EYE ON THE PROFESSION

A CLOSER LOOK AT TRENDS AND ISSUES
IN THE PARK AND RECREATION PROFESSION

Continuing Ed Is Crucial in the Information Age

William J. M. Wald, CPRP IPRA Executive Director When economic times are challenging and downsizing occurs, many businesses actually increase their existing training expenditures to provide their remaining employees with necessary skills.

When you look back on your life, I'll bet you can remember the time when you couldn't wait to be out of school for summer break. The last weeks of school seemed endless. At the end of summer, you dreaded going back, while your parents just couldn't wait for the first day of school.

Entering college, you enjoyed the freedom of elective classes and worked hard to ensure that your choice to enter parks and recreation—or business, marketing, communications, sports management, etcetera—was one that brought you satisfaction for the rest of your life. Then came graduation, the sigh of relief that 16 (or more) years of education had finally come to an end and you were ready for the work force. But, did it really end?

Not really. Education never ends.

By now, most of us have enough experience to realize that the years of learning in traditional schools were only the beginning of a lifelong education process. We come to understand that we have much to learn, even in the workplace.

Continuing education is a vital and important part of your job today, but also for the future. It is imperative that, as professionals, we realize that it is important for us to continue to educate ourselves for the betterment of our agencies and, more importantly, for our own personal and professional growth. Employers value professionals who want to better themselves and bring new ideas to their agency. Professionals will succeed if they cultivate an expansive desire to discover trends in the field and strive to become educated on the new emerging work force. Many, if not all, employers consider continuing education as a factor in determining hiring or job advancement.

Participation in adult continuing education is prevalent and has been increasing steadily, according to a report by the Education Statistics Service Institute of the U.S. Department of Education. The findings of this study indicate that approximately one-third of adults take part in educational activities, and 12 percent participate in two or more types of educational activities. Study respondents were most likely to participate in work-related and personal development courses. Further, participation increased with the respondent's level of education. Sixty-two percent of respondents with a college degree, associates degree or vocational and technical training attended more continuing education either through their workplace, college or university.

Within the business community, continuing education and training is viewed as a necessary and important aspect of "growing" quality employees. The business community commits far greater funds to this area than local government entities. When economic times are challenging and downsizing occurs, many businesses actually increase their existing training expenditures to provide their remaining employees with necessary skills. On the other hand, when local government budgets need trimming, many times funding for training is the first to go. Local governmental agencies need to look upon continuing education and training as the business community does. The education/training line item is essential to help employees enhance the agency's operations.

Maximize the State Conference

With the upcoming 2002 IAPD/IPRA Annual Conference, a park and recreation agency employee has the opportunity to discover new ideas and trends and to share with co-workers. There are many things you can do to share new information after a continuing education experience.

• While attending sessions or workshops, write notes on what you are learning.

• Think about others in your agency or department who might benefit from what is being discussed in your session or workshop and share those notes with these individuals. Don't forget to send a copy to your supervisor!

• Take back to your agency what you learned and share it with others in a staff meeting. Or, have your supervisor set a special meeting after the conference to discuss what you learned from the workshops you attended.

• Have an open mind. A new idea may be one that boosts your career.

8 ¦ Illinois Parks and Recreation

CONTINUING EDUCATION IS CRUCIAL IN THE INFORMATION AGE

• Ideas are not just for one agency size. Great ideas often can be retrofitted to almost any size agency in varying circumstances.

• Keep your notes! Better yet, attach your notes to a file that you will be working on in the future to remind you of what you learned.

• Breakup sessions and workshops among you and your co-workers to expand your horizons. This will enable any size agency to maximize the benefit of its employees' learning experiences.

• Network! The best learning experiences happen through networking. You never know what you will learn from formal and informal discussions with others. Providing opportunities for this type of interaction is a fundamental part of an association's purpose and, at IPRA, our members are our greatest resource.

We're living in an information age in which knowledge can be equated to a bank account. You need to make ongoing deposits for your account to grow. Likewise, the experience of continuing your education ensures your personal and professional growth. Your growth as a professional and as an information resource is good for your agency, too.

Share what you have learned, over and over again. Apply what you've learned to bring good ideas to life. And remember, ignorance rarely is bliss.

Don't Miss the IAPD/IPRA Annual Conference When: Jan. 24-26, 2002 Where: Hyatt Regency Chicago Deadlines: Dec. 20, 2001: Registration due for "Early Bird" Dec. 27, 2001: Registration due for Pre-conference Workshops Jan. 1, 2002: Cut-off for hotel reservations

Ron Hallberg ends a 33-year career in parks and recreation when he retires from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources this December. For the past 12 years, he has served as the manager of the DNR grants division, which awarded more than $41 million and co-managed an additional $15 million in grant funds in 2000. The Last Word The third in a series of reflections from retiring park and recreation professionals As one prepares to take his Parthian shot—after serving in one of the most rewarding career fields—a few positives and a few negatives come immediately to mind. Of course, the people we serve and work with are the root of the most rewarding events and also the most difficult challenges. One remembers the strong personalities encountered with a special nostalgia. How else would one get to meet such nice Illinois State Police investigators if an individual in western Illinois had not objected to us providing grant funds to a park project in his town? Or to meet such pleasant auditors from the Auditor General's office because of complaints from the same individual? Of course, it was also a pleasure to be invited earlier this summer to this same community to help dedicate a park. For one's peace of mind, not all citizens will report you to the State Police or Auditor Generals office for the offense of selecting their park district for assistance. In fact, those are in the distinct minority. A much greater percentage of our park and recreation partners will go out of their way to welcome us to their planned parks, natural areas or sports complexes. Often, the welcome is more than a grant administrator can handle. One can only eat so many lunches, and I think I personally have enough rain checks for lunch to last the rest of my life. This is, if the offers extend into retirement. People in the profession have been, in general, a joy to work with. Examples come easily to mind. There was the former boss who loudly chewed on me publicly in a restaurant in a small southern Illinois town but who also saved my job more than once. More recently, a number of park district directors and board members have become friends even after we refused funding for a particular grant project. Fortunately, the DNR staffs I've worked with over the years have been great. We often have disagreed over methods but in those opportunities we had to work as a team, it became clear that the results gained by the whole were clearly superior to those gained by each of us working separately. Thirty-three years ago, as I was beginning my career in parks and recreation, the country was experiencing similar events. On one hand, there was a strong movement to finance exciting new projects with federal funds. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery (UPARR) programs had just been approved by Congress. On the other hand, the country was entering a war. Now we see the revitalization of the same LWCF and UPARR programs and even more important state initiatives. Unfortunately, we are again at war. For the field, this suggests great opportunities or, as happened in the 1970s and 1980s, difficult economic times with negative impacts on parks and recreation. Our field does not suffer war well. For people entering the field, I offer the mixed prophesy that "this (whatever the current situation) too shall pass." A young person with 30 or so years of work in the field ahead will have both the opportunity to see great works and to suffer through rough times. If you can survive without high blood pressure and Prozac, you're a better man (or woman) than I.

November/December 2001 ¦ 9