Member Information

Urban Directors

[Nominate Here]

Professional (Practitioner)

[Nominate Here]

Educators

[Nominate Here]

 

The AAPRA commits to promote, nourish, and embody an inclusive and equitable environment, strengthen our commitment to promote justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, combat systemic and structural racism, and promote a culture of equality for all, through our knowledge advancement, research, education, and scholarly efforts. 

Membership In the Academy

Update Your Member Profile: Email your new or updated biography and photo to info@appra.org 

2025 Nomination Period is March 20 - May 16

Academy members are elected to the organization by the Academy Board of Directors. Nominations are open once a year, typically April through early June. Nominations can only be submitted by current Academy members and are limited to two nominations per Academy member. 

If you are interested in becoming an Academy member, you are encouraged to reach out to a current member and inquire if they would nominate you for membership. Not sure who is a current Academy member? Click here to view Academy members by state. If are not familiar with a current Academy member, please reach out to info@aapra.org and efforts will be made to connect you. 

There are two categories of members: Fellow and Emeritus Fellows. Emeritus Fellows is a member, or distinguished professional who meets the requirements of membership, who by personal definition is retired from the profession. 

There are three types of Fellow members: 

  1. Professional (Practitioner): Must have served in a high-level position for no less that 15 years and hold a BS or BA degree as of January 1 of the year nominated. Position titles include general manager, executive director, director, deputy director, superintendent and/or administrator with significant experience and responsibility in the areas of parks, recreation, conservation, personnel, training, budgeting, planning, capital improvements, and marketing. 
  2. Educator: Must have attained the rank of full Professor OR served in a high-level administrative position in higher education and recognized as an educator for a combined period of not less than fifteen (15) years as of January 1 of the year nominated. 
  3. Urban Director: Director or CEO of a Regional/Special District, County (or Parish) or City park, recreation, or conservation system serving an urban population center of 200,000+ people or from the most populous Regional/Special District, County (or Parish) or City in that state. Nominees for the Urban Director category must have a minimum of three years’ experience in that position. Contact Urban Directors Committee Chair, Edwin Gomez at gomeze17@ecu.edu, as this nomination process is different. Nominations open until Friday, May 16, 2025.

In addition to the minimum 15 years of high-level administrative experience as a professional or as a park, recreation, tourism, sport management or related field (PRTSR) educator, nominees complete a nomination form which asks for significant work contributions; efforts in promoting justice, equity, diversity and inclusion; degrees completed; acquired professional certifications; leadership at local, state, regional and national organizations; published articles and presentations made; honors and awards received; response to why seeking Academy membership; and nominator’s insights into the individual’s professional attitude and impact. 

Each of the above criteria are weighted. Click here for PDF of Member Criteria / Weighted Values for Professional and Educators Nominees. 

Other nomination requirements:

  1. Current Academy members may nominate not more than two (2) individuals for membership in any one year.
  2. Current Academy members may submit a letter of support for not more than two (2) individuals for membership in any one year.
  3. Current members of the Board of Directors and the Membership Committee may NOT nominate or write a letter of support.
  4. Nomination form and support letters must be completed and submitted online no later than 9:00pm PDT, Friday, May 16, 2025.

Questions? Contact info@aapra.org 

To raise awareness of AAPRA, Academy members are encouraged to add membership to their email signature line.

To download:

PC users: 
Right click on your preferred "Fellow" or "Member" version options below to "save image as" to download and save to your computer.

Mac/Safari users:
Control-click the image in order to download and save to your computer.