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Special to the Gazette
By Andrea Lee, New Services
How many people, given the opportunity, would actually like to have fun with
their coworkers outside of the office in a team-building program?
For Larry LaRusso, coordinator of the extended study program for the General
Alumni Association, the experience of learning more about his office mates in
different surroundings helped shape the nature of his position.
LaRusso first participated in the low ropes course at the Carolina Adventures
Outdoor Education Center in fall 1998 with staff from the alumni association.
LaRusso now takes young Carolina alumni to programs at the center each year for
white-water rafting, hang-gliding, rock climbing and other educational
programs.
The center's mission of experimental learning, or learning by doing, allows
participants to recognize their own individual leadership skills while building
a sense of community with others.
"Staff at the alumni association observed each other in a different light aside
from the office setting, part of the center's mission," LaRusso said. "You
forget the skills that people have, and it helps you to use everyone's specific
talents. The programs taught us how to communicate with each other. We did a
lot of team-building to use every member to accomplish a goal."
Part of the experience teaches things about yourself you didn't know.
Another part reveals the hidden capabilities of coworkers.
The zipline, a recent addition to the center, has sparked a lot of interest.
It's a 1,220-foot cable stretched over a pond between a 45-foot telephone pole
and a pine tree. People cross the zipline with their bodies attached to a
safety rope and pulley.
Grounds employees recently got the hang of things using the zipline and other
physical tests at the center.
"The Grounds crew leaders already work very well together," said Kirk Pelland,
a forester in Facilities Services who went through the program with coworkers.
"Our goal with this program was to build on that strength."
The crew leaders act as coaches to small teams in their division, Pelland said,
and the center's program taught them communication skills that will help them
guide their respective teams.
"I expect our crew leaders learned a little more about each other and about
themselves," Pelland said. "We hope it will help them think creatively about
how to work more effectively within their own crews and with other University
staff."
This idea of discussing the process you go through at the center and taking it
back to the office is an educational tool called "transference," said Mike
Lyons, director at the center.
Lyons, who launched the center in 1995, has seen more than 10,000 people go
through the ropes course. The course is open for programs seven days a week at
the center, which is located on Country Club Road. There are no openings this
month, but weekdays are still available in September.
"The ropes course is an excellent addition to any of the orientations that take
place," Lyons said. "What we cover in four hours, you can't have that much
interaction in 10 days of office interaction. You're removed from your comfort
level and stripped of your title, and you discover something new about the
people you work with."
The Carolina Adventures Outdoor Education Center is the outdoor component of
the Campus Recreation Program. For more information on fees and programs, call
Lyons at 2-4179.
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