Outdoor Education and Leadership

The Outdoor Education and Leadership Program at Westminster University

Through collaborative and experienced-based learning opportunities in the Outdoor Education and Leadership program, you will develop effective leadership, risk management, communication, and outdoor skills. Challenging classes and unparalleled access to wilderness spaces such as Utah's red rock canyons, rivers, and snowy slopes gives you countless opportunities for leadership experience, professional training, and personal adventures—the great outdoors is your classroom and laboratory. Additionally, you'll work closely with faculty mentors to find opportunities outside of the classroom with the Westminster Outdoor Program and the businesses that make up Salt Lake City's thriving outdoor industry.

In the Outdoor Education and Leadership program, you'll help plan and lead outdoor trips, learning through practice and experience, and honing your leadership skills. Program curriculum explores the concept of place in the natural environment as well as in the historical, political, and social connections and implications of those environments. By the end of the program, you will know how to engage in the field of outdoor education using an understanding of how diversity, equity, and inclusion are critical to the philosophy and transformative possibilities of outdoor education.

Who the Outdoor Education and Leadership Program Is For

Regardless of previous outdoor experience, the Outdoor Education and Leadership program is designed for students that have a desire to work with, and empower others, in the outdoors. Whether you see yourself working for the National Park Service, guiding trips to remote corners of the world, or educating others about natural landscapes, you'll cultivate the skills you need to do what you love in the setting you love.

What Are the Key Benefits of the Outdoor Education and Leadership Program?

• Courses include field-based learning experiences that take you beyond classroom walls, including a semester spent traveling the Intermountain West.
• Opportunities are available to earn academic credit for nationally and internationally-recognized outdoor credentials. Offerings have included wilderness medicine courses, Single Pitch Instructor certification, Leave No Trace Trainer, avalanche safety, and more
• Opportunities to gain for-credit professional experience through internships with outdoor industry organizations
• Faculty mentors work closely with students to create customized plans of study based on students' personal interests and career goals
• Small classes are taught by faculty with experience guiding expeditions all over the world in places such as the Rockies, Patagonia, the Yukon, India, and Nepal

sample outdoor education and leadership courses

 

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Outdoor Education and Leadership Career Opportunities

The Outdoor Education and Leadership program prepares you for the career of your choice through collaborative and experience-based learning opportunities and the ability to customize your plan of study. Graduates find jobs in areas such as education, land management, eco-tourism, wilderness therapy, camps, community recreation, and more. Some graduates also choose to further their education in graduate school.

student success

Outdoor Education and Leadership graduates have begun careers with companies and organizations such as:

• National Outdoor Leadership School
• National Park Service
• Utah Avalanche Association
• Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation 
• Wood River Trails Coalition