Trends in University Fitness for 2010

The following are some of the broad trends that several university recreation center professionals are noticing in the areas of fitness programming, services, facilities and management:

Fitness Programming

Dance: Zumba is “replacing the kickboxing craze,” says Tamra Garstka, director of campus recreation, Student Recreation Complex at Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, AZ. “In fact, all of the various dance programs—salsa, ballroom, Latin—are really popular here at ASU.”

Mind-body: These programs are “growing more and more every year,” Garstka says. “This speaks, I think, to the stress that many of today’s students are feeling.”

Personal training: Personal training sometimes encompasses small groups, such as 10 students to one trainer during a session. “This enhances camaraderie, too, so we encourage that development,” Garstka says.

Team sports: Doug Milder, director of campus recreation, Idaho State University (ISU), Pocatello, ID, says, “Our intramural sports numbers are still strong and growing, even with increased fees.”

Services

Social opportunities: ASU’s recreation center now runs movies and other programs that foster social engagement opportunities for students, Garstka says.

Wellness programs: ISU has a renewed focus on wellness services. Some health services departments at the university will run programs out of ISU’s new recreation facility, which will open this spring or summer, Milder says.

Massage and swim lessons: “I thought that those fee-based services would suffer in this economy, but they are actually increasing,” Milder says.

Nutrition classes:Howard Taylor, director of the division of recreational sports, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, says nutrition classes are popular at Purdue’s recreation center. “I believe they will continue to grow in popularity for students,” Taylor says.

Employee-wellness initiatives: Maureen McGonagle, director of campus recreation, Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center at DePaul University, Chicago, says employee wellness initiatives are becoming a higher priority for universities whether in programming options, incentive-based participation, and/or dedicated spaces for university employees.”

Facilities

Lounge areas: Joseph Lore, director of the department of recreation services, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, says students want more places to relax in the recreation center, such as coffee and juice bars and WiFi hotspots.

Green building:LEED-certified construction/green building and sustainable operating initiatives are important to today’s students, many rec center managers say. As such, many of the new facilities currently under construction use environmentally sound materials and principles.

Increased use of technology: University recreation centers are using today’s social networking technologies to assist in areas such as membership services, advertising and communication, McGonagle says. Other university rec center managers say that today’s techno-generation of students generally love anything high-tech to keep them distracted while they exercise.

Management

Efficiency: “There are fewer people running facilities these days,” Milder says. “The design of several new facilities is reflecting that and will save the centers on operating costs.” As one example, some new and renovated facilities are putting the equipment rental spaces behind the front desk instead of in a separate—and separately manned—area of the rec center.

Accountability and entrepreneurial practices: McGonagle says that university recreation departments are bearing a larger responsibility for financing their own operations, either through program fees, expanded membership bases, corporate sponsorship, and/or development programs.

Private-partnership financing: “This was a trend in [university] housing 10 to 15 years ago,” McGonagle says, “and it is now being considered more for recreation because there is less flexibility with capital spending than in the past.”

Community fitness: Milder says that more people in the surrounding community of a university are using rec centers. “This is especially so in areas of the country where the commercial clubs are under-serving the community,” he says. –Donna Loyle, contributing writer

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