Learn more with NIRSA Publications
NIRSA’s publications offer valuable information about the profession of campus recreation, as well as our core competencies and strategic values.
Campus Recreation Essentials: Facility Operations
The effective operation of campus recreation facilities is integral to providing a safe and inclusive environment that promotes physical activity, health, well-being and community engagement among students and other recreation users. Campus Recreation Essentials: Facility Operations leads staff through their crucial roles in programming, scheduling, staffing, budgeting, maintenance and more.
Campus Recreation Essentials: Sport Clubs
Provides a comprehensive look at the administration of a club sports program, from start to finish, for a campus of any size. With guidance on staffing, policies, assessment, funding and more, readers can gain knowledge and confidence in beginning a sport club program or strengthening existing programming.
Campus Recreation Essentials: Student Staff Training & Development
Leads supervisors through the process of creating an intentional, effective training strategy grounded in student development theory. Written with examples of application in the field, guidance of good assessment practices, and suggested learning competencies, there are takeaways for any campus recreation professional.
Campus Recreation Essentials: Intramural Sports
Provides a framework to design and create an effective intramurals program that meets the needs of campus and community participants. From budgeting to policymaking to designing play structures to assessment, this resource is a valuable addition to any rec department library.
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: A resource guide for Leaders in Collegiate Recreation
Created by the NIRSA Commission on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion and edited by Wendy B. Motch-Ellis
NIRSA members now have access to a resource to develop their understanding and application of equity, diversity, and inclusion within campus recreation.
The publication, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: A resource guide for Leaders in Collegiate Recreation, compiles foundational concepts, research-driven best practices, and case studies to help campus recreation professionals develop competencies around EDI – for their own personal and professional growth, as well as for their departments.
268 pages. Available as a digital download.
NIRSA Flag & Touch Football Rules Book & Officials’ Manual
The NIRSA Flag & Touch Football Rules Book & Officials’ Manual was first published in 1983. Its purpose is to provide a standardized code of Rules, interpretations and officials’ mechanics for the sport of flag and touch football, and is sold through the NIRSA Education & Publication Center. The NIRSA Flag Football Editorial Board is responsible for updating and revising the biennial publication.
Recreational Sports Journal
The Recreational Sports Journal (RSJ) is NIRSA’s scholarly publication, a repository of empirical, theoretical, and applied research in the field of recreational sports. Click through to find issues of the RSJ, guidelines for submission, and information on the annual RSJ award.
Standards in Higher Education
The Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education publishes standards for student programs in higher education. NIRSA’s Standards Committee works with the CAS Board to periodically review and update the standards relating to collegiate recreation.
As part of joining NIRSA, our members can receive access to two CAS Standards modules. Currently these are:
- Collegiate Recreation Programs
- Esports Programs
- Health Promotion Services
Learning Reconsidered 2: A Practical Guide to Implementing a Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience
Produced by ACPA, ACUHO-I, ACUI, NACA, NACADA, NASPA, and NIRSA
This publication has been used as an invitation from student affairs educators to their colleagues in other sectors of their institutions to engage in dialogue and planning for institution-wide student learning outcomes. It has become a frequent focus of professional development programs and workshops, and is the topic of many student affairs presentations.
More than 10,000 copies of Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience are in circulation on college and university campuses worldwide. The publication has been used as an invitation from student affairs educators to their colleagues in other sectors of their institutions to engage in dialogue and planning for institution-wide student learning outcomes. It has become a frequent focus of professional development programs and workshops, and is the topic of many student affairs presentations.
Learning Reconsidered: A Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience is a blueprint for action. It shows how to create the dialogue, tools, and materials necessary to put into practice the recommendations in Learning Reconsidered. This companion book brings together new authors, discipline-specific examples, and models for applying the theories in the original publication to move beyond traditional ideas of separate learning inside and outside the classroom.
Synopsis from Amazon.com
Paperback, 88 pages; published May 2006 by Human Kinetics Publishers; ISBN 0931654416 (ISBN13: 9780931654411)
Student Leadership Development Through Recreation and Athletics
Edited by Donald A. Stenta, Ph.D., The Ohio State University and Cara McFadden, Ph.D., Elon University
The Fall 2015 issue of the New Directions in Student Leadership series extends the conversation regarding leadership development that has been taking place among commissioners and other NIRSA members. The book includes a variety of conceptual frameworks, including the Social Change model of Leadership Development, practical approaches for creating leadership education initiatives, discussions of the difficulties students face transitioning from high school to college, and literature and resources for assessing leadership development occurring in recreation and athletics. Collegiate recreation professionals can use this tool when looking to provide concrete, competency-based leadership development outcomes for their students who are engaged with campus recreation.
This publication can be purchased from the Wiley Online Library.
Legacy Publications
The publications linked below were developed and distributed through a partnership with Human Kinetics. While the information may be a bit dated, the content may still be relevant to the campus recreation profession.
