Megan Locker
Brock University

What do you see as opportunities in collegiate recreation and our Association? How would you collaborate with the Member Network team to address these issues?

An opportunity I see specifically within NIRSA Canada is ensuring that all members and non-members understand the benefits of NIRSA, how to communicate those benefits as well as how easy it is to get involved. Until speaking to past NIRSA Member Representatives and getting involved myself, I did not realize how accessible getting involved could be and also how eager current and past NIRSA Member Representatives are to talk about their experiences. Campus recreation has and will continue to be a profession where the sharing of ideas and insights is done so why wouldn’t the sharing of personal experiences within the Association be included as well? One goal is to create an experiences page or site that includes answers from an exit survey from past NIRSA Member Representatives. Having a region specific webinar regarding NIRSA and NIRSA involvement can also be of great benefit provided promotion and attendance from current non-members. Of course, this is the beginning of an opportunity and will rely heavily on current and past Member Network representatives to see if they agree with sharing their experiences publicly.

Another opportunity I see currently is increasing collaboration across the Association on research and evidence based proof of the benefits of campus recreation. The Association did a great job with the Value of Campus Recreation graphics that were created, especially at such a needed time with institutions adjusting to COVID-19. Next steps would be to coordinate between Health Sciences professors/researchers (Recreation & Leisure studies, Sports Management, Kinesiology etc.) and recreation staff to determine what research, new or continued, would be most beneficial for campus recreation staff to use to find gaps in programming or increase understanding of the value of campus recreation.

In describing your contributions to NIRSA, identify how your involvement and experiences meet the position criteria and qualify you to serve NISRA in this role.

In the past two years I have increased my involvement within NIRSA by becoming the lead on the Research & Assessment working group, contributing to the Canadian Leadership Team and being one of two Canadian representatives on last years Virtual Regional Conference hosted December 2021. The regional conference planning committee was made up of representatives from all regions within NIRSA which allowed me to work with professionals all across the nation and create connections that will be useful as the Canada regional representative. Last year the research and assessment working group created and disseminate a survey to all institutions to gauge the ability to conduct research and assessments within our own institutions. We since have shared that data and are working to find ways for recreation professionals to more easily be able to conduct research on their campus.

I have been fortunate in being able to attend and present at the formerly ECCRC (Eastern Canada Campus Recreation Conference) annual professional recreation conferences before Canada became its own region within NIRSA in 2017. In 2018 I was able to bring two students with me to the NIRSA Ontario Student Lead On Conference hosted by Centennial College. I could see how this conference energized and enthused the students in attendance and re-emphasized to me the importance of using student staff and building our young leaders. With help and support from student staff, co-workers and the institution, Brock University was able to successfully host the 2019 Student Lead On Conference. With taking a lead role in hosting the conference there was the need for constant communication with other organizers, collaboration with university associates and promotion of the conference to potential attendees.

Please share your ideas for engaging volunteers and identifying leaders in your region.

Do you know how many committees there are in NIRSA? Did you know you can join different NIRSA communities based on job and personal interests? Are you receiving NIRSA Digest emails with new discussion posts within the communities that you are a member of? Are you aware NIRSA holds different institutes to increase member professional development?

All of these questions and more I want to be sure that all NIRSA members know, understand and are comfortable with when they become a member. I would like to create a “new member user guide” that answers all questions new members may have. This will involve reaching out to current members and finding out what they wished they knew when they first joined NIRSA.

Another first step to engage volunteers is to encourage students and staff at all institutions to participate in conferences and NIRSA events. Until I was asked if Brock may be interested in hosting the NIRSA Ontario Student Lead On, it did not even cross my mind. I then reached out to my supervisor and the rest is history! It was a great experience personally and professionally and I want more members know how realistic it is to get involve and volunteer (without needing to host a conference, just even present at a conference).