Join AORE Leadership and members as we come together to discuss industry current events, challenges and member questions.

This session is a first-hand account of leading a program into discontinuance. One year after the Covid-19 pandemic, the Recreation and Leisure Studies Department at Ithaca College was identified by college administration for discontinuance. A college wide program review determined the department would no longer be part of Ithaca College’s program portfolio. This session will attempt to share lessons learned from this experience including shedding light on antecedents to discontinuance, steps taken and mistakes made during the review process, challenges with leading a department into sunset, and thoughts toward the future for this and similar programs.
The second half of our chat is an open forum. We invite you to bring your current challenges, successes, questions, and experiences. As a collective group, we will determine the path of discussion the forum takes and provide opportunities for members to support each other through shared experiences.

Meet the presenter, Patrick Lewis:

Patrick Lewis is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at Ithaca College. Dr. Lewis has led the Outdoor Adventure Leadership major and Immersion Semester Program for since 2012. In this capacity, Dr. Lewis developed and maintained a dynamic and successful collaboration with Outward Bound integrating theory and practice. Areas of scholarly interest include leadership development, risk management, curriculum design and self-care. As a proud leisure professional, Dr. Lewis values playing cars with his children, watching Bluey episodes on pizza Friday, riding bikes, and playing golf… lots of golf!



This event is free for AORE members and $25 for not yet members. 
If you are interested in learning about AORE benefits and how to join, please click here.