Rec center officials always looking to improve
Even with a trio of new facilities improvements already on the horizon, officials say they are constantly working to gauge students’ satisfaction with the Rec Center and look for new ways to improve the building and its services.
“Seeking out student opinion has always been standard procedure,” Richard Leeds, a junior history major and vice chair of the Student Recreation Board said. “We want to always make sure that we are there to meet the needs of students and feedback is really helpful with that.”
As a part of the ongoing process to gain students’ opinions about the Rec Center, officials sent out an online survey in late March to all students. The survey was not motivated by any specific goals, but was rather an effort to rate students’ general satisfaction with Rec Center facilities and services.
“We want to know where we stand with students,” Gary Chadwick, the director of the Rec Center said. “We did some outdoor improvements but we haven’t done an expansion of the Rec Center since 1990 and so we want to get an indication of student’s satisfaction with the indoor facilities.”
This is the second year that the Rec Center has sent out the online survey to students, and Chadwick said this year’s survey will give a good indication of where the Rec Center has improved or slipped from last year.
“We will use the survey as a tool,” Chadwick said, “and from there decide on what actions should be taken.”
Along with providing comment boxes throughout the Rec Center to gain student feedback, Chadwick said, the Rec Board and staff members also set up tables near the doors every semester and record all comments that students have about the Rec Center.
Chadwick said all student feedback is read and discussed between himself and the Rec Board. The idea for an upcoming project to enhance and expand the workout space in the women’s locker room, for example, was gained through students’ comments.
The main constraint that officials deal with in making Rec Center improvements are funds limitations, Chadwick said.
“The capital improvements budget has remained the same for a number of years,” he said, “and we always have three to four times the projects that we need that don’t make our final list.”
Rec Center board members and staff did receive a $29,000 financial boost in their budget for the upcoming year, which Leeds said would be used to improve the women’s locker room. The money will also become a permanent addition to the Rec Center’s budget and used for other projects in the future, Leeds said.
During its March budget meeting, Legislative Council additionally approved funding for a campus-wide lightning warning system and replacement of valves for the steam heaters in the Rec Center, which have become very inefficient and undependable, Chadwick said.
In terms of future improvements, Leeds said students are generally satisfied with the Rec Center, although most would like to see it grow and expand because they think it is currently overcrowded.
The basketball courts are one area of improvement that students and Leeds agree on.
“I think they could definitely add a couple of basketball courts because when I play, there are always a lot of people waiting to play pickup games,” said Matt Moskal, a sophomore psychology and Spanish major. “Sometimes I’ve had to wait an hour and a half just to get a good game.”
Leeds said he would like to see the hockey rink updated in the near future as well.
Chadwick is looking to even bigger improvements that he said are a part of a long-term plan that the Rec Center is beginning to develop.
“Our five-year plan includes taking a broad look at things,” he said, “and I think that we definitely need to take a hard look at expansion.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Emery Cowan at emerycowan@thecampuspress.com.
