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New Rec Center
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NEW STUDENT RECREATION AND HOUSING CENTER
PROPOSAL Updated: February 23, 2004
"The current facility [Peter Stott Center] does not meet the needs of today’s students and serious
thought must be given to the creation of a new building if we are going to meet everybody’s needs."
President’s Task Force on Student Recreation, 1987
"...we hope, these centers of public recreation, simply because they stand for high comradeship and
intercourse, will inspire American youth to a sense of political obligation, while at the same time
they teach him that the kingdom of the mind is without boundary and that he may find patriotic
relationship with the youth of all nations."
Jane Addams Recreation as a Public Function in Urban Communities American Journal of Sociology v. XVII, no. 5 (March, 1912): 615-619
The purpose of the Portland State Student Recreation Center Initiative is to give students the option to build and operate a Student Recreation Center at Portland State University. Oversight is to be vested in a Student Recreation Center Advisory Board and the Vice Provost for Student Affairs. At the center of this proposal is a 130,0000 square foot new recreation center, to be located on Market Street, between 11th and 12th Avenues, next to West Hall. The project design will be energy efficient, environmentally sensitive, and wherever possible, utilize natural or green materials in its construction. Additionally, every effort will be made to contract with Oregon companies and suppliers in the construction and operation of the Center. The project design calls for an attached housing component to provide over 200 rooms, funded separately from the Center. The new Student Recreation Center will allow a wider array of recreational and activity choices, as well as greater access to existing options. This project will create more access for both commuter and residential students by allowing users to customize their participation based upon personal choice and convenience of schedules. This will ultimately promote better individual and group approaches to fitness, wellness, and recreation, which in turn is expected to lead to a healthier community, higher involvement, and higher achieving students (NIRSA Journal, 2002). The Student Recreation Center would be used primarily for programs and services that fall under the auspices of Campus Recreation: Additional areas of expansion would allow for: Portland State University has historically been referred to as a "commuter campus", with a large number of students living within the Portland metropolitan area while taking classes at the University. In the last five years, the University has aggressively pursued more and more options for students to live on-campus, with stated goals of a total enrollment of 35,000 students. An important additional goal is to increase the percentage of out-of-state students by 21% (Senior Enrollment Management Team, White Paper, December 2002). According to the NASPA Journal, Winter 2001, "Not only did Student Recreation Center users persist at a greater rate [than non-users], but also these students earned slightly higher GPA’s and earned more credit hours at the end of the first year." The new student recreation center can help Portland State meet these important goals of recruitment and retention while simultaneously improving student academic success. Across the country, student recreation centers have been built in order to provide students with opportunities to experience a healthy, active lifestyle that complements and enhances the rigors of academic life (see Appendix A.) Both of Oregon’s other large campuses, Oregon State and the University of Oregon, have expanded their recreation facilities within the last five years. As Portland State University’s enrollment grows, it will be unable to meet the recreational and wellness needs of students with current facilities. In the current arrangement, academic scheduling and the athletic department have priority, leaving Campus Recreation as a third priority. As a result of this arrangement, many Portland State students are forced to pay to use off-campus facilities, or simply do without (Campus Rec Survey, 2003). The Student Recreation Center project will greatly enhance and expand opportunities for Portland State students to engage in activities which promote healthy lifestyles, create communities of friends, and provide another place for students to meet and call their own. In doing so, it will create a new attachment to the University and leave a legacy for future Portland State students. In constructing a new recreation facility, one of the main goals is to provide recreational elements of the program that are multi-faceted and appeal to a wide array of students - from beginners to accomplished athletes, from students with disabilities to students with children. Recreational programming in a new Center would be designed to allow multiple drop-in activities to be conducted simultaneously with affordable organized, scheduled programs. The initial plan for the facility includes an indoor jogging track, courts for basketball, volleyball, and indoor soccer, dance, martial arts, and fitness rooms, a pool and hot tub, student group space, student social space, space for the Outdoor Program rentals, trips, and rock wall, a roof-top field, meeting rooms, a café, and more. A cornerstone of this project is the fitness facility for cardiovascular equipment (i.e. treadmills, elliptical trainers, etc.) and strength equipment (both free weights and circuit equipment). This part of the building will be approximately 18,000 square feet, designed to meet the diverse fitness and training needs of the beginning, recreational, and competitive person. The existing fitness room in the Peter Stott Center is approximately 5,000 square feet; this does not approach the current space standard of approximately 1 sq./ft per students. This space increase will allow for a significant enhancement in cardiovascular and strength/conditioning equipment to meet the needs of the student body. This will also help the University to comply with recommended space standards set by NIRSA, the leading association in collegiate recreational sports. The