Program calendar description, 2016-2017

Graduate work in Recreation and Leisure Studies at Waterloo provides the opportunity for students to study a variety of topics. Working with faculty advisors, students select, in addition to the core courses, elective courses related to one or more of five theme areas:

• Identity and Diversity
• Environment
• Health and Well-Being
• Community
• Service and Policy

Master in Tourism

The Master in Tourism integrates the social, cultural, environmental, and economic political perspectives on tourism. The program provides a range of adaptable and transferable skills to prepare students for a wide variety of careers in both business and academia.

Aging, Health, and Well-being

The Collaborative PhD Program in Aging, Health and Well-being provides students registered in any Department in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences with an interdisciplinary platform upon which to develop a broad understanding of issues related to the health and well-being of our aging population. The program affords the opportunity to cross departmental boundaries to access courses and resources including dissertation committee members who can add different perspectives to penetrating research problems.

The program prepares doctoral students for careers in academic institutions as well as in the private sector and related non-university settings such as hospitals, research and policy institutes.

See the Graduate Studies Calendar for further information on degree requirements for the Collaborative PhD Program in Aging, Health and Well-being.

Full-time students are encouraged to apply for Social Science and Humanities Research Council Scholarships, Ontario Graduate Scholarships, Mental Health Foundation Fellowships, and the like. Application deadlines are generally in the Fall prior to admission to a graduate program.

Teaching assistantships are available for full-time students. Research assistantships are also available but vary in amount depending upon the nature of the research project and its sponsor. A student may serve as both a teaching assistant and a research assistant in the same term, but may only work a maximum of 10 hours per week on the TA and/or the RA if the latter is not related to the student's own research. Support from various provincial departments may be available to conduct specified thesis research at the graduate level.

Students residing in countries other than Canada are advised that many of the above sources of financial aid are available only to those who are citizens of Canada. It is advisable to clarify your own situation with the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies when making application for admission (See Graduate Studies application information).

Currently, the areas of active research in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies include: cultural development and the arts, leisure and health, work, family, lifespan and leisure and disadvantaged groups, management and program evaluation, marketing and consumer behaviour, outdoor education, resource management, policy development, social psychology and sociology of leisure, therapeutic recreation, tourism, and urban recreation. Areas of research for faculty in the Department are outlined on pages 5-9 of this document. Researcher profiles can be found on the Recreation and Leisure Studies website.

The master's degree program in Recreation and Leisure Studies is designed to achieve three objectives:

• to increase knowledge of the theories and concepts of leisure, and of the contributions by the social sciences, the natural sciences, and the humanities for understanding leisure,
• to develop the ability to use research methods and designs in problem solving, hypothesis testing, and theory development, and
• to increase understanding of the importance of the applications of theories, methods, and models associated with leisure in contemporary society.

The MA program is designed for students who have demonstrated strong academic abilities at the undergraduate level. While there is a blend of applied and scholarly approaches, there is a strong emphasis on the ability to conceptualize and conduct independent research of high calibre. Graduates from this program often seek careers which have a research component with governmental, professional, business or community organizations, or they go on to study at the PhD level. Admission and degree requirements are outlined in the following information.

Admission requirements

• A four-year honours bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in Recreation and Leisure Studies or related field with at least a B standing (75%). If the overall undergraduate average is below B, consideration may be given to the applicant's performance during the final year of academic work. Two letters of reference, at least one of which must be from academic sources.
• Proof of competency in English (if applicable), including a TOEFL score of 580 (90 in the computerized version with minimum 25 each writing and speaking) for students required to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language. (See Graduate Studies Calendar, Academic Regulations - English Language Proficiency Certification for other acceptable tests of English.)
• Competency in written expression - including evidence of ability to conceptualize, organize ideas and reason.
• Applicants must submit at least one substantial example of their work completed during the last two years of academic study. Students with professional experience may submit a professional report of which they were the sole or senior author.
• A curriculum vitae/resume indicating your past academic and professional experience.

Students who do not meet the requirements outlined above may be considered for admission to a transitional, probationary or qualifying program depending on their academic background. Deadline for applications to the Master's program is February 1^st. Admission is normally granted for the following Fall Term.

Degree requirements

The MA program requires five courses (0.5 unit weight) plus an MA thesis. REC 601, REC 672, REC 673 are required courses and at least two other graduate courses from within or outside the Department must also be successfully completed.

The MA can be completed either on a full or part-time basis. The degree requirements must be completed within the following time periods:

• Full-time: 6 terms
• Part-time: 15 terms

Students must obtain permission for the Department Graduate Committee and the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, to continue registration beyond the maximum time period stipulated for the program in which they first registered. (See Graduate Studies Calendar, Academic Regulations, Time Limits)

Faculty Advisors/Supervisors

When each graduate student enters the Department, they have been assigned a primary academic advisor. The advisor will assist the student in the selection of courses and other matters relating to the program of study.

