Dr. Stuart Schleien.
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 6-7-07
Dr. Stuart Schleien is passionate about inclusive recreation programs, programs that enable individuals with developmental disabilities to take part in the arts, sports and other activities alongside individuals without disabilities.
“These programs empower people,” he said. “They empower individuals with developmental disabilities to be active members of their communities.”
Schleien, head of the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management in the School of Health and Human Performance, will use a new four-year, $761,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare students to work in this field as certified therapeutic recreation specialists.
“This grant is a natural extension of the important work Dr. Schleien has been conducting in support of individuals with disabilities,” said Dr. David Perrin, dean of the School of Health and Human Performance. “The magnitude of this award from the U.S. Department of Education is testimony to the national and international reputation he holds as a leading scholar in his field.”
Schleien brings to the project more than 25 years of experience directing similar research and training grants. He also brings his experiences as the father of a child with severe disabilities, who died in 1990.
The grant from the DOE’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services will provide graduate assistantships and tuition assistance to eight graduate students and 25 undergraduates in the department. In addition to their coursework, the students will train with exemplary agencies across the country and a new community inclusion program that will bring transition-age individuals (14-26 years old) with developmental disabilities onto the UNCG campus.
“This grant will help us prepare inclusion facilitators and advocates for community recreation and sports programs,” Schleien said. “It will help make these programs more welcoming and accommodating of people with varying abilities.”
The Therapeutic Recreation and Inclusive Networks, or TRAIN, project funded by the grant should help reverse a recent decline in new professional certifications for therapeutic recreation specialists in North Carolina. Between 2003 and 2005, the number of new certifications dropped from 603 to 497.
The project will support the Department of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality Management in becoming a technical resource center for inclusive recreation and physical activity, one in touch with a national network of the most successful inclusive agencies in the field, Schleien said.
Schleien came to UNCG in 1997 as a professor and head of his department after 15 years as a professor at the University of Minnesota. A certified and licensed therapeutic recreation specialist himself, he has helped parents and professionals design inclusive recreation, sports, friendship and volunteer programs for children and adults with developmental disabilities. His research has focused on recreation and friendship skills development, and on the social inclusion of individuals with significant disabilities in community settings.
Kimberly Miller, who holds a master’s degree in parks and recreation management from UNCG, will serve as project coordinator. She has spent the past six years coordinating Partnership FIVE (Fostering Inclusive Volunteer Efforts). That community partnership recruited and supported volunteers with disabilities to work alongside volunteers without disabilities in community nonprofits throughout Guilford County and the state of North Carolina.
