3/9/2021
In January, Ferrum College alumna Audrey Ramsey ’18 boarded a plane bound for the Galapagos Islands. She will spend the spring collecting data in collaboration with the National Park of Galapagos, Ferrum College’s ecotourism program, and the Center for Protected Area Management (CPAM) at Colorado State University, and will return to Virginia in May.
As an undergraduate in Ferrum’s recreation leadership program, Ramsey completed an internship with CPAM where she helped with annual training courses for Latin American protected area managers. After earning her Bachelor of Science in recreation leadership with minors in ecotourism and environmental science, Ramsey enrolled at Colorado State and continued to work for CPAM. She earned her Master of Science in global conservation leadership in 2020. Her work with CPAM lead to phase one of this consultancy in the Galapagos to develop site-by-site interpretive plans for Las Grietas and Tortuga Bay, two of the most visited public use sites on the island of Santa Cruz.
“I’ve spent the last two months collecting data from park rangers, tourists, and locals to gather perceptions and learn about the two sites to aid the Park in future management decisions,” said Ramsey.
Ramsey completed her masters thesis project by doing research on the state of environmental interpretation in Latin American Protected Area Systems. “[This research] is a baseline inventory of the use of environmental [and] cultural interpretation as a tourism management tool within Latin American federal protected area systems,” explained Ferrum College Associate Professor of Recreation Leadership Christopher Mayer, who offered his expertise in environmental interpretation throughout Ramsey’s master’s thesis and now advises her on the Galapagos project.
Ramsey said she became interested in ecotourism when she traveled to Costa Rica for a family vacation in 2010. After ecotouring the Osa Peninsula, Ramsey was hooked. She knew she wanted a career in ecotourism.
“I searched for colleges that offered ecotourism and Ferrum was the one college on the East Coast that offered it as a minor,” she said. “In my first ecotourism class in 2014, Foundations of Ecotourism, I learned about the Galapagos Islands and their exceptional model of ecotourism. From that class onward, Galapagos became a dream of mine. I wanted to do some type of ecotourism work here and learn from their model. Seven years later, I arrived in the Galapagos and am living [my dream].”
In 2019, the College began offering ecotourism as a major. “When I learned that Ferrum was going to begin offering ecotourism as a major, I was incredibly excited,” said Ramsey. “That degree will offer incredible experiences for incoming students. I would never have had the opportunities I have had if it weren’t for the ecotourism program at Ferrum.”
Learn more about Ferrum College’s ecotourism program here.
Learn more about Ferrum College’s recreation leadership program here.
Left to right: LFCC Provost Chris Coutts; Ferrum College Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Aimé Sposato; Ferrum College President David Johns; and LFCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Karen Kellison.
On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, Ferrum College and Lord Fairfax Community College (LFCC) officials entered into an agreement guaranteeing admission into Ferrum College’s recreation leadership program to LFCC students who have received an Associate of Science degree in recreation and outdoor leadership. Within the College’s recreation leadership program, LFCC students may choose to focus on recreation management or ecotourism. The agreement was signed on the College’s campus by Ferrum College President David Johns and Provost Aimé Sposato, and LFCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Karen Kellison and Provost Chris Coutts. LFCC President Kim Blosser was unable to attend.
Also present at the signing were Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs Kevin Reilly; Dean of the School of Health Professions and Social Sciences Angie Dahl; Associate Professor of Recreation Leadership Dan Caston; Associate Professor of Ecotourism Chris Mayer; Director of Ferrum Outdoors Aaron Conover, all of Ferrum College; and Dean of Science, Engineering, Math and Health Ia Gomez; and Associate Professor of Health, Physical Education and Recreation Stacey Ellis, both of LFCC.
“More and more people are discovering the beauty of Virginia and they are spending time in our lakes and trails, and at our many parks and cultural sites. Tourism and outdoor recreation brings hundreds of millions of dollars into the Commonwealth,” said Johns. “Because of this, we need professionals ready to support this growing area of tourism, and we need them to be business savvy educators who are advocates for Virginia’s natural environment. Ferrum College is delighted to partner with Lord Fairfax Community College to prepare such women and men.”
