Association of National Park Rangers - College Chapters of ANPR

*Students:* Are you looking for ways to enhance your chances for selection to a career position with the National Park Service as a park ranger? A resource manager? A maintenance manager? An administrator? Or one of the agency's many other career fields? The Association of National Park Rangers is a professional association for ALL employees (and partners) of the National Park Service. Our mission is to defend and promote the stewardship of the vital natural, cultural and caretaker resources of the national parks through education, training, advocacy and public information. Why not start a college chapter of ANPR at your school? What's in it for you? — Exposure, Experience, Understanding and Self-Confidence Exposure Many applicants compete for jobs in the National Park Service. What might help get you noticed? What might help your name stand out on a long list of qualified applicants? One answer is previous exposure to those supervisors who make the hiring decisions. ANPR's 1,000+ members include NPS supervisors and managers that may one day be looking at your application. Membership allows you to become involved in professional issues of the National Park Service such as interpretation, resource management, protection, maintenance, administration and management. You might write an article or a letter to the editor for publication in *Ranger*, the journal of the Association of National Park Rangers.
	Or you might be able to attend the annual conference (Ranger Rendezvous - open to all members) and meet and speak with potential supervisors and managers in person. College degrees and qualifications certainly help in gaining entry to any career, but personal contact or exposure can often make the difference in getting selected for an available position. Experience College courses can only go so far in convincing a hiring official that you should be the one selected for the job. Membership in ANPR provides opportunities to work on task groups, position papers, and/or campaigns for specific NPS issues. If you don't already have a job with the NPS, what better way to gain specific experience on current issues side-by-side with NPS employees?
	ANPR is a professional, nonprofit organization. The work of the organization is done by its members on their own time, not on their duty time for the NPS. Our members frequently relate that the experience they gained working on issues for ANPR was at a level well above their NPS positions. This gave them a constructive outlet for new ideas or concerns that were not being allowed to rise up through official agency channels. It also gave them experience at these higher levels when it came time to compete for promotions and transfers within the agency. These experiences are still available for those willing to seek the opportunities.
	Understanding and Self-Confidence As a college student you have a certain level of understanding and self-confidence in specific subjects you have studied. Membership in ANPR offers you the opportunity to develop understanding of the National Park Service and the National Park System through the professional journal, attendance at the annual conference and volunteer assignments. Through understanding comes self-confidence, and wouldn't it be comforting to be self-confident when you have your first discussion with a hiring official about an NPS job? Or to have that self-confidence on your first day of NPS work? ANPR also offers a mentoring program that pairs members who are mid-level or senior NPS managers with those early in their careers.
	What's in it for ANPR? New Ideas and Energy — the Future of the NPS and ANPR Both ANPR and the NPS are aging. Many of us get comfortable with the status quo. We need new ideas and energetic minds and bodies to continue to engage American citizens and international visitors in deciding the best path for park operations and the future of the National Park System. Who will replace all the NPS baby boomers who are retiring in the next 10 years? The majority of ANPR members regard working for the NPS more as a way of life than as an occupation. With so much of our passion and time invested in the agency we want to ensure that we leave it and the parks in the hands of equally passionate, intelligent and experienced employees.
	Strength in Numbers ANPR has an advocacy role to play when we think the NPS, Department of the Interior or political decision-makers have strayed from decisions or actions that best support the agency, its mission and the National Park System. Simple arithmetic explains why more members translate to more clout with all these decision-makers. When ANPR takes an official position either in support or opposition to some plan, policy or decision of the NPS, it does so based on the strength of its membership. A stronger membership base opens more doors and minds.
	Diversity As the face of the American populace changes, so must the face of the employees of the NPS. We must do this to remain relevant to those citizens and supporters who pay taxes to fund park operations that in turn keep parks in perpetuity for future generations to visit, understand and enjoy. College students represent an enormous pool for recruiting diverse applicants. The NPS will not have diverse staffs if it does not have a diverse applicant pool from which to hire. Creating Your Own ANPR Chapter A college chapter of ANPR requires at least three members. Each chapter elects its own leadership and makes its own decisions on how it will interact with the national organization and the board of directors.
	ANPR reserves the right to withdraw official recognition for any chapter that acts in a manner that is unbecoming to the mission of the national organization. ANPR's president or a member of the board of directors are available to meet with new chapters at colleges and universities to help them organize.
	If you want to start the process of forming a college chapter of ANPR at your school, please contact us at this link.