April 1, 2019

Hallmon, Tapps publish study of strategic mentorship in parks, rec

By Tara Garcia, communication assistant

Dr. Augustus Hallmon

Dr. Tyler Tapps

Two Northwest Missouri State University faculty published an article in the International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, titled “The value of strategic mentorship in park and recreation agencies.”

Dr. Augustus Hallmon, assistant professor of health science and wellness, and Dr. Tyler Tapps, associate professor of health science and wellness, authored the article, which focuses on ways to identify the benefits of a systematic mentorship program by using recreational agency.

“It will help businesses and individuals reflect on what mentorship is to them and how they will go about mentoring others,” Hallmon said. “I emphasized a model that the Illinois Parks and Recreation Association uses related to mentorship where they group an early career professional with a mid-career and seasoned-career professional. The idea of this model is for each person to learn from each other, which then allows each person to walk away from this experience stronger.” 

Tapps added, “This research was centered on Dr. Hallmon’s previous work to help identify mentorship factors – if they exist – within administrational structures of public operations,” “One of my core values is collaboration, and working through all phases of the manuscript process with Dr. Hallmon was truly the highlight.”

Hallmon joined the Northwest faculty in 2016, and his academic interests included positive youth development within recreation, racial formation within recreation, marginalized youth, out-of-school recreation activities and community recreation. He is the advisor for Minority Men’s Organization and is a certified park and recreation professional. He earned his Ph.D. in recreation, sport and tourism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master’s in information systems management from DeVry Keller School of Management and a bachelor’s in leisure studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Tapps joined the Northwest faculty in 2014, and his academic interests include gerontology, health and wellness, leadership, grant writing, exercise among elderly, and service learning. He earned his Ph.D. in health, leisure and human performance at Oklahoma State University and a master’s in recreation and bachelor’s in corporate recreation and wellness, both from Northwest.