cardiovascular equipment (and the strength/conditioning equipment) will be available for drop-in use, while at the same time providing the option for the strength and conditioning area to be scheduled for an introductory class or group. A new student recreation center will provide students of Portland State University a broad spectrum of recreational and fitness opportunities that either do not exist on campus today, or are extremely limited in scope due to inadequate present facility size and condition. Listed below are potential activities that might be possible with a new Student Recreation Center: The Vice-Provost for Student Affairs has delegated the operation of the Student Recreation Center to the Student Recreation Center Advisory Board. The Student Recreation Center Advisory Board is responsible for developing, reviewing, and recommending policy related to the long-term operation of the facility. The Chair of the Board will be a student selected from the voting membership of the Student Recreation Center Advisory Board and will call meetings once per month or as needed. All student board members shall meet the Portland State University minimum academic qualifications for student office holders. Charge to the Board: Student Recreation Center Board Membership: Non-voting: Use of the Student Recreation Center will be free to all currently enrolled students with a student ID card. Proposed hours of operation are Monday though Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and weekends from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (112 hours per week). The Student Recreation Center will rely heavily on students to staff the programs and operations of the building. There will be one full-time programming staff member per operational area, administrative assistance, fund-raising and marketing assistance, student leadership opportunities, approximately 75 student staff, and a student internship program will be developed. The lifelong enjoyment of participating in recreational activities begins with sound fundamentals and instruction. A priority will be placed on providing quality instruction that focuses on developing basic skills and fundamentals in learning new activities. Proper instruction is also paramount in the safe use of equipment and minimizing the risk of injury. In order to provide professional and knowledgeable instruction the programs in the Student Recreation Center will ensure that there is a major educational component in their activities. In managing the Student Recreation Center’s schedule, the Board will observe the principle that hours for the major components of the Recreation Center (i.e. cardiovascular, strength/conditioning, courts, pool) shall be designated for open recreation or student group time. Open recreation is defined as time that is intentionally scheduled for drop-in activity. The Student Recreation Center Advisory Board is the final authority in determining the activity schedule for the Recreation Center. The use of the Student Recreation Center facility users in order of priority are: The Student Rec Center Board will be responsible to resolve priority and scheduling conflicts. Unresolved disputes will be forwarded to the Vice Provost for Student Affairs for resolution. Within the past several years it has become apparent that for a new student recreation center to be created at Portland State University, the facility would have to be funded by a student resource fee. Various campuses throughout the country and the northwest have chosen this particular route to fund campus recreation centers, including the University of Oregon, University of Washington, Washington State University, Western Washington State University, University of Chicago-Illinois, University of Montana, Boise State, and others. If passed by a student vote, this fee would fund the annual debt service for construction costs and the ongoing operating costs of the facility and programs. This fee, if approved, would be a new fee, distinct from any other university fee, and would be included in the quarterly bill. The building is scheduled to open and be fully operational during Winter Quarter, 2007, barring unforeseeable construction delays. Future adjustments to the fee may be necessary due to inflation and/or enrollment fluctuations. It will be the Student Recreation Center Advisory Board’s responsibility to review the fee and make recommendations to the Campus Fee Advisory Committee. Fee Increase Amount: The fee will gradually increase from $24 to $52 (however, the fee increase is really only $41 as the current SFC allocation to Campus Recreation of $11 would be taken away from the general student fee) per quarter in order to minimize the financial impact on those students who graduate before the new facility is complete. Fees will be collected for two years prior to the Student Recreation Center opening in order to fund architectural/engineering services, plan checks, working drawings, bid documents, hazardous materials survey, soils analysis, seismic analysis, special consultants, hire staff and generate reserves. Those students who pay any sort of fee during the construction phase will be granted a free membership to the Student Recreation Center for the same length of time that they paid the fee. The Student Recreation Center will offer non-student memberships to Portland State faculty, staff, alumni, and their guests. The Student Recreation Center Advisory Board will determine membership fees. Possible limitations of the number of non-student passes would occur if the demand on the facility by students is too high to accommodate others. The project, if approved by students, will be subject to the review and final approval of the Chancellor’s Office. As the project moves through the planning process, changes are normal and are designed to enhance and/or adjust project costs. Unforeseen construction problems, swings in financial markets, enrollment fluctuations, equipment and material costs, etc., all have the potential to change the timeline and closing construction costs. The Student Recreation Center Board will have responsibility to administer such project adjustments. |
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• Peter Stott Center • Room 102 • 503.725.5127 •
Campus Rec is subsidized by student fees.