Leisure Services Management

Leisure Services Management, Third Edition With HKPropel Access, outlines the essential knowledge and skills that successful managers must learn, and it assists students in building those competencies. The text prepares students for the Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) qualifying exam and for the challenges they’ll face in their future careers in commercial recreation, public agencies, and the nonprofit sector. Throughout the text, there are activities, projects, and examples to help students connect competencies to real-world situations.

Leisure Services Management begins by presenting a firm foundation of competency-based management. Students will examine the scope of leisure management, management responsibilities, and how a manager can affect an agency and its customers. They will also explore specific management areas such as marketing, financial management, human resources, employee development, communication, and evaluation.

For each chapter, the ancillaries offer experiential learning activities that simulate on-the-job situations. Each of these activities asks students to assume the role of a manager and address common management issues by completing a work assignment or project. These activities will facilitate student development and help students gain essential management competencies. Other learning aids include learning objectives, review questions, key terms, and a glossary to reinforce student learning.

In addition to updated references that provide contemporary management perspectives, the third edition features the following:

• Expanded content on social media, planning, and international leisure
• A new chapter focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion to broaden students’ perspectives
• From the Field sidebars, which offer readers a glimpse of what happens in the field, so they can better understand what they will be facing in the future

Leisure Services Management has related online learning activities delivered via HKPropel. These activities include flash cards and undergraduate- and graduate-level case studies for each chapter. Chapter quizzes, which are automatically graded, may be assigned by instructors to test comprehension of critical concepts. Students can also access a list of competencies tested in the CPRP exam and a competency scorecard to track their development relative to professional standards. These online resources will help students build useful knowledge and apply the information.

The competency-driven approach of Leisure Services Management, Third Edition, assists readers in gaining the knowledge and practicing the skills needed to begin a career in leisure management. Bolstered by the practical information in this text, new managers can contribute to the success of their organization as they enjoy the challenges and rewards of their career.

Note: A code for accessing HKPropel is included with all new print books.

Amy R. Hurd, PhD, CPRE, is the associate vice president of undergraduate education at Illinois State University and a professor of recreation and park administration within the School of Kinesiology and Recreation. While at Illinois State University, Hurd has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in management with an emphasis on marketing, human resources, and finance. Prior to coming to Illinois State University, she was a visiting lecturer in management at Indiana University, where she received her PhD.

As a practitioner, Hurd worked as the special events coordinator and as the marketing director for the Champaign Park District in Champaign, Illinois. She has presented on and written extensively about management, competencies, and succession planning in public parks and recreation, including authoring four textbooks. Hurd was a visiting scholar at Srinakharinwirot University (Bangkok, Thailand) in the subject area of sustainable tourism, and she traveled to Opole University of Technology (Opole, Poland) and the Universidad de Cuyo and Universidad de Mendoza in Mendoza, Argentina, for a student and faculty cultural immersion experience. She is a regular instructor for Indiana University’s executive development program, and she was elected to the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in 2014.

Robert J. Barcelona, PhD, serves as department chair and a professor in the department of parks, recreation and tourism management at Clemson University. He previously served as the department chair in the department of recreation management and policy at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). Barcelona’s research and writing interests focus on increasing access to sport and recreation programs and facilities and on improving the quality of recreation experiences through partnerships, planning, creative financing, staff training, and professional development.

Barcelona teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses focusing on management and leadership, strategic planning, program evaluation, youth development, and recreational sport management. He also works closely with local and federal agencies on issues pertaining to research and program evaluation efforts. Barcelona currently serves as the chair of the Council on Accreditation for Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT), and he is the editor in chief of Recreational Sports Journal. In 2019, Barcelona was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration (AAPRA), where he serves as chair of the Research for the Profession Committee.

Jo An M. Zimmermann, PhD, CPRP, is an associate professor in the recreation studies program within the department of health and human performance at Texas State University. Zimmermann teaches undergraduate and graduate courses related to administration, finance, and marketing as well as the senior capstone course. Prior to coming to Texas State University, she was a senior lecturer in recreation management at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, as well as a visiting assistant professor in recreation administration at Clemson University, where she earned her PhD.

As a practitioner, Zimmermann worked as a recreation supervisor for the Morton Grove Park District and as a program manager at the Park District of Oak Park, both in Illinois. She has presented and written on management and administrative roles in parks and recreation, including authoring chapters in textbooks. Zimmermann has served as a visiting professor at Beijing Sport University in Beijing, China. She is a regular presenter at the Texas Recreation and Park Society Annual Institute and is a cochair of the Leisure Management Special Interest Group for the World Leisure Organization. In 2017, she was named Outstanding Educator of the Year by the Texas Recreation & Park Society. The following year, she received the Presidential Distinction Award for Teaching from the Texas State University College of Education.