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by Tom Madeyski
Once upon a time, the resident camp directors spent the off-season preparing
for a few intensive summer months. When summer ended and campers were
back at school, directors returned to the home office to catch their breath
and begin planning next summer's season.
How the camp field has changed! Many of today's camps operate year-round,
have expanded to conference and environmental education centers, and thrive
with progressive programs and thousands of students, campers, adults,
and families.
During the 1960s and '70s, many camp owners and agencies realized what
tremendous assets they possessed in their camps. Spectacular acreage coupled
with the ability to house groups encouraged directors to expand usage.
With that realization, the push for facility winterization and year-round
programming began.
Today's Resident Camps
A glimpse of today's resident camps reveals a multitude of programs,
from environmental education to medical camp collaboratives to adult conferencing
and family camping. This expansion of the traditional youth camp has brought
with it challenges. No longer will spaghetti and hot dogs suffice as food
service; no longer will campers accept antiquated plumbing; no longer
do summer huts suffice as housing. Times have changed.
Even with these challenges, the future holds exciting prospects for resident
camping. As natural space and environmental preservation become more important
to society, camps stand ready to serve as ideal experiential teaching
centers. While social interactions transform to an impersonalized on-line
world, the simplified outdoor lifestyle found at camp will prove more
valuable. Camps provide powerful hands-on experiences. The camp director
of tomorrow will utilize technology to shape and extend their service,
yet will maintain a traditional high-touch experience.
Manning the Ship
A resident camp can be analogized to a large ship; an entire floating
city complete with lodging, food service, self-contained utilities, and
extensive facilities. A camp director is routinely responsible for populations
of 100 to 500 persons, 24 hours per day. Camp directors must be proficient
in:
- Dining operations, managing food costs, menu selection, and food-handling
safety.
- Building maintenance of 10 to100 structures.
- Portable water supply, septic and leech field systems.
- Housing administration for 10 to 150 resident staff.
- Forestry and watershed management.
- Lodging for campers and guests, a twenty-four-hour responsibility.
- Alumni and volunteer development.
- Capital construction and financial development.
- Adventure programming and waterfront management, often including lake
or riverfront aquatics programs.
- Risk management, especially in high-risk outdoor settings.
Building leaders
Today's camp director must serve first as an administrative director.
Financial management, personnel administration and management, information
systems, marketing, program development, and strategic and operational
planning are common to all camp directors. Agency camps include board
development as a key result. Yet in addition to these business skills,
the role of a camp director demands more.
Beyond these technical skills, camps are often known for the charismatic
leadership of their directors. This component represents the art of camp
leadership. It is not easily learned.
With all these requisite skills, most successful camp directors have
been carefully mentored through the ranks. Beginning as camp counselors,
promoted to seasonal unit leader, advancing to year-round program directors,
then finally moving into associate or executive roles; experiential learning
has proven the best training path. With so many skills required, it is
difficult, yet not impossible, to step in to resident camping without
prior experience.
Building knowledge
Fortunately, the camp community is close-knit; directors gather often
to share unique challenges and ideas at regional and national conferences.
Successful directors take full advantage of these networking opportunities,
and many are building advanced studies into their professional development
plans. Master's degrees in business administration, environmental engineering,
public policy, sociology, or psychology are often found on the resumes
of today's camp director. In order to stay on the cutting edge, candidates
and directors are taking full advantage of continuing study, both within
and outside of the camp community.
New Challenges
The role of camp director has never been more challenging than it is
today. Camp populations have broadened to all age groups. Seasons have
been extended. The need for skilled and certified staff has grown while
the workforce has shrunk. Increased government regulations have permeated
daily operations, especially with so many facets of camp under regulatory
control. Camps once built in remote rural environments are now squeezed
by the encroachment of suburban sprawl. Today's campers bring lots of
extra "baggage" to camp. Social/emotional issues, negative societal
influences, the explosive growth of medications to manage ADHD, depression
or allergies, the impact of broken homes and at-risk environments make
camp counseling more challenging than ever.
As the program volume of camps has grown, there has been an increase
in the diversity of camp positions. New directors of alumni development,
corporate-adult team building, financial development, capital development,
management information systems, operational services, and community outreach
are just a few of the non-traditional camp vacancies listed recently.
Increased specialization and expertise will open new opportunities.
Resident camping has undergone significant transition in the past twenty
years. The sheer diversity of today's camp director position makes it
a fantastically stimulating and rewarding life's call. The powerful impact
of the camp experience on children and adults adds tremendous reward.
Those who are close to the complexity, challenge, and diversity of the
camp director's role realize the unique position that is found "out
there at camp."
Perhaps someday the question, "What do you do the rest of the year?"
will disappear forever. Although . . . then again . . . perhaps it never
will.
Originally published in the 2000 May/June issue
of Camping Magazine. |
