UNCG’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation was established in 1963. During the 1974-1975 academic year, authorization was granted to establish an autonomous Recreation Division. The name of the Recreation Division was officially changed to the Recreation and Leisure Studies Division in the 1981-1982 academic year. At the beginning of the 1984-1985 academic year, it was granted departmental status. The Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies would change its name in 1990 to the Department of Leisure Studies. The name of the Department was changed to the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism, in the beginning of the 1998-1999 academic year. In the 2000-2001 academic year, the Hospitality Management Program was administratively housed within the Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism. The department was later renamed in 2004 to the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality management. In 2010, the Department of Community and Therapeutic Recreation emerged from the Department of Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Management. Within the Department there are currently two separate and distinct degree programs, the M.S. in Parks and Recreation Management, and the B.S. in Recreation and Park Management. The Department’s undergraduate program has been accredited by the NRPA/AALR Council on Accreditation (currently The Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions – COAPRT) since October 1981.
Department Heads:
Ethel Martus (1963-1971)
Ethel Lawther (1971-1974)
Margaret Mordy(1974-1979)
Rosemary McGee (1979-1980)
Richard Swanson (1980-1983)
Stephen Anderson (1983-1994)
James Sellers (1984-1988,1994-1997)
Benton E. Miles (1994-2001)
Daniel T. Winkler (2001-2005)
Stuart Schleien (1997-current)
Department Names:
School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (1963-1980)
School of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (1980-1983)
Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies (1984-1990)
Department of Leisure Studies (1990-1997)
Department of Recreation, Parks, and Tourism (1997-2004)
Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management (2004-2010)
Department of Community and Therapeutic Recreation (2010-current)