PROFESSOR JORGENSEN’S ADVISING “INFORMATION SHEET” FOR RECREATION THERAPY OPTION
I am responsible for advising you in the RPTA major requirements, specifically in the Recreation Therapy
concentration ONLY. All of your GE advising is done through the GE advising office.
ADVISING SHEET
New RT students meet with advisor to set up first advising sheet.
o Bring all transcripts to meeting.
Students are responsible for updating their advising sheets as they move through their classes – you
DO NOT need to meet with advisor to “update” your sheet (you should be able to do this on your
own, by tracking your classes and determining which classes to take based on availability of classes
and recommendations below:
Core Classes (25 units/lower and upper division courses)
o 106 is a core course and you will be in this class with students from the Recreation/Parks
concentration. As such, the course is an introductory course for Recreation Management across
all recreation settings that introduces concepts, legislations, and management in a view of
inclusion and working with people with disabilities.
 However, you will be required to grasp and transfer information from this class to our
other RT classes, so make sure to study wisely in this course (as a prerequisite to your
other classes).
o 105 is offered in the fall only.
o 32 is the prerequisite for 136
o 01 and 30 are the prerequisites for 110
o However, I highly recommend you take 110 as late in your coursework as possible,
somewhere during your last year in the major.
NOTE: all RT and Non RT courses are provided to offer the RT student all the needed information to
qualify for the NCTRC and CTRS exam (both in terms of requirements to take the exam and material
to test well on the actual exam).
RT Courses(15 units)
Make sure to take 106 during your first semester as it is the prerequisite to ALL your
subsequent RT classes (115, 116, 117, 118, and 119).
116 AND 118 ARE FALL ONLY; 117 AND 119 ARE SPRING ONLY
You may take 116 and 117 concurrently with 106
When at all possible, do not take 136, 110, and 119 during the same semester. These are very
intensive, workload heavy courses, and I highly recommend you stay to this plan as close as
possible (per the challenges mentioned by former students who have taken these classes at
the same time).
1
All of your RT courses need to be completed BEFORE you take 119 (this course is your RT
“capstone” course).
Currently, RPTA 115 (ASSESSMENT AND DOCUMENTATION) is not offered through our
department – however, you may take this course “online” through a concurrent enrollment
agreement with San Jose State and East Bay.
 The course number for San Jose (fall only) is HRTM 198.
 The course number for East Bay (their winter session) is Rec 4600
 To register for this class, complete a The California State University Application for
Intrasystem Concurrent or Visitor Enrollment (available online, at the Sac State
website.)
 If you have any difficultly getting into the East Bay class, email me.
Non RT Course (18 units)
You are required to take 1) Abnormal Psychology, 2) Human Development (must be birth to
death), and 3) Human Anatomy and Physiology (both of these names must be in the title).
You are also required to take an additional 3 courses. You may select these courses. I suggest
you select courses that “complement” your interest (e.g. child development, gerontology, so
on).
 These courses MUST fall under the requirements from the NCTRC.
 There is a list of these courses offered at Sac State on the Supplemental Course Sheet,
as well as you can find a copy at my department faculty page, under “RT” links.
You may take these courses at other colleges/universities. If you do take your non-RT courses
at another college, YOU ARE FULLY RESPONSIBLE for 1) making sure the course qualifies for
the exam by NCTRC (call them directly), and 2) getting all transcripts provided to Sac State.
Need to complete 600 pre-internship hours prior to graduation.
o These hours may be in any aspect of the recreation/leisure profession (not just RT), can be
either paid or volunteer positions, may include service learning experiences and volunteer
experiences from our RPTA classes, e.g. 106, 32, 136, etc.), and are completed AFTER high
school.
o You will need to complete a “Pre-internship” hour form (and have signed) for all of these hours.
 You can find these forms at the department office. Once you have completed a form,
make sure to submit your form and ask the front office person to “put it in your student
folder.”
Graduation Check
o
One year before you plan to graduate, you must complete a BACHELOR'S DEGREE APPLICATION. You can
find the form for RT concentration at
http://www.csus.edu/HHS/rpta/Student%20Resources/Forms.html, under “Therapeutic
Recreation Catalogue Form.”
2
o You will need to 1) check the due dates through Sac State Registration (online), 2) complete the
form, 3) make an appointment with me to review and sign your forms, and 3) take to Geraldine
to have our Department Chair review and sign.
INTERNSHIPS
Upon completion of your RT coursework, you are to complete an internship.
