OVERVIEW OF DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
Minimum number of credits required to graduate: 120
Minimum Cumulative GPA required to graduate: 2.0
Minimum Grade requirements for courses to count toward major: Students must earn a minimum grade of “C-” in all required courses having the SFR designator
Other GPA requirements to graduate: None.
Required Course(s) for fulfilling Capstone Experience: SFR 491, SFR 492, or SFR 493
Concentrations: Students need to complete requirements for one concentration.
Contact Information: William H. Livingston, Associate Director for Undergraduate Programs, 201b Nutting Hall, 581-2990, WilliamL@maine.edu
Outdoor recreation is one of the world’s most diverse and fastest -growing industries. It is often intertwined within another worldwide growth industry, tourism.
The Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT) program and its concentrations are designed to provide students with training that will qualify them to work in a variety of work settings such as parks and protected natural areas, the public and private tourism sectors, nonprofit environmental organizations, conservation law enforcement agencies, as well as state and federal natural resource agencies. The PRT program emphasis on the integration of natural, social, and management sciences reflecting the interdisciplinary context in which recreation, tourism, natural resource planning, and environmental concerns are addressed.
Students interested in the study of Parks, Recreation and Tourism will find the program ideally situated in Orono, Maine, where you have easy access to the rocky coasts, and western mountains, to Acadia National Park, and Baxter State Park, to the Appalachian Trail, and to Maine’s nature-based tourism community. Visits to these sites afford students unique and exciting opportunities to observe and participate in on-going operations relevant to the profession. We frequently have guest lectures from the public sector and commercial recreational enterprises to acquaint students with the diversity of professional management issues and practices.
Our faculty, both full-time and cooperating, are unique in their extensive experience in the field as well as their national and international reputations. A wide array of academic experiences is available to students for enhancing education and employability including field experiences, study abroad programs, and working on research projects. Field experiences are readily available in the region through many summer intern and cooperative education opportunities for valuable on-the-job-training experiences.
Small class sizes ensure student/professor interaction and a more personal learning experience. A faculty advisor works closely with students to assist in choosing a program of study, providing career counseling, and in providing a better understanding of the profession.
As with all programs in the School of Forest Resources the PRT curriculum provides students with a solid grounding in natural resource management training.
Bachelor of Science in Parks, Recreation and Tourism
The program emphasizes the integration of natural and social sciences as an interdisciplinary context in which complex recreation, tourism, natural resource management, and environmental concerns must be addressed.
Parks, Recreation and Tourism is part of the School of Forest Resources which has the largest scholarship endowment fund on campus for an academic unit. These funds are available to help support academic studies in Forest Resources.
Under the New England Regional Student Program, administered through the New England Board of Higher Education, the Bachelor of Science degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism is open to applicants who reside in Massachusetts or Rhode Island for reduced tuition (in-state tuition plus 50 percent).
Three concentrations allow a student to focus on what best meets their interests and professional goals. The Parks and Recreation Management Concentration is for students wanting careers in park and outdoor recreation settings with an emphasis on forest recourse management. The curriculum for the Parks and Recreation Management Concentration is accredited by the Society of American Foresters. The Nature Based Tourism Concentration emphasizes outdoor enjoyment of forest resources and strategies for developing a successful tourism program. The Conservation Law Enforcement Concentrations is for students who want careers as park and forest rangers.
All students in Parks, Recreation and Tourism need to take the core requirements. After the first 2 semesters, students need to select a concentration and complete its requirements as well.
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