Loyola University Chicago

Retreat & Ecology Campus

Program Progressions

Photo

We are currently not offering our Challenge Course.

Each LUREC challenge course and team building program consists of a series of activities commonly referred to as group initiatives, low ropes and high ropes elements. Group facilitators place these activities into a schedule, or “progression” of increasingly complex challenges. This approach encourages participants to use what they learn from initiatives offered early in their program in order to succeed at subsequent challenges. By creating an environment where knowledge and skills are put to practical use, groups are provided with room to try new ideas, receive feedback from one another and their facilitator and to fail as often as they succeed, a key component of learning and developing problem solving, goal setting, leadership and communication skills.

The initiatives and ropes course elements within a progression are chosen by LUREC facilitation staff in order to fulfill learning goals identified by group leaders. For example, a group that is focused on improving its capacity to collaboratively solve complex problems will be provided with activities that stress successful communication, short and long-term goal setting, and implementing action plans along with reflection activities that help group members make sense of their learning.

Our goal for each challenge course program is to ensure that the skills developed and the lessons learned by participants will be relevant to their everyday life. While spending a day engaged in team building by “playing games” in the woods and traversing cables 30’ above the ground may not outwardly appear to be relevant in a business or classroom, the purposeful application of skill building challenges and guided reflection brings insights that all too often escape us in our day to day lives.

For more information send an email to LUREC@luc.edu or call 815-338-1032.