Press Release
December 12, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kelly Bricker
U of U Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Joins The International Ecotourism Society Consortium
Salt Lake City - The Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism has joined The International Ecotourism Society (TIES). University membership in TIES qualifies the Department to offer the prestigious TIES University Consortium Field Certificate (TIES-UCFC). U of U becomes one of the first universities nationwide to offer the TIES-University Consortium Field Certificate (UCFC) to their students.
The vision of TIES is to harness the connection between communities, conservation and sustainable tourism, and to promote sustainability practices worldwide through ecotourism. The TIES UCFC program is designed to foster the education of tourism professionals and fits perfectly with the U’s newly defined commitment to sustainability for not only students interested in professional careers in travel, but also sustainable business, landscape architecture, and environmental studies, to name just a few. In future years TIES membership may pave the way for further course expansion into the ecotourism and sustainability perspective of recreation education.
TIES-UCFC offers a wide variety of student-based benefits as well. In addition to the UCFC program, each student within the PRT and other departments are now eligible for individual TIES membership at a reduced student fee. Beyond these basic perks, TIES offers internships, resume building, experiential education and volunteer opportunities, discounts on TIES publications, networking, and job placement assistance and recommendations after graduation.
The U’s PRT department sees TIES-UCFC as an integral component to the future of professional development in sustainable tourism. “This is an opportunity for students of all disciplines to link with the sustainable travel industry in a multidisciplinary way. We believe TIES and the university certificate program offer our students a unique advantage in positioning themselves for careers in sustainable tourism. We also see this as a terrific networking opportunity with other programs across the country in building a sustainable tourism focused consortium of academicians and students. This is an opportunity increase our link with professionals focused on sustainable tourism and ecotourism in the US and abroad,” says Bricker.
Other universities participating in the UCFC are Cal Poly University, North Carolina State University, West Virginia University, University of Minnesota. Further information on TIES and UCFC can be found at: http://www.ecotourism.org