Ithaca College

The Immersion Semester Program (ISP) is now accepting applications for the spring 2016 semester from students who are enthusiastic about activities such as hiking, backpacking, whitewater rafting, rock climbing, and alpine travel, as well as those who would like to use these skills as a catalyst for growth in themselves and those they may serve. 

The ISP is an intensive semester-long study away program for outdoor leadership and skill development. The ISP employs adventure pursuits (i.e., backpacking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting) to engage topics ranging from wilderness philosophy to wilderness ethics, wilderness leadership to risk management, and wilderness medicine to wilderness literacy. 

The ISP is open to all majors and minors featuring six courses (18 credits listed below) and experiential learning opportunities emphasizing leadership, judgment, decision-making, and communication. The ISP is NOT guide training or high-risk adventure for the sake of high-risk adventure. The skills gained on the ISP are intended to prepare future professional outdoor leaders AND to be easily transferrable for application to an industry of choice. The mission of the OAL ISP is to develop effective outdoor leaders, educators, and compassionate citizens.

ISP Courses

RLS 21800            Wilderness First Responder

RLS 22000            The Wilderness Experience

RLS 22300            Wilderness Literacy

RLS 35400            Organization & Supervision of Outdoor Pursuits

RLS 37000            Wilderness Land Use Ethics

RLS 42100            Wilderness Expedition Leadership

This year we will start in Joshua Tree, California and spend 3 weeks backpacking across Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP). Then we will spend a week climbing in JTNP. After climbing the group will travel up the coast to Bend, Oregon. Next the group will compete a 9 day Wilderness First Responder Course followed by another rock climbing unit at Smith Rock State Park. The penultimate expedition is a river trip on the Deschutes River. Finally, the group will head out for about 2 weeks on a backpacking / mountaineering expedition that is primarily student planned and led.    The entire field portion is roughly 75 days and we cover all the ISP courses (listed above) while doing all the pursuits (described above). The course fee is roughly $9,000 and covers all your meals, transportation on course, and lodging during course. Students are responsible for getting themselves to and from course start (Palm Springs, CA) and course end (Portland, OR). You do not report to campus (IC) at all during the semester (so you don’t pay room and board- instead you pay the course fee; tuition is not included in the course fee).    Finally, we run the ISP in collaboration with the Northwest Outward Bound School so in addition to Ithaca College faculty, you will have access to and instruction from industry leaders in outdoor education.   

For further information or to submit an application, please contact:   Patrick Lewis, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Outdoor Adventure Leadership & Immersion Semester Coordinator Department of Recreation & Leisure Studies (607) 274-3132 plewis@ithaca.edu