COAPRT Announcement on COVID-19: Update March 13, 2020

All Programs

The Council on Accreditation of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Related Professions is monitoring the evolving status of the COVID-19 pandemic. The health and safety of students, institutional employees, and COAPRT volunteers and staff are of top priority. In response, Council has adopted the following measures:

1. In consideration of guidance offered by the CDC pertaining to Colleges and Universities, all Spring 2020 visitations are postponed to the Fall 2020 semester.  Council staff will work with program representatives and visit teams over the next few weeks to reschedule visitation dates. Council anticipates scheduling program hearings via video conferencing at a special time to be determined.

2. Council recognizes there may be disruptions in internships due to employer and/or institutional requirements. The stem of Standard 7.04 reads:
   
   "​Students graduating from the program shall demonstrate, through a comprehensive internship of not less than 400 clock hours and no fewer than 10 weeks, the potential to succeed as professionals at supervisory or higher levels in park, recreation, tourism, or related organizations."
   
   Council encourages programs to work with students and internship site supervisors to facilitate student fulfillment of educational requirements, as defined by their respective institution. Should a program encounter challenges meeting Standard 7.04 due to the current crisis, the council advises the program to internally maintain records on the following information:

   1. Impact on student learning outcomes pertaining to standard 7.04.

   2. Efforts to address standard 7.04, including accommodations made.

3. Council recognizes challenges, which are currently unknown, may develop as this crisis continues to unfold. Fortunately, the existing accreditation process allows for Council to address the situation. The following guidance is offered:

   1. For programs scheduled for review in 2021: The Program should use the Self-Study to explain how crisis-related issues impacting specific COAPRT Standards were addressed.

   2. For programs NOT scheduled for review in 2021: The Program should use the Annual Report to explain how crisis-related issues impacting specific COAPRT Standards were addressed.

4. Programs are reminded they are accountable to Council ONLY for issues impacting COAPRT Standards. Programs need not be concerned with accountability to COAPRT for crisis response issues unrelated to the accreditation process.

Finally, Council wishes each program the best possible success in navigating this global crisis. COAPRT will continue to monitor the situation and provide information as necessary. This announcement and other COAPRT news can be found on the COAPRT website at https://accreditationcouncil.org/About/News. Should you have questions, feel free to contact the Council Staff Liaison at coaprt@accreditationcouncil.org. 

Sincerely,

Syd Sklar, Ph.D., CTRS
COAPRT Chair