Assignment 3 (driscol6) (booker4) (porada2)(hatten 1) (warchol) (lilak1) (totonch1) (bartsch1) (lange14) (qclark2)

As a group we believe Leisure is when you spend your time doing activities that you enjoy.  Most of us spend our free-time doing activities such as going to sporting events, participating in sports, and water activities such as jet-skiing or just soaking up the sun on the beach or in the ocean.   

University Housing

 







Goals and Objectives: 

• Providing residents with a smooth transition on campus.

• Provide a safe living environment. 
• Dining services, as well as stress relieving activities. 

How agency is funded:

• The students through room and board cost. 
• The cost is set as a freshman and will not increase from year to year.

Individuals/groups served:

• Students of University of Illinois
• Undergraduates can live in any public or private halls on campus
• Graduates can only live in Daniel and Sherman Halls

 Key program elements:

• Serve the students of University of Illinois 

Jobs of agency:

• Resident Advisor-In the “six pack” there are two per floor. To be a Resident Advisor you must be at least a sophomore and go through an interview process. Attend multiple meetings and certification courses.
• Resident Director- Professional staff member who oversees the administration of your hall and supervises the RA staff. 
• Area Coordinator- Is the person in charge of everyone in the University housing system in a specific area.
• Maintenance Workers- In charge of cleaning and maintaining the residence halls.
• Dining Hall Workers- These are students as young as freshman who go through an application process.  

 

Strengths: There are multiple employment opportunities offered at University Housing. The employees are usually creative, organized, and possess conflict resolution skills. In a RA or RD position you are open to a lot more job openings in the future. The RA’s provide activities to melt away stress for the residents to help balance out their busy and demanding class schedules.

Weaknesses: Sometimes there are unfortunate events that occur in residence hall under University Housing. The RA’s and RD’s are all specialized in different ways to handle these events, such as alcohol, domestic disputes, and suicides. Some activities are not for everyone and the budget is limited.

Therapeutic Recreation

 









How the agency is funded: 

• CUSR is funded by taxes
• Actively seeking grants
• Trying to get fund-raising money

 

Goals/objectives: 

• Advocate for and provide access to recreational opportunities for people with disabilities 
• Create equal access to recreation 

 









 Individuals / Groups served:

• People with disabilities
• They have opportunities to participate in recreation

Key Program elements

• The ratios are lower, 4:1
• If a person needs one on one help, such as a blind person, then that is available.
• CUSR will make reasonable accommodations in recreation programs to enable participation by an individual with a disability

Jobs of agency:

• Provide recreational opportunities
• Provide activities that people of different age groups are interested in.
• In order to have a job at CUSR, need a degree in therapeutic recreation
• Take CTRS exam
• All the employees are working to enhance participants’ abilities in enjoyable recreational, leisure, and social settings. They make sure that the participants explore new areas of interest, make new acquaintances, and learn lifetime leisure skills.

 











 Strengths:

• Serve people with all different levels of disabilities
• Make sure that everyone is successful
• They are a therapeutic recreation program
• Skill building program people learn while having fun is important because the individuals are able to learn useful skills they can continue to use throughout their lives such as cooking and money management while being in a fun, relaxed environment

Weaknesses:

• Making sure there is adequate funding and community support.

Yes Champaign-Urbana Special recreation fulfills their purposes/goals. They offer a variety of services including, but not limited to: inclusive cooperative programs, special events, after school programs, overnights, trips, Special Olympics, and summer camps in order to ensure that there are a full range of recreational opportunities available for people with disabilities

University Housing

(lilak1) (totonch1) (bartsch1) (lange14) (qclark2)

University housing is a complex system of Resident Advisors, Multicultural Advisors, Resident Directors, Area Coordinators, and maintenance workers.  This army of workers makes it possible for freshman to live on campus.  These advisors provide many resources to students and are very dependable.  University housing also includes dining services, such as, Ikenberry and PAR.  All in all, University housing is responsible for the majority of freshman and make sure they have a successful transition and get a good start at the University of Illinois. 

University housing was created to serve the students of the University of Illinois.  There are resident halls across campus that cater to those who live there.  Faculty of  University Housing include: resident advisors, resident directors, area coordinators, programming advisors, desk clerks, office assistants, building service workers and maintenance works.  However, nothing would be possible without area directors, program coordinators, and the associate directs, Jim Rooney.  

