drs. Don Henkel (NRPA Director of Professional Services) and Geoff Godbey of Pennsylvania State University. The publication analyzes results of a recent nationwide manpower study.

1978 GREATER MIAMI CONGRESS FOR RECREATION AND PARKS

Mark your calendars now. Plans are well advanced for the 1978 Congress scheduled from Saturday, October 14 through Wednesday, October 18. During the five-day period, hundreds of educational programs will be held including General Sessions, On-Site and NRPA Branch Institutes. Special emphasis is being planned in park maintenance programming.

PUBLICATIONS

Regular publications include Parks and Recreation, a monthly magazine; the Journal of Leisure Research, a professional quarterly; Therapeutic Recreation Journal, also a professional quarterly; Washington Action Report and Park Practice Program.

In the near future, you can expect accelerated and greater emphasis on publications. This has been a major concern of John Davis, Executive Director of NRPA. With the addition of a rcently-purchased automatic collater, the print shop on the 10th floor of NRPA headquarters will have the capabilities to print almost anything in-house. It is the NRPA's plan to begin immediately to prepare, produce and disseminate technical publications of various kinds, including Management Aids.

RESEARCH

NRPA continues to be heavily involved in the research area and recently had $500,000 grant approved to continue work on the Energy Project. Numerous other projects are in various stages of development.

VISIBILITY

NRPA is currently producing a 30-minute color film which will be available in the spring. A slide/tape presentation is also in production which will be utilized to establish citizen advocates for NRPA across the country.

NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD HALL OF FAME

The Track & Field Program will be coordinated through the Regional Office working in concert with the state associations. Mr. Mert Taylor, Superintendent of Recreation for the Arlington Heights Park District, has agreed to be the Great Lakes Regional Coordinator. The primary responsibility for the actual conduct of the program will rest on the shoulders of the states. Each state will be allocated funds supplied by the Hershey Corporation to cover all expenses for the program. Additional funds have also been made available to NRPA to cover administrative costs.

Although a national meet is scheduled, regional finals will not be conducted in 1978. All states, however, will have participants represented at the national meet.

The program is proposed to be conducted in all 50 states with an anticipated participation of more than two million boys and girls, ages 10 through 15.

PITCH, HIT & RUN

Landau & Associates submitted their plans for the implementation of the 1978 program. The newly-adopted proposal spells out the dual registration agreement in the following manner: prospective participants will be informed through advertising and promotion that they may enter the Pitch, Hit & Run Program by picking up an official registration form at participating Thorn McAn stores or dealers, major league ball parks, minor league ball parks, and at participating recreation and park departments. The registration form must be signed by a parent or legal guardian and returned to a participating Thorn McAn store or dealer for validation and submission into the official Pitch, Hit & Run entry box. No purchase is necessary to officially enter the program.

Provisions of NRPA's contract for the Pitch, Hit & Run Program provide for two full-time staff members in the national office to coordinate the program and a new national WATS line to be used in conjunction with the program as well as association business. Funds have also been allocated to the five regional offices for the Regional Directors to employ personnel. Nancy Belliveau, a recent graduate from the masters degree program in Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Ohio State University, has been hired as the Great Lakes Regional Coordinator for Pitch, Hit & Run.

Competition begins with local competition sites which will be based on 1,500 Thorn McAn stores and dealers. The district competitions will be the next step in the competition process, and these competitions have been increased from the 60 which were held in 1977 to approximately 100 for this year. Following participation at the district level, the 9-through 12-year-old winners will advance to the division level of competition. Division competitions will be conducted in 13 major league ball parks. The finals of the 1978 Pitch, Hit & Run Competition will be held on July 11, 1978 in San Diego, California, at the All-Star Game.

INTERNSHIP/ FIELD WORK PROGRAMS

NRPA is increasingly utilizing park and recreation field work students at its central office as well as regional offices. SPRE has spearheaded an association-wide effort to develop field work standards and guidelines which could possibly be incorporated into accreditation standards.

Please contact the Regional Director if you are interested in employing a student through the NRPA Internship Program.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 25 May/June, 1978