Juliene Hefter takes her job seriously. “I’m very
passionate
about the aquatic profession,” she says. “It’s our
job as professionals to
inform people of safety, risk management, and
liability.” She takes it so seriously, she’s putting
measures into effect this year as president of the
National Recreation and Park Association’s National
Aquatic Branch. Her goal is to bring more attention
to the industry within the U.S., because she feels a
lot of people outside the industry don’t perceive
aquatics as a true
profession.
Part of her plan includes developing a certification
course for managers, a program she first tried to
develop as chair of the National Aquatic Management
School. With such a program, professionals can learn
to plan procedures, write staff manuals, run their
operations, and engage in stronger risk management.
She also wants to encourage veteran industry members
to move up into more administrative positions,
higher up within
Parks & Rec.
A competitive swimmer from childhood through her
years at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse,
Hefter studied organizational leadership and quality
during her graduate years at Marian College in Fond
du Lac, Wis. She was always involved on the state
level in aquatics and soon moved up the ranks to the
national level. The 39-year-old deputy director of
the Wisconsin
Park and Recreation Association also hopes that all
the different associations within the industry will
collaborate to create a consistent message in
safety. “There are so many different levels of
training and
opportunities,” she says. “I’m an individual that is
big on
teamwork and cooperation.”
Her hope is that within the next 10 years, the
various organizations will work together to lower
the number of drownings and near-drownings by
educating each other and their communities. For the
past 10 years, she has tackled these issues by
speaking at conferences on management, special
events, programming, staff training, sponsorship and
team building.
No matter what she does, she strives to give
aquatics professionals a sense of ownership in their
titles. Providing them with additional training and
education goes a long way toward doing just that. “I
want to take care of those people,” she says. “We’re
trying to make aquatic professionals as well rounded
as possible.”