The competencies required for these jobs are creativity, organization, leadership, well balanced communication skills, and professional conflict resolution skills. Many issues arise for University Housing faculty; for example, suicide, alcohol, and vandalism on housing property. Faculty must be ready and trained for situations like these and therefore must be organized during different issues that may arise.

This is a picture of the resident advisors and the resident directors of the building Trelease in the resident hall FAR. There are several employment opportunities that are offered in a residential hall. These positions include resident advisors, resident directors, area coordinators, desk clerks, building service workers, maintenance workers, and office assistants. These positions have different ways to go about getting a job and are fairly competitive. According to Selam Totonchi, currently a resident advisor, out of five-hundred applicants to become a resident advisor, only eighty of them well get the job. One can become a resident advisor by applying in the Fall semester. This process includes a resume, two written essays, references, and an interview. Although it is a competitive interview process, if one receives the job, it is a very rewarding experience to be a resident advisor.  

Current trends and issues: A current and ongoing trend within University Housing is having RA's as well as RD's plan and coordinate floor events.  RA's work together to provide their residents with stress-relieving activities throughout the semester.  Current issues include alcohol poisoning, domestic disputes, and suicide.  An RA committed suicide in the building of Oglesby Residence Hall at FAR during Thanksgiving break of 2008.  The situation was unexpected and all RA's and RD's were informed and checked on.  The University Housing faculty is trained for situations like this, as well as others every year.

Leisure: The agencies definition of leisure is to provide residents and faculty with activities to fill free time away from studying.  The event in the picture shown is pie your RA and RD. This is a fun stress reliever for the faculty. Other events that are done for faculty are dances, bowling, and ice cream socials for everyone to socialize and destress from employee life and university problems.

After researching and visiting our agency, we realized that we had learned a lot. University Housing faculty go through many issues and complications as the school year progresses. However, they are well trained for any scenario that may arise. Looking more specifically in the career of a Resident Advisor in the agency, you can see that time management may be an issue. Resident Advisors need to balance weekly meetings with the staff, as well as, complete social, wellness, and social justice programs for their residents. Along with all these tasks, RA’s must be full time students and keep up a cumulative GPA of 2.3. This means that they need to study and maintain high grades along with all the tasks of an RA. However, a pro of being an RA is the social experiences they have with the many diverse residents they are in charge of. RA’s also become well trained to handle incidents regarding alcohol and domestic disputes, as well as, increase their leadership skills. Overall, University Housing fits into the leisure delivery system because it provides programs for its faculty and students that decrease the stress of real life.

Assignment 2: Subgroup A --Therapeutic Recreation

    Therapeutic Recreation

     The agency we researched for this project was the CUSR which is short for the Champaign-Urbana Special Recreation. The person we talked to for this project was Dawn Schaefer who is the Director and has been involved in the Therapeutic Recreation field for more than twenty years. CUSR and its member park districts believe that all individuals should be provided with leisure opportunities that allow for performance at their highest level of ability. CUSR provides the type of support that is needed for participation. 

WHO: CUSR (Champaign-Urbana Special Recreation) which is also known as Hays Recreation Center

WHERE: The CUSR is located in Champaign on W Church Street

HOW:  The CUSR is funded by tax dollars. They also charge fees for their programs programs and are actively seeking grants for funding. In addition, Dawn informed us that they are also trying to develop a scholarship fund.

WHAT: The mission is to advocate for and provide access to a full range of recreational opportunities for people with disabilities to focus on, further define and provide our core programs to create partnerships that will increase participation and programs.

WHY: CUSR exists to ensure that people with disabilities have access to a full range of recreational services.

CUSR is open Monday through Friday from 8am until 5pm.

     Not just anybody can work in this agency. Two core competencies that are required in order to obtain a job at CUSR is that the applicant must have a degree in special recreation and also pass the NCTRC (National Counsel for Therapeutic Recreation Certification) exam in order to receive CTRS (certified therapeutic recreation specialist).

     Dawn informed us that there are a few different employment opportunities that are available at the agency. The highest is the Director. There are also three coordinators. One is responsible for coordinating activities and programs for teens and children, another coordinator is responsible for adults and seniors and the final coordinator deals with athletics. The Staff are the leaders of the programs and CUSR also has many volunteers who are people that support the leaders. Many volunteers come from here on campus and the surrounding high schools. 

