ACADEMICS
Academic Values
Accessibility & Inclusion
Accessibility and inclusion are covered extensively in the recreation curriculum at Dalhousie. While my initial interest in the recreation management program revolved around competitive sport, my studies at Dal shifted my focus from wanting to coordinate quality events and programs, to wanting to make sure all persons no matter their ability or financial background, have access to quality recreation services.
Strategy Analysis
The Recreation Management program offers a unique blend of learning with support from the faculty of recreation and faculty of management at Dalhousie. This combination has given me the ability to view strategic problems through both an operational lens and one that prioritizes the overall vision of those I work with.
Leadership & Team Dynamics
The focus on leadership throughout my studies has allowed me to identify my own leadership style and qualities. I thoroughly believe that effective leadership equips others to become leaders themselves. Managing staff means giving them the tools they need to do their job in the way that lets them be most effective as an individual, rather than creating a mold that all staff must fit into.
Interprofessional Leadership
All health-related programs at Dalhousie University require students to earn Interprofessional Health Education (IPHE) credits throughout their degree. These credits may be earned through workshops, online courses, or additional class requirements. The IPHE program is meant to promote interdisciplinary collaboration among health practitioners. Having noted a need for further understanding of leisure's role in healthcare, I created an IPHE workshop. For more details check out the Involvement & Special Projects page.
Leisure Theory
With extensive study of leisure theory, and a multitude of definitions that may used depending on one's perspective, this is a diagram of how I tend to describe leisure and its components.
Leisure
As a state of mind. Leisure experiences can happen outside of recreation or its associated activities, but not all activities bring the same sense of leisure to every participant.
Recreation
For this purpose, recreation is activity-based, meaning you are doing something specific or with intention.
Play
Play can happen anywhere, but as it is spontaneous and free of choice, it is always within a leisure state of mind.
Non-Physical
Activities
These activities may include arts or music, passive or deviant leisure. They may or may not be considered leisure experiences or recreational activities depending on whether someone is enjoying themselves or in a competitive or paid/professional environment.
Physical Activities
These activities may include arts or music, passive or deviant leisure. They may or may not be considered leisure experiences or recreational activities depending on whether someone is enjoying themselves or in a competitive or paid/professional environment.
Not all physical activities are considered sport and not all passive activities are considered art. This is a key area of crossover that is often overlooked. Art may be physical and sport may be inactive.
Recreation Orientation
What happens at Rec O?
Dalhousie's School of Health and Human Performance (HAHP) offers two recreation programs, Therapeutic Recreation and Recreation Management. All students studying recreation at Dalhousie are required to attend the Recreation Orientation Retreat or "Rec O", as their introduction to leisure and recreation studies. The retreat is coordinated and facilitated entirely by students, and takes place at Camp Mush-a-Mush in Lunenburg, NS.
As a transfer student entering the program, I was dreading attending a weekend retreat with what I assumed would be a much younger group. At camp I found that most of my peers were transfer students like me, who had also just learned of the program. The Recreation Orientation retreat gives students the opportunity to relate to one another through shared experiences before classes really get rolling.
My Role at Camp
Needless to say, when applications opened to get involved, I was first in line.
Curriculum Requirements
The Recreation Management Program at Dalhousie is unique in that it offers students two degrees, and skills across two different faculties. Here is a list of the core academic requirements I met in completion of my Bachelor of Science in Recreation and my Bachelor of Management.
Recreation
Foundations of Recreation
Human Growth & Development
Program Planning
Leisure Theory
Leadership & Group Dynamics
Leisure & Individuals with Disabilities
Community Development
Analysis of Leisure Service Delivery Settings
Leisure Education
Program & Event Planning- Directed Study
Leisure Education- Directed Study
Research Methods
Financial Management & Fundraising
Recreation Facility Design & Operations Management
Recreation Entrepreneurship & Special Events
Recreation Management Internship
Management
Principles of Micro and Macroeconomics
Managing Organizational Issues
Electronic Information Management
Statistics for Managers
Ecosystem Goods & Services
Financial Accounting
Micro Organizational Behaviour
Macro Organizational Behaviour
Introduction to Marketing
Resource & Environmental Management
Government Structure
Management in the Public Sector
Financial Management
Operations Management
Professional Communication Skills
Strategy Formulation