On Monday morning, Kelly Bardusk stands in front of her PRTM 3630 “Programming and Trends in Campus Recreation” class, delivering a lecture about group fitness programs. Then, on Wednesday morning, she mounts a stationary bike alongside her students, preparing to follow the directions of an eager spin cycle instructor. Bardusk’s unique blend of theoretical and practical learning takes a new, engaging approach to the PRTM discipline by fully immersing students in all of the incredible experiences that Clemson’s Department of Campus Recreation has to offer.
PRTM 3630 debuted in the Spring 2025 semester as a single-credit course under Bardusk’s leadership, and it quickly reached a total of 40 registered students. This semester is the second offering of the class. Bardusk’s choice to situate the course in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management discipline fit into a larger pattern of campus recreation departments partnering with academia to reach more students.
“This class is essentially a bridge between Clemson Campus Rec and academics through the PRTM program. We have more ideas of how to engage with other diverse programs in the future, but this has been a great step forward,” says Bardusk.
With the help of PRTM Department Chair Bob Barcelona, a former campus recreation professional at other institutions, coursework has been built within the major that connects directly to Clemson Campus Rec. Thanks to the initiative of Bardusk and Barcelona, students now have access to valuable experiential learning opportunities that enhance their overall understanding of academic and professional concepts.
“Our collaboration with Campus Recreation highlights the role of in-class and out-of-class learning experiences that provide students with skills they can use in the workforce or in their lives after they leave Clemson,” says Barcelona. “Campus Rec is the perfect partner – the staff is in the business of student development, and they have the grounding in professional practice that really allows students to learn in real-world settings. I talk a lot about creating a ‘seamless web of learning’ that connects academic and student affairs and helps students see that learning happens not only in the classroom, but also in the gym, athletic fields, outdoor recreation spaces and fitness centers on campus.”
While Bardusk serves as the instructor of record for the class, her primary role is director of external and academic relations for Campus Recreation. She has been with the department since 2013, contributing to the advancement of holistic well-being for students, faculty and staff. Currently, she is working on a Ph.D. in higher education leadership, which will help her continue to excel in the field. Besides teaching a volleyball leisure skills course for several years, Bardusk had not leaned fully into the academic field until recently. Nevertheless, her passion for Campus Rec and her dedication to service have made her a perfect fit for this new role.
With Bardusk at the helm, the PRTM 3630 class has thrived. Her instruction takes a dual approach, focusing first on building a foundational understanding of what campus recreation is, what it does and how it is organized. True to the name of the course, Bardusk also teaches her students about the trends in the industry, examining what is new and what Clemson is doing compared to other institutions across the country.
The second focus of the class is the experiential learning piece. Through hands-on activities and field trips, Bardusk aims to help her students recognize the intentionality and hard work behind each positive interaction they have with Campus Rec.
“When you take the classroom knowledge and the immersive experience and combine them together, it helps the concepts come to life. My students are personally experiencing the things we talk about in class on Monday when they become the participants on Wednesday, and I think that adds a bit of empathy and understanding from the professional lens of recreational management — an acknowledgement of what it means to create a safe, welcoming environment,” Bardusk says.
Bardusk provides her students with a wide variety of experiences across campus, encouraging thoughtful reflection and active participation. Some weeks, her students do a session of a group fitness class, such as pilates and yoga, led by a trained instructor. During a week highlighting intramural sports, the class split into random teams and competed against each other, earning extra credit points at the end if they could name all of their teammates. Other times, the students receive a guided tour of a Campus Rec facility. Most recently, they visited the Andy Quattlebaum Outdoor Education Center at the Snow Family Outdoor Fitness and Wellness Complex, where professional staff member Taylor Williams walked them through all of the resources and opportunities available through the Clemson Outdoor Recreation Education (CORE) program.
“In this course, I’m really like a facilitator,” Bardusk says. “I teach the high-level concepts and values of campus recreation, and then I bridge the students to our professionals, who get the opportunity to spotlight their own areas.”
Senior PRTM major Dylan Daning has nothing but praise for the work Bardusk is doing and his experience in the class. Already familiar with the Campus Rec intramural sports program — through which he is currently playing on four different teams — Daning was pleasantly surprised to discover how much he had to learn about the department and everything it offers for students.
“This class has been so eye-opening for me; I’ve been amazed by all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into making these resources available to students,” Daning says. “Since I started this semester, I’ve taken friends out paddleboarding at the Snow Complex, joined the Table Tennis Club, and explored a lot of other awesome opportunities I wouldn’t have known about without this class.”
When asked what she wants her students to get out of the course, Bardusk highlights the importance of well-rounded development and “transferable skills,” which her students can use in any field they pursue after graduation.
PRTM 3630 is one of several hands-on courses Campus Rec has introduced into the University curriculum over the past few years, including a well-being class and an outdoor leadership class. Coming up in the fall, two courses will be available that follow a similar style — PRTM 2030, a one-credit “Intro to Campus Recreation” class, and PRTM 2020, a three-credit “Foundations of Well-Being in Recreation and Leisure” class. Both welcome students from all majors and build on Bardusk’s mission of making students aware of the vast range of Campus Rec resources and instilling them with knowledge that can be applied outside of the classroom in their daily lives.
