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Daniel Yoder has been named the chair of the Western Illinois University Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration (RPTA), effective January 1, 2015, according to College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) Dean Erskine Smith. Yoder has served as the interim chair since June 2013.
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Yoder Named Chair of WIU Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration Dept.

January 28, 2015

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MACOMB, IL – Daniel Yoder has been named the chair of the Western Illinois University Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration (RPTA), effective January 1, 2015, according to College of Education and Human Services (COEHS) Dean Erskine Smith. Yoder has served as the interim chair since June 2013.

Yoder joined Western's faculty in 1994. Prior coming to Western, he served as the city parks and recreation director at the Lamar (CO) Recreation Department (1986-90). He also worked as the community recreation director for the Alamosa County (CO) Recreation Board and as a recreation therapist for the San Luis Valley Center for the Handicapped (1983-86). Prior to that, he was an outdoor leader for the Horizons Program in Alamosa (1982-84) and served as the director of therapeutic recreation programs and facilities for the Triple L Youth Ranch (Center, CO).

At Western, Yoder has taught several RPTA undergraduate and graduate courses and served as the RPTA graduate coordinator (2005-13). He has served on more than 120 graduate committees and served as chair of 40 of those committees.

Yoder co-authored the book, "Issues in Recreation and Leisure: Ethical Decision Making," published by Human Kinetics Publishing, in 2005. He and his co-author are currently finishing the second edition of the book.

In 2009, he participated in the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) Congress Conference workshop/roundtable, "Ethics in the Parks and Recreation Profession." In addition, Yoder has authored several textbook chapters, published numerous peer-reviewed articles and presented at national and state conferences on a variety of topics related to the RPTA field.

"Under Dr. Yoder's ongoing leadership, the faculty and staff in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Administration will continue to provide RPTA students with an outstanding education," Smith noted.

Yoder earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from Adams State College (Alamosa, CO) and his Ph.D. in leisure studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Learn more about Western's RPTA department at www.wiu.edu/coehs/rpta/.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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