Social and Human Services - Activities Director Associate of Technical Arts Degree

General Education/Related Instruction Requirements  Career Management  Program Requirements  Electives  Degree Outcomes

See program requirement sheet.

This program provides knowledge, skills and abilities required to design and implement activity programs for the elderly or disabled in group homes, senior centers, nursing care facilities, retirement communities, or adult day care facilities. Many Activities Directors are full-time employees of these facilities and may have responsibility for supervising Activities Assistants. Others work as independent consultants, providing fee-for-service activities to a range of facilities and, in some cases, employing their own staff of Activities Assistants.

The Activities Director ATA provides students with a strong foundation in communication skills, interpersonal relations, critical thinking and problem-solving to support professional growth and career management in this rapidly-growing field. An understanding of the principles underlying activity professional work provides the basis for hands-on skill development. The second year of this program includes the opportunity to apply and practice the skills, knowledge, and abilities developed during their course work by working under the guidance and supervision of professionals in an agency setting.

The course work for this degree may satisfy some of the educational requirements set forth by the National Certification Council for Activities Professionals for a certified Activities Director. Students are usually able to apply their supervised fieldwork towards the required hours for certification as well.

Credit/Grade Requirements This ATA degree requires successful completion of a minimum of 90 credits as outlined. A minimum of 30 credits or one-third of the required credits, whichever is less, must be earned at Edmonds Community College. Students are required to maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 in all college-level courses.

Cultural Diversity Requirement All students earning degrees and certificates of 45 credits or more must meet a cultural diversity (CD) requirement by completing courses marked as “CD” on the requirement sheet and/or “Meets Cultural Diversity Requirement” in the quarterly class schedule. Those courses may also be used to fulfill other requirements of the degree or certificate.

Graduation Application A completed Graduation Application form must be submitted to Enrollment Services by the 10th day of the quarter in which the student expects to graduate. Forms are available online or at Enrollment Services located in Lynnwood Hall.

Students are advised to:

• Plan their schedule several quarters in advance in order to accommodate courses that are offered only once or twice a year,
• Review the college catalog for required course prerequisites and include these in schedule planning, and
• Communicate with a faculty adviser.

Note: This requirement planning sheet is not a substitute for meeting with an academic adviser. Meeting the requirements to graduate with an Edmonds Community College degree or certificate is ultimately the responsibility of the student.

PGM Code – 349T
Effective summer 2011 | Rev: 02/11