Courses

A Conducted Activity is a prepared, formal program that involves the planned physical movement of an audience from one place to another. To facilitate opportunities for visitors to form their own intellectual and emotional connections to resource meanings, you must strategically plan and integrate visitors’ movement with the development of an idea relevant to the visitors and the resource.

Please note: This course is currently being revised with the National Association for Interpretation. The revised version will be released in October 2017. If you have any questions, please contact Project Manager Nona Henderson at nfcapps@indiana.edu or 812-855-0864.

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Explore the four most important principles of managing wilderness: Preserve Wilderness and Natural Conditions, Protect Wilderness Benefits, Provide and Use the Minimum Necessary, and Manage Wilderness as a Whole.

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This course is designed to assist individuals charged with approving Minimum Requirements Analyses (MRAs). The stories and case studies presented in this course are based on real cases and real MRAs. Learn More

This course is the third in a series of three courses on Cultural Resources Management in Wilderness. It provides a comprehensive overview of the process used to evaluate proposals for scientific activity in wilderness.

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This course, the final course in the Paleontological Resources in Wilderness course of study, discusses the process of evaluating proposals for conducting scientific activity in wilderness and examines the decisions wilderness managers must make in order to preserve wilderness character during such activity.

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Learn about cost estimating, a tool to help key personnel make informed decisions during preliminary budgetary planning. Learn More

A specific step in the Asset Management Process is creating an inventory of all your assets in order to determine the importance of those assets and their condition using a balanced scorecard approach. Learn More

Learn how to conduct condition assessments, the first step in addressing maintenance backlogs and more efficiently managing your facility. Learn More

Build a foundational understanding of facility management practices, particularly as they apply to parks and public lands agencies. The course follows the Asset Management Process, an approach used by the National Park Service. Learn More

This course focuses on the concept of a “scope of work” and explains how a good scope of work sets the rules for a project and makes an accurate cost estimate possible. Learn More

All over the world docents, park guides, and naturalists at museums, parks, zoos, and cultural and historical sites strive to provide meaningful experiences for visitors. Interpretation is the essential tool they use. Learn More

Establish a strong foundation in the basics of interpretation. This certificate program explores the history of interpretation as a profession and provides knowledge in roving, informal interpretation, audience identification and engagement, and interpretive talks.

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Part one in a series of three courses in the Cultural Resources Management in Wilderness course of study, this course provides a basic understanding of the importance of cultural resources in wilderness and examines how stewardship of those resources in wilderness is different from stewardship in areas that are not wilderness. Learn More

This is the first course in the Paleontological Resources Management in Wilderness series. It focuses on the basics of managing paleontological resources found in wilderness.

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Plant & City is the French national center for research and experiments on green spaces and urban landscaping. Established as an association (nonprofit organization), it currently has more than 500 members (local authorities, landscaping firms, design offices, research and training establishments, etc.). Learn More

This recorded webcast is designed for park and public agency employees who are interested in the history of parks. The session will include historical details, drawings and photographs of the people and places who make up the story, their objectives, successes and failures.

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Learn the components of a successful interpretive program and how to formulate a meaningful interpretive talk of your own. Learn More

The purpose of this course is to help ABMC managers further appreciate their role as supervisors, coaches, auditors, and appraisers of interpretive programs and projects. Interpretive coaching and supervision are important responsibilities of ABMC supervisors.

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Learn practical steps for creating an effective and well-crafted interpretive talk. Learn More

This course explores the reasons we write and teaches the basic elements of effective interpretive writing.

Please note: This course is currently being revised with the National Association for Interpretation. The revised version will be released in October 2017. If you have any questions, please contact Project Manager Nona Henderson at nfcapps@indiana.edu or 812-855-0864.

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This course provides an introduction to capital improvement. Capital improvement is defined and its connections to an agency’s mission are discussed.

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Assets are the building blocks for the Facility Management industry. This course will introduce you to the concept and underlying theory of the Asset Management Process. Learn More

Explore the universal challenges you will encounter when charged with the protection of natural and cultural resources along with providing for public use and access. Learn More

Learn about the ideas that formed and later transformed the National Park Service, the people who generated those ideas, and the laws that continue to shape the NPS today. Learn More

This course is the second in a series of three courses on Cultural Resources Management in Wilderness. It provides an in-depth look at the special requirements of inventorying and monitoring cultural resources in wilderness.

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This course, the second course in the Paleontological Resources Management in Wilderness course of study, provides an in-depth look at the inventory and monitoring process associated with paleontological resources.

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The visitor is sovereign. Interpreters may hear this very basic but very important concept many times during the course of their career. What does it mean? It means that each visitor or guest brings a unique level of knowledge, interest, and care each time they visit a site.

