Textbooks and Course Materials

There are two course textbooks:

Manning, R. (1999). Studies in Outdoor Recreation: Search and Research for Satisfaction. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press.

McCool, S. and Cole, F., comps. (1997). Proceedings-Limits of Acceptable Change and Related Planning Processes: Progress and Future Directions. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report INT-371.

The GMU Bookstore will mail the textbooks to you upon registration and payment of tuition. If you have not received the packet within two weeks of registration, please notify Lisa Reeves in the Distance Learning Program (DLP) office. Lisa can be contacted by email at lreeves1@gmu.edu or by phone at (703) 993-2098.

Additional readings will be accessible in pdf format via hyperlink.

Hardware and Software Requirements

A pentium (or equivalent) computer with at least 32 M of RAM is required for this course. If access to the Internet is via modem, a 28.8bps or faster connection is required. The faster the modem connection, the quicker pages will load. This site is best viewed through Netscape 4.x and Internet Explorer 4.x.

Some of the reading material included in the course is in PDF format. This means the Adobe Acrobat Reader plug-in must be installed to view these documents. Instructions for downloading and installing Adobe Acrobat are on the "Resources" page. Click on the "Resources" button on the navigation bar on the left-hand side of the Web page.

Methods of Instruction

Readings, discussion questions, Internet interactivity, planning project.

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Course Requirements and Grading

Unit Discussion Questions are based on the readings and any other material covered within a particular unit. They require you to think critically (evaluate, synthesize, problem-solve) about planning. You may collaborate with fellow students in framing your answers to the discussion questions. However, your answers to the questions must reflect your unique understanding of the material. Unit questions must be satisfactorily answered prior to proceeding to the next set of questions. It is important that you proceed sequentially through the units because they build upon one another. Once completed, your answers to unit questions are emailed to your instructor of record. The questions themselves can be found at the close of each unit introduction web page.

The Planning Project enables the student to apply course material to an actual natural resource recreation planning problem/issue confronting a resource management agency. You will identify a planning project associated with your organization (or another organization if appropriate) and secure the permission of your supervisor and the planning project manager to assist in the planning effort. Students will prepare a proposal of 2-3 pages in length within eight weeks of registration describing their role in the planning project in the following terms:

1. the name, title, and phone # of the planning project manager;
2. a brief description of the planning project and what stage of development it is in;
3. your specific responsibilities in the planning project;
4. a timeline for accomplishing your responsibilities; and
5. the planning skills you expect to gain from being involved in the project.

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Upon instructor approval of the proposal, students may begin the project. Students will submit biweekly updates of planning efforts to the instructor as a record of their progress. The final grade for the planning project will be determined based on their biweekly updates and a (minimum) 8-10 page report that chronicles and evaluates your experience as a planner. In your report, describe the planning project, your role in the project, the skills and perspectives you gained, and how you would approach and conduct the planning effort differently based on hindsight. Relevant planning products (e.g., written components of a plan, minutes of planning workshops you may have facilitated, resource assessments, etc.) from the planning effort should be appended to the report. Use the language of planning, which is embedded in your readings, as you write your report.

Please remember that some real-world planning projects take years to complete. This course requires you to be involved in some component, not the entire sequence, of the planning process. Choose some aspect of a planning project in which you can gain new skills, and one that fits into the timetable of the course. Most natural resource planning projects include the following components: resource inventories, public participation/stakeholder involvement, and plan implementation and monitoring.

Finally, if a cohort of students enrolled in the course desire to work together as a planning team, and are permitted to do so by their respective organizations, they should contact the instructor of record to discuss the possibility. Learning can be enhanced through collaboration and we support such efforts on the part of students.

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