FORT COLLINS, CO -- Although the $32 million renovations to the Colorado State University (CSU) Student Recreation Center recently reached the halfway mark, CSU officials announced that they may cut 50 campus jobs this summer to compensate for a decrease in state funding.

State funding is expected to decrease by about $13 million next year, and school officials told local media they plan to reduce expenses by the same amount by reducing operating budgets and continuing a yearlong hiring freeze. CSU also is expected to raise tuition and fees by 9 percent next year, on top of this year’s 9 percent increase.

But officials say the current construction projects on campus, which total hundreds of millions of dollars, are necessary to attract and retain students, especially those from out of state.

Students are paying for the rec center expansion through recreation fees. Full-time students now pay $80 per semester for recreation fees, and that amount is expected to rise to $131 per semester in the fall. The renovated facility will accommodate 30,000 students, which is up from CSU’s current 25,000 student population.

The renovated rec center will feature massage rooms, a large fitness area with weights and cardio machines and multiple group ex classrooms, including a new spin classroom lit with black lights. In addition, lower construction bids allowed the inclusion of extras such as laser-etched glass featuring trees, mountains and CSU logos.

Earlier this year, students planned a rally to protest the rising fees and to express dissatisfaction with using student fees to fund construction projects, rather than relying on state funding as CSU has done in the past.

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