“As people and communities continue to realize the impacts recreation and being outdoors have on overall wellbeing and health, there will be a growing need for professionals trained in the recreation and outdoor wellness fields,” said Blosser. “We at LFCC are grateful for the hard work put in by Professor Stacey Ellis and her counterparts at Ferrum College to ensure that LFCC students can seamlessly transfer into their bachelor’s degree programs at Ferrum.”
This agreement follows Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s July 2019 announcement of the creation of the Office of Outdoor Recreation, which seeks to recruit new outdoor businesses to Virginia as well as promote the outdoor recreation industry. The governor’s website indicates that Virginia’s outdoor recreation industry contributes approximately $22 billion per year in the state’s revenue, and provides nearly 200,000 jobs.
The memorandum of agreement states that acceptance into the College’s recreation leadership program with require the following: LFCC students must have earned a grade of “C” or higher in required courses applicable to the recreation leadership program; have earned a minimum of 60 transferable credits; and hold an overall cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher prior to enrollment at Ferrum College. Additionally, the agreement allows LFCC students to transfer to the College with junior status if they have successfully completed 56 hours of curriculum with a grade of “C” or above, thereby providing a pathway to complete a Bachelor of Science in recreation leadership within two years of transfer.
“The Lord Fairfax Community College program aligns perfectly with both our recreation leadership and ecotourism degrees, and we are delighted to provide these students with a smooth pathway to the completion of a four-year degree through the Ferrum Promise,” said Sposato.
The College announced the Ferrum Promise initiative this past November, which guarantees that students who transfer from a Virginia community college with an appropriate associate’s degree will be able to graduate within two years of transfer, or they will receive free tuition for the remaining coursework.
“This is a great opportunity to create a streamlined admission process between LFCC’s recreation and outdoor leadership graduates and Ferrum College’s recreation leadership bachelor’s degree candidates,” said Dahl. “It’s the first step in facilitating a long-term partnership which will produce individuals equipped for careers that both utilize and preserve the uniqueness of where we live.”
“These agreements represent the commitment that both of our institutions of higher learning have toward educating citizens who care about the integrity of the environment and the quality of life in our communities,” said Mayer.
Caston agrees: “We are very excited by this opportunity to formally connect with LFCC. Our programs are synergistic so it just makes sense to work together for the benefit of our students.”
Read more about Ferrum College’s recreation leadership major here.
Learn more about the Ferrum Promise here.
Read more about Virginia’s outdoor recreation economy here and the Office of Outdoor Recreation here.
Ferrum College is making a bold “Ferrum Promise”: beginning in fall 2020, students who transfer from a Virginia community college with an appropriate associate’s degree will be able to graduate within two years of transfer, or they will receive free tuition for the remaining coursework.
“Today, nearly forty percent of students who graduate from a Virginia community college need three or more additional years to finish a bachelor’s degree because their new college will not accept many of their credits. This is not what they expected–it’s frustrating, time-consuming, and expensive,” said Ferrum College President David Johns.
The College already guarantees admission from all 23 community colleges in Virginia. The “Ferrum Promise” is the College’s next step to become even more transfer friendly and applies to all students who are enrolled full-time, enter with an appropriate associate’s degree from a Virginia community college, and meet certain academic requirements.
This promise encompasses many majors offered by Ferrum College, including its signature programs:
“We are excited to offer transfer students a seamless transition to Ferrum College where they will receive individualized course mapping with our faculty,” said Provost Aimé Sposato.
“Ferrum College is student-centered and future-focused, and because of this, we are making a promise to our transfer students that will dramatically impact their future,” said Johns. “We support a vision of making college affordable, accessible, and even a little more predictable, and we promise to make this a reality for students who transfer to Ferrum College.”
Visit here to learn more about the “Ferrum Promise” and transferring to Ferrum College.
