Field Interview Paper Description
RLS 105 – Recreation Management

Interviewee Form due to Dr. Rolloff on February 10 in class
Paper Due Date:  February 19 in class

What’s this for?  Project Objective:  To provide students in RLS 105 with 1:1 in person contact with recreation managers in the work-setting to discuss management issues with a professional in the field. 

Who am I supposed to interview?  While it would be best for you to visit with someone in your specific emphasis area of the recreation major, (e.g. a director of a therapeutic recreation program at Kaiser Hospital, program director at an Outward Bound school), any manager is acceptable as long as they are in a supervisory position, with heavier administrative and operational authority.  This means they are responsible for creating and managing budgets, supervising numerous personnel, responsible for the image of an agency, etc.  All interviews must be approved by Dr. Rolloff so you must hand in the Interviewee Form. 

General Outline: 
The interview questions you ask your professional recreation manager can take any number of forms (you’ll need to write out questions so they’re in your own words), but do include the following areas as part of your information collection:   

•	Job title, job description
•	Preparation for their job (schooling, training)
•	Professional associations they belong to and find useful
•	What they like, dislike about their job
•	Description of authority (where they fit into the organization’s structure)
•	What kinds of planning their job involves
•	Operations and fiscal responsibilities
•	Personnel involvements
•	Risk management and liability issues
•	Evaluation procedures they’re involved in 
•	Overall, their perspective on what makes for an effective recreation manager

Don’t follow the above like a laundry list, or you’ll likely bore your interviewee to death!  Use these as suggestions for the content of your interview, and use your best social sensibilities to conduct an interview that is conversational in tone.  If you’re nervous, remember that people love to talk about themselves, so they’ll often easily talk during the interview.  

This paper can be a terrific entrée for you to gain access into someone’s work environment, so if you’re thinking of checking out a potential internship site, this could be the perfect excuse to call someone and request an informative interview.   Remember that you’re also a representative of yourself, as well as CSUS’ Department of Recreation & Leisure Studies, so dressing appropriately for the interview is important.  

At the beginning of the interview, it will be critical for you to professionally state that all material that is discussed will be confidential and used only for the purpose of the paper for RLS 105, and that the interviewee’s responses will not be released outside of the context of the paper.  

If you decide to record the interview, as the person if it is okay for you to tape the interview.  Even if you decide to record the interview, be sure to take careful notes, anyway.  Often taped conversations are difficult to understand.  

When you’ve finished your interview, I would strongly suggest a goal of writing the 1st draft of your paper within 24 hours of the interview.  Often details can be lost in memory, or the spirit of the interview forgotten, so it’s a good idea to write-up as soon as possible.  

If your interview is particularly interesting or compelling, feel free to ask your interviewee if she/he would ever be interested in visiting with RLS 105.  Then if they say so, pass along the person’s name to Dr. Rolloff.  

Papers will be graded using the guidelines in the Field Interview Evaluation Form.