Degree Programs

Leisure has become a multibillion-dollar business in the United States, with camps, cruises, and other recreational activities gaining steam across the country. As the industry grows, so does the need for qualified professionals working in the various aspects of leisure and recreation. To answer the call, community colleges are beginning to offer degrees in "leisure" to help those interested in this profession get started on a lucrative, rewarding career.

About the Leisure Industry

Recreation workers deal with a wide range of environments and duties, from organizing arts and crafts at a children's camp to running organized sports leagues for corporations or communities. Jobs may be seasonal or permanent, and the large majority of positions are part-time. Because competition is stiff for full-time positions within this industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, additional education and training can go a long way in helping you secure the position you want.

Recreation employees may work in a wide range of settings, including:

• Cruise ships
• Nature parks
• Summer camps
• Community centers

While many employees in this industry spend many of their working hours outdoors, directors and managers primarily enjoy a desk job, organizing activities, and managing staff from an office. The employment outlook for this industry is good, with faster than average growth expected in many areas.

This video reports on the recreation and leisure services programs at Georgian College.

Training in Oklahoma City

Oklahoma City Community

Throughout his presidency, President Obama has lauded community colleges for their role in educating skilled workers in a short amount of time for a price far less than that of a four-year institution. In recent years, the President has encouraged community colleges to continue to grow by graduating 5 million more students by the year 2020. More and more institutions are finding creative ways to strengthen their student graduation rate in an effort to meet Mr. Obama’s challenge.

One such institution, Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, offers a program that helps students earn an associate's degree in just one year. Typically, this degree takes a minimum of two years to complete, thus the new program shaves 50 percent off the standard time commitment for an associate’s. Ivy Tech’s accelerated program, known as ASAP, has grown immensely in the four years since it’s inception. The program began at just two Indiana locations, but is now offered at nine locations throughout the state, with more locations on tap to participate beginning in 2015.

Compressing Education

Ivy Tech began its ASAP program in 2010, soon after many four-year institutions announced plans to compress bachelor's degree programs into a three-year curriculum. Colleges and universities all over the United States offer three-year bachelor’s degree programs, including:

• Hartwick College
• University of Toledo
• Georgia Perimeter College
• Southern New Hampshire University

All of these accelerated programs are meant to help students who cannot

While a wide array of community colleges across the country offer traditional music programs in musical practice, theory, and study, many new community college programs are offering more unique and specialized musical education courses. Today, students can enroll in programs to study historically-informed instruments, or they can even enroll in courses that teach students how to become employed in the field of music management and production.

Edmonds Community College offers a thorough and diverse array of music-oriented courses. Together, the Music Department of ECC established clear instruction goals, which include: “Giving students a solid foundation all facets of music, providing a range of performance and creative opportunities, offering diverse music theory and digital music courses, creating a dynamic, rich learning environment for students to pursue their passion for music and performing.”

To guide students towards achieving and engaging in these goals, ECC provides a variety of performance opportunities and events. Most notably, ECC fosters positive programs for musical enrichment through organizations such as the symphonic choir, the jazz band and choir, and the jazz workshop. These groups, along with many others, serve to enhance student learning and performance experiences.

Adding to these support systems, ECC’s Music Department also provides students with specialized acoustic fixtures in their music classrooms, various practice pianos and state of the art recording gear, in addition to ECC’s state of the art recording studio with a digital interface that students can interact with through hands-on opportunities.

Virginia Highlands Community College

While

In recent years, community colleges have been experimenting with baccalaureate degree programs. With great success, many states are now encouraging community colleges to offer bachelor’s degree programs, as they promote the acquisition of higher education for the greater public, while also providing degree programs in an increasingly wide range of majors and subject areas.

The Growing Trend

While baccalaureate degrees were traditionally only earned through a university or four-year institution, a drastic shift began to occur in the 1990s. At this time, the Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA) sought to change this tradition, and devised the mission statement that they intended to: "promote the development and acceptance of the community college baccalaureate degree as a means of addressing the national problems of student access, demand, and cost.” In support, The American Association of Community Colleges has also recognized the community college baccalaureate as, “an emerging development in higher education.”

This video describes the University of Mississippi Medical Center's partnership with Mississippi's 15 community and junior colleges in a statewide effort aimed at increasing the number of health-care practitioners with baccalaureate degrees.

The reason community college baccalaureate degrees have become so popular is threefold. First, community colleges are able to respond to increased workforce needs more quickly than four-year institutions. For example, increased demand in recent years for qualified healthcare workers, such as nurses, has led to the explosive growth of bachelor