Outdoor Orientation - Forum - Recent Threads

Outdoor Orientation Program Symposium, April 13th, Woodstock, CT

Outdoor Ed — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:46:01 GMT

Dear professional colleagues,

I am writing to extend to you an invitation to the 17th bi-annual Outdoor Orientation Program Symposium (OOPS), on Friday, April 13th, in Woodstock, CT.

Please join a group of student leaders, program directors, researchers, and outdoor professionals for a day of learning and sharing about the latest developments regarding outdoor orientation programs. Current research demonstrates that outdoor orientation programs are on the rise at four-year colleges in the US and Canada. We are also seeing increases at private high schools, business schools, and medical schools. The awareness of the benefits of using adventure to create community are growing. We invite all who have an interest in the orientation of students to join us on Friday, April 13th.

This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Charles Schroeder, a senior associate consultant at Noel-Levitz. Dr. Schroeder has published more than 75 books and articles on higher education and has consulted at more than 100 institutions throughout North America. Dr. Schroeder was also a two-time president for the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). Dr. Schroeder sharing his knowledge about the role of adventure based orientation within higher education is not to be missed.

This April's conference will take place at YMCA Camp Woodstock, located in Woodstock, CT, in the northeast corner of Connecticut between Boston, MA and Hartford, CT . Housing is available onsite, either in heated cabins or in a camping area (which has been popular with college students).

The Outdoor Orientation Program Symposium (OOPS) will focus on:

Staff development. Information provided on staffing models, staffing choices, and leadership development.

Improving an outdoor orientation program: Focusing on curriculum development and creating great program impact. Creative ideas for improving a program or adding to a program.

Researching outdoor orientation program: Assessment of programs and theoretical issues

The Outdoor Orientation Program Symposium is hosted by Dr. Brent Bell, Dr. David Starbuck, and Tricia Chan from the University of New Hampshire. Registration for the conference can be completed at the following link:

http://www.aee.org/conference/info/id/59/

Cost for the conference is $100 for professionals, and $35 for students. We significantly reduce the student price because this is a great conference for student leaders. The conference price includes lunch and program materials. The OOPS group will be meeting from 8:30am-5pm. This conference session is a pre-conference to the Association for Experiential Education’s Northeast Regional Conference. You do not have to enroll at this conference to attend OOPS, but we encourage you to consider it.

Any questions about the pre-conference should be directed to: Dr. Brent J. Bell, bbell@unh.edu

Hope to see you at Woodstock!

Brent Bell

Associate Prof. of Outdoor Education

Dept. of Kinesiology

University of New Hampshire

Welcome to the Outdoor Orientation Forum

Rick Curtis — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:50:12 GMT

I've been running the Outdoor Action Program at Princeton University for the past 30 years. Along with a number of colleagues at various other colleges and universities we are opening this forum as a place for student leaders and program managers to gather and share information. I hope you'll join us as we work to improve all of our programs.

Rick Curtis
Princeton University Outdoor Action Program
OutdoorEd.com

Outdoor Orientation Leader Contracts

Ben Oliver — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:06:38 GMT

Hello all,

Does anyone have an example of a job/volunteer contact that they use with their outdoor orientation leaders that they would be willing to share?

Thanks,

Ben (Moore) Oliver

Research on Community Building

Kevin Shon — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 05:00:50 GMT

Greetings team,

Does anyone know of research conducted highlighting the effects of community building/ created social networks post First-year Orientation program experience by college Freshmen?

Do they in fact create long-term social networks that support the student through their undergrad career?

What are the effects of community building properties of Outdoor Orientation programs?

Do these communities help support student retention, GPA, other factors?

Any suggestions on where I could start looking would be wonderful.

Enjoy your day,

Kevin Michael Shon

Programs specifically for sophomores?

Ed Daugherty — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:29:39 GMT

Anyone know of outdoor programming aimed specifically at supporting/inspiring/bonding sophomore college students?

Thanks

Electronic Releases and Medical Forms

Zach Schmesser — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:40:02 GMT

Hi,
I am looking to find Colleges and University's (if any) that are using Electronic Releases and Medical Forms with electronic signatures. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Zach

Outdoor Essentials in New Zealand - a 3-week Study Abroad Program for College Students

globalinkslearningabroad — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:34:17 GMT

College students can spend 3 weeks on a study abroad program in New Zealand this January 2010, immersed in pristine wilderness environments of New Zealand!

Offered for 3-4 college credits through AustraLearn, a leading study abroad program based in Colorado, and AUT University in Auckland, New Zealand.

