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NIRSA consolidates standards for recreational sports

New CAS standards and contextual statement available online

By Douglas Franklin, Ph.D., Standards Committee Chair

Recently, NIRSA took major steps forward in the development of a consistent approach to a standards-based profession by adopting the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) standards for recreational sports. NIRSA joined CAS, a consortium of 40 professional associations and organizations representing the vast majority of practitioners providing student programs and services within higher education, in 1996. CAS works with representatives from member associations in developing and aligning functional area standards that foster effective management of programs and services, and enhance student learning and development. CAS standards serve as a road map for planning and aligning programs with institutional missions as well as a national focus on holistic learning and development of students. NIRSA Executive Director Kent Blumenthal serves as the CAS representative, with an alternate serving as the de facto representative. Dixie Bennett, Director Campus Recreation and Student Union at Loyola University Chicago, provided venerable service as the first NIRSA alternate representative. Bennett, Blumenthal, and the Standards Committee published the first contextual statement and CAS standards for recreational sports in 1997.

There are two primary reasons for the development of standards: professional integrity and external accountability. A critical construct underscoring a profession is the concept that good theory informs practice and good practice is reflected in theory. The cyclical nature of this principle is based on discipline-specific knowledge, doctrine and skill manifested in the use of industry and professional standards and guidelines. These guiding principles are established and refined by the professionals within the community of practice. The practical side to the use of standards is to provide a defense from the continued public scrutiny and calls for accountability of all elements associated with higher education. Recreational sports and other standards-based co-curricular service providers play a major role in institutional effectiveness, student learning, outcomes assessment, accountability, and quality assurance that has become increasingly important to institutions of higher education.

The first set of standards for recreational sports was developed and published by NIRSA in 1996. The NIRSA General and Specialty Standards for Collegiate Recreational Sports and Assessment Instruments was the culmination of work by members of the Aquatics, Fitness, Standards and Wellness Committees of NIRSA. The document, no longer in publication, was divided into three sections: general standards, specialty standards, and assessment instruments. For 10 years, these two sets of standards provided guidance for program development, implementation and evaluation for recreational sports professionals.

In 2004, a survey was conducted by the Standards Committee to determine recreational sports directors' awareness of both sets of standards. Based on the results of that survey and discussions held by the NIRSA Executive Committee, a project to consolidate the standards was initiated. In 2005, Bennett and Kathy Bayless, Director and Assistant Dean, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation at Indiana University and Chair of the NIRSA Standards Committee, began the process of combining the standards into a unified set of standards for recreational sports professionals. The initial draft of the standards was vetted through several experienced recreational sports directors and members of the Standards Committee. Several meetings were held to refine the standards. Town-hall meetings to discuss the project were held at two NIRSA Annual Conferences prior to submitting the final document to CAS in August 2007. The final document was presented to and approved by the CAS Board of Directors in October 2007.

All CAS functional areas, including recreational sports, have a consistent set of unifying standards. Professional associations also contribute specific standards and guidelines relative to the functional service provided. The primary areas addressed by the standards include mission; program, including student learning outcomes; leadership; organization and management; human resources; financial resources; facilities, technology and equipment; legal responsibilities; equity and access; campus and external relations; diversity; ethics; and assessment and evaluation. The Recreational Sports Programs: CAS Standards and Guidelines can be found on the Members Only portion of the NIRSA website.

Coinciding with the submission of the standards was the rewriting of the contextual statement for recreational sports. This document contains basic information on the theory underlying the holistic development of students and the role recreational sports plays in that development. The contextual statement also provides a brief history of the profession and identifies other specialty standards relative to providing recreational services on the modern college campus. The Role of Recreational Sports -- CAS Standards Contextual Statement was revised and updated in 2007 by the Standards Committee: Douglas Franklin, Chair, Kathy Bayless, George Brown, Dixie Bennett, Sally Derengoski, Denise Ditch, Carol Stickel, Greg Tatham, Jan Wells, Morgan Battrell and Julie Wallace Carr. This document is also available on the Members Only portion of the NIRSA website. The standards and the contextual statement will be published in the 2009 edition of the Book of Professional Standards and Guidelines.

The role of the Standards Committee is to "maintain a system which will guide the professional practice and preparation of recreational sports personnel and all members in their professional development by assisting them in acquiring necessary skills." The committee will now focus on aligning the CAS self assessment guide (SAG) with the new standards and review the existing specialty standards for modification or refinement. The committee, as well as the NIRSA membership, is indebted to Dixie Bennett and Kathy Bayless. Their leadership, foresight, and determination have been instrumental in the continued growth and development of the field of recreational sports.