      There aren't really any present issues with the agency. However, Dawn specifically said that one of the strengths of this agency is that they are a therapeutic program, not just a recreation program. She told us that in the past for pizza night the people would just come and eat, but now if they want to eat, they have to make it first. This allows the participants to learn skill building. In addition, this approach also serves as an excellent learning process. There are many different activities that people can take part in. As seen by the pictures, kids can play at the playground or enjoy a game of basketball. 

CUSR strives to enhance participants' abilities in enjoyable recreational, leisure, and social settings. One of the many benefits that this agency provides is that it is for anyone. Although the majority of the people have autism or are on the autism spectrum, there are some with cerebral palsy and CUSR strives to make sure that everyone, no matter what your disability, is successful. The CUSR is also currently trying to build into a paraolympic program.

After visiting the Champaign Urbana Special Recreation center, it was easy to see the benefits of having a job of a career in this agency. It was clear (and she even told us a number of times) that Dawn absolutely loves what she does. "I get to come to work and play every day". Every day is a reward, it is easy to see the improvements in the people that take part in the programs. CUSR gives people with disabilties many of the same opportunities that people without disabilities have access to. One of the difficult tasks of this career is that it takes the right kind of person to ensure that the job will get done in a successul manner. These careers are very exclusive to a specific person, not everyone can do this, demands a certain person that is fit to handle all that the job entailsNot everyone may be fit to handle some of the jobs in this field because they can be emotionally bearing. This agency fits into the leisure system because it was recognized that people with disabilities had unique needs with respect to leisure and recreation and therapeutic recreation provides community-based leisure opportunities for people with disabilities throughout the United States.

                                         

Stacy Warchol- Leisure

My definition of leisure is time spent doing activities that you enjoy. It's a break from the stresses and responsibilities of every day life, and acts as a mini vacation from your day. This is a picture of me at a Sox game and is a good representation of what leisure means to me. I love baseball and try to go to as many games as I can. It's a time where I can relax and enjoy myself without any worries. While leisure means many different things to different people, leisure always represents something the individual has a desire to do. It is time devoted to yourself as opposed to time spent working, going to class, and handling the many responsibilities of life. Leisure is something we all need to maintain balance in life. It creates enjoyable and memorable experiences in a chaotic life.

My definition of leisure- Alex Booker

My picture is of the Illinois Softball field. Personally my definition of leisure has much to do with sports or activities. I play softball here and continue to play the sports that I participated in high school. Sometimes I think that playing a sport is more like a job though. But playing in your free time is the definition of leisure to me because everyone can just have a good time with friends while still being active and getting an exercise. Leisure to others may not mean to participate in a specific sport or activity. I think that leisure can also be whatever is most relaxing to that person. This could mean something as simple as laying out on the beach in one's free time. What a person does with the time where they are not required to be doing something is what I would define leisure as.

Assignment 1 - Rachel Hatten

(http://www.desktopwallpaperspace.com/tennis/big-tennis-res16589-1024x768.html)


My picture is of a tennis racket and tennis balls on a tennis court. It represents one part of leisure which includes playing sports and being active. I chose this picture because I really like to play tennis whenever I have time. Its fun and it is great for relieving stress. To me, leisure includes the activities that a person enjoys doing during his or her free time. It could be playing sports, reading a book, or even cleaning.

My Definition of Leisure- Patrick Lange

This is a picture of me skiing in Steamboat, Colorado.  This picture was taken on spring break 2009.  As you can see its not the normal spring break spot but it is one of my places in the world.  Not the particular mountain but rather just being on the mountains, not hills like we have in Illinois and Michigan.  I have skied all over Colorado, Utah, Montana, and Canada.   I enjoy this activity because skiing is something I have done since I was a little kid and I have many great memories with family and friends.  I am truly calm in the mountains and enjoy every moment of it.  My definition of leisure is an activity that is free chosen that and you enjoy the activity.  This means no one is forcing you to do the activity and that you really want to partake in the activity.  I feel like a leisure activity is something that enthralls you and you are focused on the activity.  Also, I feel that a leisure activity is very specific to the person and makes the person happy.  For example, most people would be terrified of skiing down a mountain but I love it.

