Recreation and Leisure Services Students Collaborate with Professionals to Solve Industry Challenges
First-year Customer Service Excellence and Quality Management students from the Recreation and Leisure Services program collaborated with the Town of Caledon's Recreation Community Services Department and the City of Toronto's Recreation Facilities Parks and Forestry & Recreation Department in tackling industry challenges.
Ryan Giles from the Town of Caledon and Anthony De Laurentis from the City of Toronto attended class early on to present current recreation sector challenges surrounding youth safe spaces, reconnecting older adults during COVID-19, and welcoming newcomers. Professor Sherri Branscombe invited the industry partners to class for the students to hear from professionals about the challenges they face.
The students worked hard to prepare creative solutions and infographics that were presented to the guests in a virtual presentation several weeks later. The guests were impressed with the practical options and realistic solutions based on their research, evidence, and creativity.
All of the students felt that it was an incredible experience to have their ideas heard by the industry in solving current challenges. They also benefited from real challenges, scenarios, and feedback from the industry partners. The partners also helped ensure that the Customer Service Excellence and Quality Management class was current and well connected to the recreation sector.
