December 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 50

NRPA Update

Accreditation Anniversaries
CAPRA and COAPRT accreditation standards have been around for
decades now, with 2014 marking major birthday milestones for both
By Brenda Beales

RPA's accreditation programs celebrated two milestones in 2014.
The Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies
(CAPRA) celebrated its 20th anniversary, while the Council on Accreditation Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT)
celebrated its 40th anniversary.
CAPRA, which implements and
administers the agency accreditation
process, was established in 1993, and
the first six agencies were accredited
in 1994. Five of those initial agencies
were granted continuing accreditation at the 2014 CAPRA hearings.
Enjoying 20 years of CAPRA accreditation are: City of Scottsdale
Parks and Recreation in Arizona;
Parish of East Baton Rouge (BREC)
Recreation and Park Commission in
Louisiana; City of Roseville Parks
and Recreation in Minnesota; Monmouth County Park System in New
Jersey; and City of Plano Parks and
Recreation in Texas.
" As we have reached our 20th year,
CAPRA is now more important than
ever, " says Sara Hensley, park and
recreation director for Austin, Texas, and CAPRA chair. " It is imperative that city and county park and
recreation agencies, as well as park
districts, continue to show the essential nature of what we do. Agency
accreditation is a huge factor in not
only best practices development and
operations, but it assists with articulation of our importance to a community. "
The CAPRA standards provide
an authoritative assessment tool for
agencies. CAPRA accreditation assures that an accredited park and
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recreation agency has been independently evaluated against established benchmarks as delivering a
high level of quality. Each agency's
accreditation is revisited every five
years. Within each of the four years
between onsite visits, the agency will
submit an annual report that addresses its continued compliance with the
accreditation standards. Currently
there are 135 accredited agencies.
The Council on Accreditation was
formed in 1974 and changed its name
to the Council on Accreditation Parks,
Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions (COAPRT) in 2009. Accreditation is granted to an institution or a

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program that meets or exceeds stated
criteria of educational quality. Accreditation has two fundamental purposes:
to assure program quality and assist in
program improvement. A further benefit to the accredited program is broader
recognition in the academic community and the professional field. COAPRT
is recognized by the Council for Higher
Education Accreditation (CHEA), an
accrediting body for higher education.
The Council held its first meeting
in October 1974. Recreation and
park educators and practitioners had
been working on the development
of a plan and evaluative criteria for
many years. This development included a trial run and evaluation of
the process at four institutions. The
first program to be accredited was
North Carolina State University's
Department of Recreation Resources Administration in 1977. Currently
there are 81 accredited programs.
North Carolina State University Associate Professor Candace
Vick recently stated, " As we celebrate our 40th year, undergraduate
program accreditation is as relevant
as ever. COAPRT accreditation
provides a rigorous, consistent and
comprehensive process ensuring students, families, employers and the
public that those enrolled in accredited parks, recreation, tourism,
recreation therapy and related programs are provided a quality education. COAPRT accreditation continues to be a mark of excellence. "
Brenda Beales is NRPA's Awards and
Accreditation Manager (bbeales@nrpa.org).

December 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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