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Lighting enhances, extends and promotes the use of parks and public places after dark. The way we light our parks can have serious effects on public perception of safety and can cause negative effects on people and the environment.

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This webcast describes how to establish a network of regional trails and greenways to connect cities, centers, parks, natural areas, and neighborhoods in your area. Learn More

What is the Asset Priority Index (API), and how does it relate to the effective management of park assets? In this course, you will answer these questions and learn techniques for completing the API worksheet as a management team. Learn More

This training course addresses the management of rights-of-way and access to inholdings in designated wilderness.

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This course provides the necessary grounding for field interpreters to develop in-house products and work directly with professional media planners and designers in developing media services.

Please note: This course is currently being revised with the National Association for Interpretation. The revised version will be released in October 2017. If you have any questions, please contact Project Manager Nona Henderson at nfcapps@indiana.edu or 812-855-0864.

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Learn to develop curriculum-based programs for educational groups and to describe and identify the curriculum-based programming process. Learn More

Part 3

Micro learning courses are an excellent way to learn content in quick and focused segments. These concise and informative courses enable learning when time is limited. The use of video and other instructional techniques make this an engaging experience for the learner and provide a unique alternative to our full-length courses.

Photo by Isaiah West Taber - Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. VI. No. 4, January, 1908, pg. 211 [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28233048

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Part 2

Micro learning courses are an excellent way to learn content in quick and focused segments. These concise and informative courses enable learning when time is limited. The use of video and other instructional techniques make this an engaging experience for the learner and provide a unique alternative to our full-length courses.

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Learn the importance of natural resource monitoring and what resources are appropriate to monitor in wilderness.

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The course will present a simple model of planning that can be modified to meet a variety of community and agency needs. Learn More

This course focuses on the importance of and methods for getting input from the general public. It will also help you identify which of those methods would be the best fit for your agency and when to use them in the planning process. Learn More

This course focuses on using research methods to define the existing conditions of a parks and recreation system. Learn More

This course identifies the difference between analyzing and synthesizing information and the purpose each serves in developing strategic action plans. Learn More

The purpose of this course is to explore the steps and inputs to develop strategic goals and a corresponding action plan for a parks and recreation agency. Learn More

Gain a comprehensive understanding of effective park planning through five e-courses based on the five steps of community park planning. Learn More

This previously recorded one-hour webcast is designed for park and public agency employees who are interested in obtaining the Certified Park Professional (CPP) or Certified International Park Professional (CIPP) credential.

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This course introduces you to industry-standard project management practices, including the phases of project management and useful strategies that keep a project on track.

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Promote understanding of your agency’s vital contribution to community health and wellness. This comprehensive program incorporates place-based assignments and five online courses including the Public Health & YOU courses developed in partnership with the Indiana University School of Public Health. Learn More

Gain the skills and confidence needed to interact with visitors informally and learn how to provide them with interpretive opportunities. This course explores three types of contacts: orientation, information, and interpretation.

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This course will help you better understand special use permits and the roles and responsibilities of event monitors.

CEU include free for a limited time!

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Trees are as important as ever in our growing cities – the need to provide large canopied shade trees to cool cities is important. Providing adequate root volumes to allow large healthy trees to grow without infrastructure conflicts is also important.

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This course provides learners with essential knowledge about ANILCA: its history, special provisions in Alaska, and its relationship with the Wilderness Act of 1964. Learn More

The causes of World War One are complex. This course explores the social and political factors that contributed to and shaped the conflict in Europe. The initial reluctance and ultimate participation of the United States is described and placed in a cultural and political context as well.

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Learn about the contents of the Wilderness Act of 1964 and its impact on managing a wilderness area. Learn More

Learn about the Wilderness Stewardship Planning Framework, explain how it influences wilderness stewardship, and develop a plan for your site.

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Chart the evolution of the wilderness idea, beginning with its early history and philosophy. Learn More

This is the first in a series of three courses in the Visitor Use Management course of study and is designed to introduce you to the fundamental principles of Visitor Use Management.

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Working as a Park and Recreation Board member can be challenging and rewarding. Success is measured in whether or not the Board is able to accomplish their goals. Learn More

Learn about the importance of park and recreation boards, how the board originates and functions, and how it is structured and governed. The course also presents the challenges a board member can face and the rights and responsibilities available to them. Learn More

This course is designed for park and public agency employees who are responsible for public health and safety in parks. A smoke-free playground issue will be covered.

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This course describes the minimum requirements concept and guides users through the process of writing a Minimum Requirements Analysis (MRA) using the Minimum Requirements Decision Guide (MRDG) developed by the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center.

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