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ARCHIVES
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Feb/Mar 2003
March 28, 2003
Vol. 2
Issue 3
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February 7, 2003
Vol. 2
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December 20, 2002
Vol. 1
Issue 11
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November 26, 2002
Vol. 1
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October 29, 2002
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September 5, 2002
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July 29, 2002
Vol. 1
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June 28, 2002
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May 23, 2002
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April 2002
April 17, 2002
Vol. 1
Issue 1
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Changes Coming: Where to Next?
By Dr. Joseph Fridgen, MTB Editor
 In prior columns we have noted that changes are underway at MSU. We talked about how the Center and three academic departments, including the Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources, were being integrated to form a new unit. That process continues and we want to bring you up to date on the latest developments.
First, the Travel, Tourism and Recreation Resource Center will become part of the Department of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources July 1, 2003. This will make the Center a unit within the Department for planning and operational purposes. Dr. Holecek is busy with the Center Staff developing strategies for dealing with the budget cuts for the coming year.
In the last week, the Dean has appointed a “transition leader” to lead the integration process. As the Dean noted, he was “pleased to announce that Dr. Janet Bokemeier, Associate Director of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, has agreed to serve as transition director for the integration of the ANRECS; Resource Development; and Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources Departments.” She will work with the current Chairs of the three departments to develop the plans and programs for the new unit. Later in fall semester, she will become Interim Chair of the new unit and serve in that capacity until a new chair is appointed sometime in 2004. It is anticipated that the new unit would be developed and operating by July 1, 2004. In the coming months, faculty and staff will have to plan the new unit, develop supporting documents and begin to merge budgets lines and operational processes.
As noted in the news release from the Dean’s office, “Jan Bokemeier has been a professor of sociology at MSU since 1991, and is considered among the top rural sociologists in the nation in the study of the intersection of gender, work and family in rural America. She has a wide range of administrative experience, having served as co-director of FACT (Families and Communities Together), associate director of the MSU Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, and as the institute’s director of evaluation. Dr. Bokemeier received the MSU Distinguished Faculty Award in 1996, and twice received the Social Science Faculty Initiative Award from the College of Social Sciences (‘95 and ‘96). She has also been awarded numerous national recognitions, including national honoraries from Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta (agriculture) and Alpha Kappa Delta (sociology). Prior to her affiliation with MSU, Dr. Bokemeier was assistant professor, associate professor, professor and chairperson in the Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University, and both her master's degree in sociology/education and her bachelor's degree in home economics/sociology from Western Illinois University.”
Finally, I want to share my future plans with you. After 25 years, a rich and full 25 years, I will retire from MSU. I will be leaving campus later this year completing a wonderful chapter in my life. While I am finishing this chapter, at the same time, I have accepted the position as Chair of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. It is a unique opportunity for me to continue serving in leadership roles in recreation and tourism and to come to know another great recreation and tourism state.
Departures allow retrospectives and “wild “ speculation. Indulge me in a few observations. Over 20 years ago, we held a statewide conference on tourism sponsored by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. In the proceedings we offered a plan for the future that included academic and research investments in the industry. We accomplished many of those goals through recessions, oil shortages, and economic downturns. We produced several generations of scholars and managers who are in the profession today around the world.
As the new unit takes shape, faculty and staff of the new program will have to address new challenges. There will be many. I could list many from labor issues to leadership, from political support to fragmented interests, to the lack of funding. But, it is my hope and contention that MSU will be there to define that agenda, to find answers and to move the industry to new levels of success.
You need to be involved, to care and to be active. It will take active partnerships to make a difference in the years ahead. I have enjoyed those partnerships for many years. It will be my pleasure to watch the industry, MSU and emerging new partnerships from the coastal plains of North Carolina.
Thank you.
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