December 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 72

and recreation professionals contributed significant time and effort in the process. We used and converted published
data where it existed, but that accounted for only about 20 percent of the total. Students in my park operations class
were assigned communities; 4-Hers, trail
associations, city clerks, and school secretaries also provided data. There are over
600 communities in Kansas. Fewer than
2 percent of these boast park and recreation staff with GIS expertise. We solved
the lack of GIS knowledge by developing
an online editor. Still, I spent hundreds of
hours on the phone, emailing, and doing
on-site fact-finding-just filling in the holes.
Once we had a statewide data set, it
seemed a logical next step to convert it to
the PRORAGIS model. It was easy for me
to do most of the conversion for agencies,
as I was most familiar with the data. The
intent was to make the process simpler for
them. Agencies don't have to start from
scratch but have 95 percent of their data
in the system. Now they can use the online
editor to add specifics and updates.
I was partly motivated to convert to
the PRORAGIS model because I could
see Kansas serving as somewhat of a pilot study. We have already started the
analysis phase that should be comparable nationwide. We have just completed
a statewide proximity study of access to
physical activity (by city class) and expect
to follow that with an analysis of proximity to natural experiences. We also have
RecFinder, an online, interactive service
that allows the public to conveniently find
parks, trails, and other recreational experiences. We are now planning significant
upgrades to that service: adding mobile
applications and user-generated content.

2. What advice do you have for
prospective NRPA volunteers?
We have a great network of caring professionals, so you have plenty of partners.
I've always felt this was a team effort. I'm
not really a GIS specialist, so I had to rely
on others for the next level of expertise. It
grew from there with many people contributing in various fashions; some with

66 Parks & Recreation D E C E M B E R

funding, some with technical expertise,
others with agency contacts.

3. What rewards/challenges have
you encountered as a NRPA
volunteer?
The greatest reward for me has been
being part of a team that just scored a
touchdown. Professionals at all levels
of government nationwide, as well as at
NRPA, have taken a concept and made
something great out of it. What started as
an enhanced asset inventory has turned
into a sophisticated professional benchmarking service and wonderful planning
tool, and then into an interactive " help me
find a quality experience " search engine
for the public. It is now endorsed by health
professionals and private enterprise, with
other supporters coming on board.

Being recognized in this volunteer
spotlight for my involvement certainly is
appreciated and rewarding in itself.
The greatest challenge has been patience. This process of developing a mature national database will take several
years, not months.

4. What do you want to give by being
a volunteer?
I always tell my students that you become a
true professional when you start giving back.
To me it is just personal; I never liked the idea
of not being an integral part of something.
Being part of NRPA to me is committees
and service and work sessions and presenting. It seems like a way of contributing to the
greater good; and that is why I chose this
profession in the first place.
-Interview by Maureen Hannan

National Research Center Partnership
NRPA is excited to introduce a new partnership with the
National Research Center (NRC) that will enable NRPA
members to administer the Parks and Recreation Community
Survey (PARCS) and the Community Assessment Survey for
Older Adults (CASOA).
The Park and Recreation Community Survey can help your
agency put its resources into the right programs by answering
important questions about facilities, program quality, and who
are your most active populations. The Community Assessment
Survey for Older Adults is a strategic planning and evaluation
tool to help develop programs and empower communities by
developing projections of your population's future needs and
communicating the needs of your older adult community.
These customizable mailed surveys will provide you with data
to evaluate your programs, facilities, and policies and improve
your service and communication to your populations. Your
results are comparable with results from other communities,
so you can see how you measure up to your neighboring
communities.
NRC also provides customer service and research consultation
to help you get the best results. For more information visit the
www.nrpa.org/nrc.

2 0 1 1 w w w . N R P A . O R G

December 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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