The Department of Community Sustainability offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism. By combining a body of specialized professional knowledge with the study of natural, social, management and behavioral sciences, the program provides an opportunity for students to obtain a broad, interdisciplinary education which emphasizes a professional area of knowledge integrated with the tenets of sustainability. The major is designed to prepare students for professional positions related to the management and enjoyment of the outdoors. Such positions include management of public parks, forests and protected areas, non-profit lands and facilities such as camps, and commercial enterprises that provide goods and services to outdoor enthusiasts. Meeting people’s outdoor leisure needs, enhancing the quality of life, and providing sustainable economic and social development are hallmarks of the major.
Students in the Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism major will acquire an understanding of natural resource recreation and tourism that integrates sustainability and effectively links theory with practice while engaging the community. This includes the concepts of leisure, tourism, recreation and sustainability, as well as operation of recreation delivery systems, policy, administration, management, planning and evaluation.
Government, non-profit and for-profit entities offer a variety of career opportunities in the parks, recreation and tourism field. These opportunities include careers in park and land management, recreation and conservation law enforcement, nature and cultural interpretation, non-profit camp and adventure organization management, commercial recreation enterprise management of cruise ships, resorts, marinas, adventure travel firms, outfitting and guiding services and in coordinating and promoting tourism systems at from the local, state and federal levels through convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations and industry associations. Graduates are also well prepared for graduate studies relating to the park, recreation and tourism field, as well as a broad range of social and natural science disciplines.
Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism
- The University requirements for bachelor's degrees as described in the Undergraduate Education section of this catalog; 120 credits, including general elective credits, are required for the Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
The University's Tier II writing requirement for the Sustainable Parks, Recreation and Tourism major is met by completing Community Sustainability 300 or 476. Those courses are referenced in item 3. below.
The completion of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources mathematics requirement may also satisfy the University mathematics requirement.
- The requirements of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources for the Bachelor of Science degree.
Certain courses referenced in requirement 3. below may be counted toward College requirements as appropriate.
- The following requirements for the major:
- a. All of the following courses (23 credits):
- CSUS 200 Introduction to Sustainability (3)
- CSUS 273 Introduction to Travel and Tourism (3)
- CSUS 276 Sustaining Our National Parks and Recreation Lands (3)
- CSUS 300 Theoretical Foundations of Sustainability (W) (3)
- CSUS 429 Program Evaluation for Community Sustainability (3)
- CSUS 433 Grant Writing and Fund Development (3)
- CSUS 476 Natural Resource Recreation Management (W) (4)
- CSUS 492 Capstone in Community Sustainability (1)
- b. One of the following courses (3 or 4 credits):
- FOR 419 Application of Geographic Information Systems to Natural Resources Management (4)
- GEO 221 Introduction to Geographic Information (3)
- c. Six of the following courses (18 credits):
- CSUS 320 Environmental Planning and Management (3)
- CSUS 426 Conservation Planning and Adaptive Management (3)
- CSUS 430 Non-Profit Organizational Management for Community Sustainability (3)
- CSUS 445 Community-Based Environmental and Sustainability Education (3)
- CSUS 466 Michigan Trail Building Law, and Policy (3)
- CSUS 472 Designing and Managing Programmed Experiences (3)
- CSUS 473 Social Entrepreneurship and Community Sustainability (3)
- CSUS 477 Nature-based Tourism (3)
- CSUS 493 Professional Internship in Community Sustainability
- MGT 325 Management Skills and Processes (3)
- d. Choose any three courses from the following Thematic Areas (5 to 9 credits):
- Aquatic Ecologies
- CSUS 354 Water Resources Management (3)
- CSUS 453 Watershed Planning and Management (3)
- FW 110 Conservation and Management of Marine Resources (3)
- FW 207 Great Lakes: Biology and Management (3)
- Environmental Policy
- AFRE 265 Ecological Economics (3)
- CSUS 310 History of Environmental Thought and Sustainability (W) (3)
- CSUS 464 Environmental and Natural Resources Policy in Michigan (3)
- CSUS 465 Environmental and Natural Resource Law (3)
- SOC 478 Climate Change and Society (3)
- General Ecology and Biology
- FW 101 Fundamentals of Fisheries and Wildlife Ecology and Management (3)
- PLB 105 Plant Biology (3)
- PLB 106 Plant Biology Laboratory (1)
- PLB 218 Plants of Michigan (3)
- Management Foundations
- ACC 230 Survey of Accounting Concepts (3)
- ADV 200 The World of Advertising (2)
- CAS 114 Creativity and Innovative Entrepreneurship (3)
- FI 320 Introduction to Finance (3)
- GBL 323 Introduction to Business Law (3)
- MKT 327 Introduction to Marketing (3)
- PR 260 Principles of Public Relations (3)
- Terrestrial Ecologies
- FOR 101 Michigan Forests (3)
- FOR 202 Introduction to Forestry (3)
- FOR 204 Forest Vegetation (3)
- FOR 215 Introduction to Wildland Fire (2)
- FOR 222 Forestry Field Methods (2)
- SOIL 210 Fundamentals of Soil Science (3)