Outdoor Orientation Program Symposium.
April 23rd, 2010 at Camp Kieve in Nobleboro, Maine.
The Outdoor Orientation Program Symposium (OOPS) is a meeting of program directors, school administrators, student leaders, researchers, and land managers interested in and/or currently working with college outdoor orientation programs.
OOPS provides two conferences a year both aimed at meeting the needs of program directors. The conference in the spring has a special focus on gathering student leaders with program directors for a fast paced day of learning and discussion.
This Spring's conference at Camp Kiev will focus on the outdoor orientation as a positive social situation influencing student success in college. The theme allows for a deeper look and understanding on how outdoor orientation programs can create “just communities” and positive peer groups. Peer groups are highly influential to college students in transition. Studies demonstrates significant gains in learning when certain types of peer interactions occur, such as serious discussions of ideas or ideals.
This conference will focus on understanding how student leaders create just communities highlighting some of the unique and truly impressive program features from a variety of college programs. Highlights include programs that use the best risk management practices and systems, programs that have developed great staff training programs, devised ingenious marketing programs, and programs that have successfully integrated academic curriculum into an outdoor orientation program.
If you have a camp based orientation program, or an wilderness based orientation program, this conference is specifically geared to meet your needs
Whether you have attended OOPS for several years or this is your first time, we welcome you to join us in an effort to provide exceptional orientation experiences for college students.
OOPS operates as a pre-conference to the Association of Experiential Education. Although we encourage participants to also register for the AEE conference, it is NOT a requirement to participate in OOPS. The regional AEE conference provides a way to continue discussions and also learn relevant program information aimed at a broader audience of experiential education program directors and staff.
The cost for OOPS is $85 for professional staff and $35 for students. Lunch is provided.
Registration and information for OOPS is located at the AEE Website:
http://northeast.aee.org/conferences/preconference
Questions can be directed to this springs conference convener, Brent Bell, University of New Hampshire, bbell@unh.edu.
Brent Bell
Assistant Prof. of Outdoor Education
Dept. of Kinesiology
University of New Hampshire
(603)862-3047
bbell@unh.edu