My Definition of Leisure - Selam Totonchi

This is a picture of me enjoying the scenery at Niagara Falls. It was during summer vacation and my family and I were enjoying a vacation to see some of our relatives in Canada. As you can see, I am relaxed and happy without a care in the world. This picture represents my definition of leisure. I believe leisure is when you do any activity that takes your mind off stressful things. Leisure activities are something you can do where you can solely focus completely on without having your mind trailing off or being distracted. This means that whatever activity you are doing is something you really wanted to do or are interested in. Leisure activities are a lot easier to do during free time since there are no other activities that can distract you.

My Definition of Lesiure-Michelle Bartsch

This is a picture of me canyoning in Interlaken, Switzerland.  Canyoning is when you repel, jump, and slide down huge rocks in a mountainous terrain.  This picture represents my definition of leisure.  Leisure is having an abundance of free time and spending it doing something fun or memorable.  I do not have much free time currently as a student-athlete, so the little free time I do get is valuable.  During Christmas, Spring, and Summer breaks is when I have the most time to do something leisurely.  During these breaks I tend to go a bit crazy if I just sit around the house watching TV or playing board games.  These breaks allow me to be adventurous and let loose more than I am capable of during school. 

If you want to see how I spend my time of leisure, check these out! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7jDxUk1g7k&feature=related

http://www.outdoor-interlaken.ch/en/

My definition of leisure by Quinn Clark

  

 This picture was taken of me fishing on spring break two years ago off of Florida’s coast. It was one of the many family excursions while we were on vacation. The picture represents one of the many leisurely activities that i enjoy doing with my family. Fishing brings great leisure to me because it takes place in a very relaxing and peaceful setting. This picture is special to me because it reminds me of the time spent with my family on a relaxing vacation in florida. Since I rarely see them now that I am at school, I now realize the importance of doing leisurely activities with the people you are close to.

To me leisure is an activity that takes your mind off of the day to day stresses of life. Generally this activity does not require a lot of energy, and is overall relaxing. This activity must also be something that one enjoys doing in his/her free time. Leisure is doing whatever you want and whenever you want to do it.

My Definition of Leisure - Kelle Driscoll

This is a picture of me waterskiing. It represents a large part of what I am passionate about in life as well as what I enjoying doing for relaxation but also, in a competitive manner. For me, waterskiing is something that keeps me grounded and also takes away all the thoughts racing through my head at that time. It also is an activity that brings my family together. My dad has a passion for water as well and for as long as I can remember I have been behind the boat skiing. Having this similarity with my father is important to me and the fact that the rest of my family enjoys boating and water activities as well keeps us strong and united when the weekend rolls around after a long hard week at work and school.
My definition of leisure is taking part in something that is opposite of your regular daily schedule that allows you to relax, relieve stress, enjoy your surroundings and the people important to you in your life as well as just taking a step back and being able to be thankful for the life you are living.

My Definition of Leisure - Lauren Lilak (lilak1)

This picture was taken this summer in Cococay, Bahamas.
This represents my definition leisure most accurately.  To me,
leisure is a stress-free activity that doesn't require a lot of
energy, and is not emotionally demanding.  However, the exact 
definition varies from person to person.  This picture shows my
favorite leisure activity, relaxation.  This shows sunny beach 
with lounge chairs, and warm ocean water.  There is no where 
else on the planet I would rather spend my leisure time.


As I said before, my individual definition of leisure is a stress-free
activity that does not require much energy or thought.  Another
term I would use to describe my definition of leisure would be
relaxation.  Any activity that does not require a lot of energy, 
demands, pre-planning, or stress can be considered leisurely.  

My definition of Leisure by Katie Porada

This is a picture of my my twin sister and me. This was taken when we were on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico one year during Christmas break. The picture encompasses my definition of leisure because I believe leisure is a period during which one/a person is free to do whatever the individual pleases. It is time to spend time with people you care about. This relates to the meaning of this picture because I value the time my sister and I get to spend together especially now that we are away at different schools.

Like I previously mentioned, I believe leisure is time away from the daily activities of one's life. It is time for relaxation. It is a time when one is free from routine responsibilities, schedules and tasks. I believe leisure is a time when the individual gets to decide what activity he/she would like to take part in that day. As seen in this picture, I chose to pursue leisure this day by choosing to go on a jet ski ride with my best friend around the Pacific Ocean.