Grinnell College is a private liberal arts and sciences college located in rural Iowa, roughly halfway between Des Moines and Iowa City. With a student-faculty ratio of 9:1, students at Grinnell can benefit from individually advised learning and exciting extracurricular activities. This past fall alone, roughly 12% of the nearly 1,700 students on campus engaged with the outdoor recreation program, headed by Interim Director of the Outdoor Recreation Program and Lecturer Tim Hammond. A NIRSA member who first joined the Association more than 10 years ago, Tim is a campus recreation all-star whose contributions help shape his school’s reputation as one of the hidden ivies.

Tim has been working in campus recreation at Grinnell College for 15 years. During the first 14 years, he was the Associate Head Coach of Women’s and Men’s Swimming and Diving, Natatorium Coordinator, and Director of Intramural Sports. He is currently teaching four sections of rock climbing and a two-credit lecture course on outdoor leadership, while also fulfilling his second appointment as Interim Director of the Outdoor Recreation Program. “We lead at least weekly hiking, biking, or canoeing trips, as well as other unique outdoor experience activities,” he says.

And Tim knows most of the best outdoor recreation spots across Iowa; along with his spouse, he’s recreated in 89 of the state’s 99 counties. An avid swimmer, runner, biker, and cross-country skier to this day, Tim grew up being active outdoors, exploring his family’s farm and playing recreational baseball as a kid. As a teenager, he got a taste of competitive sports too: “I played soccer through high school and ran cross country in my senior year,” he shares. Varsity sports participation would continue for Tim into college when he competed on the swimming and diving team at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He graduated from Luther College with a B.A. in Health and General Wellness with a triple minor in education, Spanish, and environmental studies.

After graduating, Tim landed at various places around the country, mainly teaching environmental education. Wanting to settle down he returned to finish his teaching certification and was asked to coach swimming at his alma mater at the same time. Tim was hired at Grinnell College and completed a graduate certificate in public health from the University of Iowa.

As his tenure at Grinnell College has evolved, NIRSA has been a valued resource and an outlet for him to impress a lasting impact on the profession. While at Grinnell, he completed an M.B.A. with an emphasis in sustainability from Maharishi University and contributed his time and talents as a volunteer on NIRSA’s Sustainability Committee. “I’ve found a great deal of value in the affinity group meetings [the NIRSA caucuses] and the NIRSA Community Digest,” says Tim.

While not every professional working in campus recreation shares the same pathway into the profession, many NIRSA members look back with fondness at their time participating in intramural opportunities with peers in college. Tim was a “fairly avid intramural participant in soccer, flag football, and other sports,” but his standout memory is the “three consecutive broomball championships” his team won while he was at Luther College. As a campus recreation all-star, Tim has been helping hundreds of students make memories at Grinnell College while they lay the foundations for their own careers.

A hallmark of NIRSA’s membership is how generously professionals share experiences and resources. Tim, who often responds to discussion questions posted by peers in the NIRSA Connect online discussion forum, embodies this trait. NIRSA is fortunate to count him among the leaders in collegiate recreation.

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