Eppley Institute director named 2008 fellow for work with parks, recreation

The American Academy for Park and Recreation Association, a group of professionals devoted to promoting the park and recreation field, inducted Stephen A. Wolter, executive director of the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public, as a 2008 fellow.

“It’s quite an honor,” Wolter said. “It’s very rewarding when your peers nominate you and then another group of peers says you’ve contributed significantly to your profession. You feel elated.”

Steven K. Messerli, AAPRA president, said Wolter, one of seven others inducted into the academy, was introduced at the academy’s annual meeting as part of the National Park and Recreation Association Annual Congress and Exposition in October.

“(The new members) swore in that they would uphold the bylaws and help promote the mission and purpose of the academy,” Messerli said.

The AAPRA’s main goals include promoting the park and recreation field through working with educators and practitioners for professional certification and program consulting services, said Chuck Wilt, AARPA president at the time of Wolter’s induction.

“Something (AAPRA is) working on right now is public awareness of park and recreation as an essential service across the nation,” Wilt said. “It’s something that people take for granted. ... Good parks and good trails are major attractions for Indiana.”

Messerli said the academy also works toward bettering higher education in the park and recreation field.

“We conduct research with universities in conjunction with practitioners,” Messerli said. “We’re doing what people learn in school (and) take those experiences so we can implement practice into curriculum.”

The AAPRA consists of 125 active members, 25 percent of whom come from academia, Messerli said. Gaining membership status requires a minimum 15 years experience as a leader in park and recreation, nomination from an academy member and various other criteria evaluated by a nominating committee through a questionnaire.

“Park and recreation is complex,” Wilt said. “We manage difficult facilities (and need to know) engineering and architecture. We build our staff with people who have that kind of knowledge.”

Wolter exhibited the proper credentials, Wilt and Messerli said.

“He’s a true park and recreation professor,” Wilt said. “He not only has a practitioner background but also has made his mark nationally with the Eppley Institute and is recognized all over the country as one of the best.”

The projects Wolter said he  finds the most personally rewarding are those in small Indiana communities.

Wolter serves as executive director of the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, provides training for local, state and national park and recreation programs along with teaching leadership, philanthropy, planning, public policy and information technology classes at IU.

“This career has given me lots of rewarding opportunities to contribute to Indiana University and also to communities and parks across the country,” Wolter said.