Camp, hike, backpack, sea kayak, rock climb and much more in the incredible, rugged outdoors of the "world's outdoor playground," New Zealand, while earning college credit and gaining a deep understanding of the country's indigenous Maori culture and peoples. This program is perfect for any student who loves the outdoors, and wants to experience the heart of New Zealand's summer (it is summer in January in NZ).

Learn from seasoned outdoor educators for AUT University, a leader in Outdoor Education and Recreation.

Highlights

Dates: January 4-24, 2010

Open To: any college student studying at a university in the U.S. or Canada with at least one year of college-level courses taken, any major, but particularly of interest to those studying outdoor education, recreation, environmental studies and related areas.

Entry criteria: Minimum 2.5 GPA

Cost: Approx. $5,235 which includes enrollment, academic credit, official transcript, most meals, all in-country transportation, all outdoor gear except personal items, excursions, field trips, guest lectures and more.

More information: Visit the Outdoor Essentials program site to learn more.

Financial aid may be available from your home university. There is a scholarship program available to help defer costs, from the Foundation for Asia-Pacific Education.

Outdoor Education degree programs and recruitment of students

Keith McCallister — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 21:37:28 GMT

Given trends in the economy, many people are going the route of furthering their education while they search for a new job. The troubles we are having within the college community is that of budget cuts, at least here in Powell, Wyoming. Unfortunately, Outdoor Education here is one of the smaller programs, though it has been around for over 30 years.

My question for everyone is this:

I have been working with our recruitment staff to look at ways in which we can recruit more students into the outdoor program. The issues we have are that unlike many traditional programs, we cannot seem to find high school conferences or programs where we can actively recruit.

Because we are a smaller program, and because many of the courses require a smaller student to instructor ration and FTE numbers, we are in the grouping of programs that are closer to the top of the chopping block in order to make up the budget shortfalls we are having. In order keep the program running and off the block, we need to have adequate majors and graduation numbers and produce the FTE required to kepe the program.

I am curious if anyone has ideas on ways you recruite students that you can share. Are there any recruitment strategies that work especially well? Given our location, we are able to offer an outdoor experience unlike most of the country. We have access to all kinda of oppertunities and rarely ever see other visitors when we are out.

I am searching to find if there are other programs that have the same issues, and if there are ways in which you recruit that we might be able to use here.

Keith McC

Anyone work with academic 'summer school' programmes?

AndrewJillings — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:34:58 GMT

Our Dean of Faculty is keen to expand the college's summer offerings and has suggested I work with an academic department to offer a 'adventure and physics/chemistry/philosophy/you name it' course for alums or other 'grown-ups'.

Has anyone any experience of such a programme and can you tell me exactly when, in the whole metaphorical parade, the metaphorical elephant goes beserk and rampages through the floats and marching band?

Any thoughts, anecdotes or advice greatly apprectiated.

Andrew

Program Insurance

Keith McCallister — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:50:40 GMT

We are looking to start a summer program at the college here (we currently have an A.S. degree program, but not extracurriculur recreation) for the community. It would be seperate from the college, run by myself, so I am looking to try to find an affordable choice for insurance for operating the programs.

Does anyone have any ideas where to look for adventure programming/adventure style summer camp insurance policies and relative costs?

Keith McCallister

The Outdoor Program

6thgradestudent — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:54:12 GMT

Hello,I'm from WEst Ridge Elementary. Our school is coming to Outdoor Ed November 3-5. I was just

wondering what programs do you offer at Outdoor Ed? What classes will be available to us? I know we

will be staying in cabins but how many kids to a cabin? Do you have pictures on this site, that I could view?

Will there be other school(s) at Outdoor Ed when we're there? These are all questions I'd like to be answered

before we go. But could you please answer these questions ASAP? Thank you and I appreciate these forums

and how they help confused people. Thanks for your Effort.

Thanks!

I can't wait!

Getting a job...

Scotland09 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:53:18 GMT

Next fall I hopefully will be a student at UNH working towards my Outdoor Education degree. I was wondering if anyone had any info on getting a job after school. I'm kinda worried about finding a job, hopefully in the Northeast. Any info would be great.

P.S - Isn't this website awesome?

Outdoor Degree Programs

AliciaLB — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 19:24:57 GMT

I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right area but....I am looking to get my Bachelor's in sometype of Outdoor/Recreation/Adventure Degree. I'm currently looking into Oregon State University but I'm curious to know if there are any top schools that employers look for or any school with an outstanding reputation for this program. I am also curious what kind of extra certifications and classes I can be taken to help my experience and resume. Thanks!

Alicia

Outdoor education in secondary school.....A call for input ??