CURRENTLY, INTERNSHIP HOURS ARE AT 460 HOURS: AS OF 1/2013 INTERNSHIP WILL BE AT 560
HOURS.
Start looking for an internship a year before you plan to complete your internship.
READ THROUGH ALL THE DOCUMENTATION ON INTERNSHIPS POSTED AT OUR DEPARTMENT WEBSITE:
http://www.csus.edu/HHS/rpta/Student%20Resources/Internships.html
Basic requirements for an RT internship include:
o 1) You, as the student, are FULLY RESPONSIBLE for finding/obtaining your internship
o 2) Your internship MUST BE SUPERVISED by a current CTRS (certified at least 1 year).
 You can find specific information regarding the qualifications for what will be accepted
by NCTRC as an “internship” (field placement) at www.nctrc.org. Carefully read “Field
Placement Standards Information” – currently on page 15 of the Certification
Standards, Part I: Information for New Applicants. This includes the qualification for
the CTRS supervising your internship.
o 3) There MUST BE a current “contract” between the university and the site in order for you to
complete your internship at this site.
 To determine this, ask the CTRS and check the department website, current contracts
are posted.
 In order to do this, send Geraldine all contact information: name of agency, type
of facility, name of CTRS supervising, their contact information (phone, email),
and address of the site.
 NOTE: the contractual process can take up to 6 months or longer. So, make sure you
start early!
o 4) Complete ALL of the internship forms posted at our department website.
 You DO NOT NEED TO MEET with me before completing these forms.
 Fill out all the forms per the instructions.
 Write your goals and (measurable) objectives in the same manner as learned in your
RTPA courses, 136, 110, 119, and so on.
 The goals must cover all areas of the NCTRC job task analysis or the internship
won't count for certification.
 Send your completed Goals/Objectives to me at my campus email; I will review,
edit (in Tracking), and send back to you.
 Revise, print.
 Leave your paperwork at the Department office (ask Geraldine or Pat to put in
my mailbox), and email me letting me know you dropped them off.
3

I will review, sign, and give to Geraldine to have the Chair sign.
o If there is an issue with your paperwork or I need to ask you a question, I
will contact you.
o 5) Your internship is supervised by one of our faculty who is current CTRS.
 At this time, this person is Arlene Krause. Once she receives your name as one of her
interns for the semester, she will contact you regarding your internship supervision.
From that point forward, she will work with you directly and sign off on all the
paperwork that verifies you have completed your internship.
 So, you have 2 people who supervise your internship 1) on-site > a CTRS supervisor who
will oversee your internship work; and 2) RPTA department > a CTRS faulty member who
will monitor and grade your internship work.
 Note: my only role in regard to your internship is to review and sign your initial
paperwork to register you for your internship. Arlene DOES NOT sign this
paperwork.
National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification NCTRC
To practice as a Recreation Therapist, you MUST BE A Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist
(CTRS).
Certification requirements, testing, and provision of certification is governed by the National Council
for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC)
Instructors in your RT courses will review this site and discuss it in a context of curriculum, practice,
and of course, preparing you for the exam.
You can find ALL information regarding this governing body and the certification exam at
www.nctrc.org
o I STRONGLY recommend you print all documents, read, re-read documents, get on mail lists,
and talk to other students who have taken the exam.
All coursework MUST be complete before taking the exam.
Can take exam during internship.
Offered THREE TIMES A YEAR.
We have a tutorial available for students on Sac CT, and this will be explained / offered in one or more
of your RT course.
nctrc.org – know it WELL!
Advising Appointments with Prof J
If you would like to meet with me, please email me at my campus email to set up an appointment.
As of this semester, I will be offering my RT students appointments on Skype. When I email you for the
appointment, we can discuss an in person or Skype appointment.
If you are one of my RT advisees in one of my courses and would like to meet with me regarding class,
please sign-up for my regular office hours at the sign-up sheet outside my office (SLN 4032).
4
Note: I will only be holding a once a semester meeting with my advisees to update advising sheets. I
will no longer be doing this during office hours or in meetings. Again, this is something you should be
doing on your own. However, if you have a specific question regarding a class, please email me with
your question. If we need to meet, I will let you know.
o Also, I only answer emails once a day, in the evening Monday – Friday, and once on the
weekend (generally on a Sunday evening). If you have an emergency, that cannot wait please
contact the department office or when emailing me put “urgent” in the subject.
5