Recreation Programming: Designing & Staging Leisure Experiences

J. Robert Rossman Ph.D. has been designing and staging events and programs for over 45 years as a practitioner, scholar, and consultant. His early career assignments included serving as an arts and crafts instructor, camp counselor, life-guard, swim instructor, and pool manger. His professional career included serving as a community center director and assistant director of recreation for the Village of Oak Park, IL. He has operated numerous events and programs during his career including university and college commencements, band concerts, art shows, sport events, Science and Technology Week at Illinois State University, family reunions, and church dinners. During his tenure as a faculty member, Dr. Rossman held academic appointments at five institutions where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses on designing and staging recreation programs. He earned the rank of Professor and has served for thirteen years as a department chair and ten years as dean. At Illinois State University he holds the rank of Professor and Dean Emeritus. He has given keynote addresses and educational workshops on programming to a variety of organizations in the U.S. and abroad. He has worked with Morale, Welfare, and Recreation operations for the US Air Force, Navy, and Army to help improve their programming practices.

Barbara Elwood Schlatter began her career programming recreation for people with disabilities and later, as a youth development worker in the Peace Corps/Guatemala. She earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctorate from SUNY Cortland, Springfield College, and the University of Illinois, respectively. Her 20 year career in higher education includes academic appointments at SUNY Cortland, Chicago State University, and Illinois State University where she holds the rank of Professor and is Assistant Director in the School of Kinesiology and Recreation. Her teaching specializations include recreation programming, outdoor recreation, and human resource management. Barb's scholarly work has been published in the Journal of Recreation and Park Administration; Research Quarterly for Sport and Exercise; JOPERD; and the Cyber Journal of Applied Recreation and Leisure Research. She served many years as board member for a local Boys and Girls Club. She is a member of NRPA, Illinois Park and Recreation Association, and is currently serving as President of the American Leisure Academy.