What We Do

For campus recreation professionals

Fund tools and training for campus recreation professionals to better recognize students and staff in distress and provide the necessary support to help these individuals.

Fund initiatives that strengthen collaborations with mental health professionals on campus in support of integrated wellbeing and addressing the prevalence of mental health concerns on campus.

For the campus community

Fund a marketing (awareness) campaign aimed at increasing the understanding among college students about the positive impacts of play and movement on their physical and mental health. 1) Make the connection between good physical, mental, and overall health to higher GPA and graduation rates, as well as fostering a sense of belonging and friendships. 2) Inspire a generation of college students to instill lifelong healthy habits.

The Foundation knows the impact campus recreation programs and professionals have on student success; but that doesn’t always resonate with potential partners and other campus entities. The Foundation will fund updated data and reports that support the value of campus recreation.

NIRSA has published reports demonstrating the impact of campus recreation on student success. These include The Value of Recreational Sports in Higher Education (2004), also known as the Kerr-Downs Report; The Benefits of Campus Recreation (Forrester, 2014); and Leadership in Intramural Sports and Club Sports (Dugan, 2014).

The field has significantly changed over the past 10 years, and it is important to update these data sets and conclusions. Based on the track record of the previous reports, this is a highly valued tool that campus recreation professionals have used to enhance and advance their programs and impact. The Foundation would like to fund an industry wide data set and report as well as designate a portion of the funding to address the specific context for smaller schools and HBCU’s.

The professional pipeline in (and out) of campus recreation has seen more rapid turnover and diversification in recent years. It’s critical to invest in the development of our mid-level professionals, who are now entering these positions with more varied backgrounds and as such, face new challenges and operating environments.

For Mid-Level Professionals

Quality leadership development for mid-level professionals is time and resource intensive and they deserve our very best. The Foundation would like to support our future Directors by increasing educational offerings targeting this group while at the same time, decreasing or eliminating financial barriers to these crucial leadership development opportunities.

For Professionals from Adjacent Fields

There is a need to expand NIRSA’s education portfolio to accommodate a range of non-traditional entry points to the field. By providing education tailored to these professionals, we can better support their career success and better support departments (institutional members) with highly trained staff. The Foundation will provide financial resources to accelerate the development of these new education opportunities for those joining the field from other industries.