What is a thesis?

The thesis is the culmination of the master’s program, and normally takes two to three terms to complete. For many students the thesis is the first time that they have been involved in independent research and it is typically both a demanding and a rewarding process. Each student should work closely with his or her supervisor in selecting a research topic, writing a research proposal, conducting the research itself, and writing the final thesis.

The Thesis Proposal

Students are expected to start working on their thesis proposals as soon as they have completed their coursework, usually in the Spring term of their first year. Each student needs to think about a thesis topic and approach a faculty member who might be an appropriate supervisor for his or her research. Faculty members in the Department are involved in a wide range of basic, disciplinary, and applied research studies, providing students with many opportunities for choice with respect to thesis topics (see examples of previous thesis titles), as well as methodological and disciplinary approaches.

The Thesis Committee

In consultation with their thesis supervisor, students should put together a thesis supervisory committee and fill out the MA Thesis Topic and Supervisor Form. A minimum of one committee member (in addition to the supervisor) is required for the MA proposal, both of whom must have an academic appointment (the committee member may be an adjunct appointment). The completed form should be submitted to the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies for approval.

For the final MA defense, an independent reader (selected by the supervisor in consultation with the student and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies) and independent chair (assigned by the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies) will be added.

A review of each student's progress takes place during the month of May each year. Students are evaluated on several criteria, i.e., coursework and resulting grades, and, where appropriate, reports submitted by the students regarding their research and teaching assistantship activity. A grade average of at least 75% must be maintained.

Students seeking admission to the PhD program should indicate in the letter of application who would be appropriate as a faculty advisor. Based on student and faculty research interests and availability, each student will be assigned an interim advisor when first admitted. This interim advisor, in consultation with the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies, will assist in determining an individualized program of study for the student. The interim advisor may become the supervisor for the comprehensive examination and for the doctoral thesis.

Doctoral students are required to take a minimum of 9 graduate courses (0.5 unit weight) beyond the Honours BA level. These must include:

• At least one course in each of the three areas of study (Administration and Management of Services, Leisure Behaviour and Cultural Studies, and Recreation and Leisure Resources)
• An advanced research methods course REC 792
• The doctoral seminar REC 700 (Foundations of Knowledge in Leisure Studies)

Students entering the PhD program following completion of the MA degree in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies (University of Waterloo), or its equivalent, will usually have already completed 5 of the 9 required courses, and therefore will need a minimum of 4 additional (0.5 unit weight) graduate courses. Elective courses can be taken either within or outside the Department, and can be at either the 600 or 700 level.

The purpose of the comprehensive examination is to ensure that doctoral candidates have a broad and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the field of Recreation and Leisure Studies, including:

• different epistemological, methodological and analytical approaches used by leisure researchers, and
• the broad substantive areas of leisure and cultural behaviour, recreation and leisure resources, and policy/management.

The process is designed to enable candidates to develop/acquire a solid grounding in and understanding of leisure studies. This then provides a foundation for the critical analysis demanded by the dissertation proposal and final defence. Ensure that you are familiar with the comprehensive examination procedures.

A PhD thesis proposal is required of all PhD students after passing the comprehensive examinations, and before proceeding to data collection. The proposal should contain a detailed statement of the research problem and its significance for a body of leisure-related theory, a precise account of the methodology or research techniques to be employed, plus a detailed outline of the proposed data analyses. The candidate will be required to present and defend this proposal before the thesis committee.

The final thesis report based on the completed research must also be successfully defended to satisfy the thesis requirement. The PhD thesis advisory committee is comprised of the Supervisor and two committee members who normally will be drawn from faculty members of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. The proposal will be defended before the thesis committee; however, upon completion of the thesis, the final document will be defended before a five-person Examination Board made up of the Supervisor, three other members of the University community (two of whom are normally the advisory committee members and one other individual from outside the home department), and an external examiner. See the minimum requirements for the PhD degree in the graduate studies calendar for more information.  

Normally the doctoral program will be 3-4 years (9-12 terms), which is consistent with other PhD programs in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. The University time limit for completion is 4 years (12 terms). Students must obtain permission from the Department Graduate Committee and the Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, to continue registration beyond this 12 term limit.

A review of each student's progress takes place during the month of May each year. Students are evaluated on several criteria, i.e., coursework and resulting grades, progress with regard to the comprehensive examination and thesis work and, where appropriate, reports submitted by the students regarding their research and teaching assistantship activity. A grade average of at least 75% must be maintained.