H.ClayR. — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:41:41 GMT

Greetings…I am teaching an Outdoor Occupations course in a public technical secondary school (grades 11-12) this fall… This is the first time we have been able to offer this class, although I have been campaigning for it for several years.... It is very important that it be judged a success from the local board of education's standpoint, or it will be not be repeated.... I am looking for reference material and collaborative relationships to help with curriculum design.... MInd you, It will not be hard to offer a course that the students will judge to be a success. The difficult part will be identifying some measureable outcomes, preferably related in whole or in part to more widely recognized certifications or educational attainments....Upon course completeion I will have to point out the "value added" to some fairly skeptical oversight…This is an open appeal for ideas and the counsel of experience..Thanks

Rental Tracking Software

hikewithmike — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:12:19 GMT

We are taking a renewed approach to rental as we switch locations on campus. Like many of you $ is a concern, but we want to start out right. I am looking for software that uses barcode tracking and can manage the financials as well for a small rental program. Any suggestions?

FLSA and paid multi-day leaders

Ed Daugherty — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:09:09 GMT

Hello all - sorry I have not been around much; wish I'd made it to the last OOPS, but what can you do. I hope all are well, adequately challenged and inspired. Coming down off my Davidson basketball high, I find the Issue That Will Not Die has risen again. Here is my predicament: The Fair Labor Standards Act, which is presumably in place to protect employees from unscrupulous and wicked employers (such as myself), is being interpreted by my institution in such a way that it is now impossible for me to 'employ' student leaders in my summer orientation program. This is because we cannot afford to pay hourly plus overtime for employees in the field for 8 days, nor can we afford the minimum weekly salary option to hourly employment. However, exemptions to this law are out there and are in use by organizations that could not otherwise survive (think Outward Bound, NOLS, any residential summer camp, etc). So I need a precedent. I need to find other colleges or universities that pay backcountry leaders for multi-day trips and that do so by established exemption to Federal & possibly State labor laws. Anyone? Thanks Ed Davidson Outdoors Davidson College Union 704-894-2173

Medical Practices of your program?

Ben Oliver — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:16:19 GMT

Hello,

I am a grad student at UNH in the Outdoor Education department. I am currently researching the medical practices of university based outdoor programs for a paper on best practices.

I am wondering if anyone would be willing to share their documentation regarding safety procedures and/or medical protocols. The information will be used only for the purpose of preparing a paper/presentation for class, it will not be shared publicly.

I realize that some programs will not be able to share their medical protocols outside the university. If you can answer these questions relative to your program, that would be very helpful.

Please feel free to reply off-list at: ben.moore@unh.edu if you’d like.

Thanks for your time,

Ben Moore

Questions:

1. Do you have written safety procedures for your program?

2. Does your program keep written documentation of: Near Miss, Incident, Injuries? What do you do with these reports?

3. Do you have a medical advisor? Are they a physician?

4. Do you have standing medical orders? Has your medical advisor signed off on them?

5. Do you require medical certification for your staff? At what level?

6. Do you authorize the use of wilderness medical protocols, e.g.

a. Epinephrine for anaphylaxis

b. Cleaning of high risk wounds

c. Stop CPR

d. Clearing the spine

e. Reducing simple dislocations

f. Epinephrine for severe asthma

7. If you do authorize the use of any of the above protocols, which ones, and under what conditions? Have they been approved by a physician?

8. Any other relevant information I didn’t think to ask about?

Managing Inventory

jared johnson — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 21:48:31 GMT

I am wondering if anyone out there has any suggestions on programs that will help to streamline my inventory management system. We have a very limited budget, well actually, no budget at all, which makes it very difficult to do anything. We have access to a desktop computer that we can utilize and I am hoping that someone has a great program that they use to manage their gear rental inventory. I have found some programs out there for rental companies, but they seem to be geared more toward industrial equipment and not outdoor recreation gear. Any comments or suggestions would be welcomed.

Thanks

Jared

Outdoor program alumni survey

jdmorell — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 07:26:54 GMT

I run a wilderness leadership program outside of Portland Oregon at George Fox University. The 7-day backpacking trip for student leaders, soph- seniors. I want to get some data from our program alumni regarding how the experience has impacted them, not just during their time at Fox but in their lives post graduate as well. What I'm struggling with is knowing what questions to ask and how to ask them. What I have id so far is impact on:

1. leadership

2. comfortability/ interest with/ in future wilderness activities

3. wilderness care (LNT)

4. personal growth

Other than that I don't know what else I want to know, you know? Is there a survey others have developed or an article that could help me get some ideas about what to ask and how to ask it?