Accreditation

Accreditation

Council on Accreditation COAPRTFrostburg State University’s Recreation and Parks Management Program received initial accreditation in 2000. Currently, the program is accredited by the Council on Accreditation for Parks, Recreation, Tourism, and Related Professions (COAPRT). COAPRT accredits baccalaureate programs in parks, recreation, tourism, sport management, event management, therapeutic recreation, and leisure studies offered at regionally accredited institutions within the United States and its territories, and at nationally accredited institutions in Canada and Mexico. In turn, COAPRT is accredited by the Council on Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).

COART Annual Reports: 2023 Annual Report | 2022 Annual Report | 2021 Annual Report

Student Benefits from Accreditation

Accreditation is an assurance of quality in education. By earning your degree from an accredited program, students can earn a degree that is designed to prepare them for entry into the recreation and parks discipline. The accreditation process is designed to provide students with experiential experiences, hands-on training, active engagement in the community, and an up-to-date curriculum delivered by quality educators.

Suggested Additional Evidence of Compliance

The institution is required by COAPRT to publish aggregated results of learning outcomes or assessment results indicating the quality of the program. The following is a sampling of these materials.

  • Using a six year average, the program graduates 28 students per year. There is a 97% completion rate for majors.

  • The average student teaching evaluations for the Department are 4.61 on a five point scale. This is on par with the College of Education (4.61) and the University (4.64).

  • The program conducts an academic advising survey of senior level students. Overall, 81% of the students rated their academic advising as very good. In response to the question that “My advisor assisted me in developing a plan which moved me toward graduation in a timely manner,” 79% of the students strongly agreed and 21% of the students agreed with the statement. In response to the question that “My advisor assisted me in linking my career goals or what I want to do when I graduate with the curriculum (e.g. courses, conferences attended, field experiences, etc.),” 79% of the students strongly agreed and 21% agreed with the statement.

There are three learning objectives for the program based on the COAPRT 7.00 accreditation standards. The learning goals are subdivided into three domains. The first relates to the foundations of the profession. The second focuses on programming, and the third focuses on management and utilizes the CPRP professional certification and CAPRA accreditation standards as a basis for the assessment. The assessment program was implemented in 2012.

  • Utilizing the fourteen assessment indicators to assess the overall program, the assessment of the overall program was above the 70% level for each year.

  • Foundation Learning Outcome – In three of the past four years, the assessment indicators were above the 70% criteria. The three assessment subcategories were the nature and scope of the profession, techniques of professionals, and the foundations of the profession.

  • Programming Learning Outcomes – In all four of the past years, the assessment indicators were above the 70% criteria. The four assessment indicators were program design, program implementation, program evaluation, and cultural dimensions affecting programs.

  • Management Learning Outcomes – In all four of the past years, the assessment indicators were above the 70% criteria. The seven assessment indicators based on the CAPRA accreditation standards were agency, planning, administration, human resources, financial, facilities and land use, and risk management.

As part of its assessment plan, practitioners in the field who are supervising student interns assess the ability of the program to prepare students for entry into the field. This is an overall program evaluation. Students are assessed in terms of the previous discussed learning objectives used to assess the program: foundations, programming, and administration. The second assessment by practitioner internship supervisors is on the CPRP (Certified Park and Recreation Professional) dimensions used in the certification process. These dimensions are financial, human resources, operations, and program. This component in the assessment plan was implemented in 2015.

  • On the composite indicator as well as each of the three subcategories, the practitioner internship supervisors evaluated all students (100%) as having met the three learning objectives necessary for entry into the field.

  • On the composite indicator as well as each of the four CPRP subcategories, the practitioner internship supervisors evaluated all students (100%) as having met the four CPRP learning objectives necessary for entry into the field.

Be Aware of Degree Mills

As part of the accreditation process, the program has the responsibility to inform the public about the harm of degree mills and accreditation mills. The following statement is important information about degree mills.

CHEA requires accredited institutions to inform the public about “degree and accreditation mills.” Cautions concerning these are summarized in a video that can be viewed at the CHEA website. According to CHEA, Degree mills and accreditation mills mislead and harm. In the United States, degrees and certificates from mills may not be acknowledged by other institutions when students seek to transfer or go to graduate school. Employers may not acknowledge degrees and certificates from degree mills when providing tuition assistance for continuing education. “Accreditation” from an accreditation mill can mislead students and the public about the quality of an institution. In the presence of degree mills and accreditation mills, students may spend a good deal of money and receive neither an education nor a usable credential. Read more on CHEA’s website.

University Accreditation

Frostburg State University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (267.284.5000). The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.