Assessing the Impact of New Student Campus Recreation Centers

Publications

ISSN 0027-6021

AUTHOR:
Samuel Zizzi, Suzan F. Ayers, Jack C. Watson II, and Linda Keeler

TITLE:
Assessing the Impact of New Student Campus Recreation Centers

SUGGESTED CITATION:
Zizzi, S. , Ayers, S. F. , Watson, J. C. , Keeler, L. (2003). Assessing the Impact of New Student Campus Recreation Centers. NASPA Journal, 41(4), Art. 2. Retrieved September 09, 2008, from http://publications.naspa.org/naspajournal/vol41/iss4/art2

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ABSTRACT:
The student recreation center (SRC) at many colleges and universities has evolved from being a place to lift weights and take aerobics classes to becoming a high-powered recruitment tool (Colleges use recreation, 2002). The present study included the development of an instrument to assess the use and impact of SRCs. Students (N = 655; users = 537, nonusers = 118) were surveyed about their use of and satisfaction with their university's newly constructed SRC. The overall findings revealed that a majority of SRC users were male (54.9%), felt more at home on campus since the construction of the SRC (61.2%), and felt that the SRC had increased their exercise frequency (79.9%). Forty percent of users adopted regular physical activity after the construction of the SRC. Non-users were primarily female (59.3%), had never visited the SRC (49.6%), and did not participate in any physical extracurricular activities (78.0%). Future SRC research should explore exercise patterns more thoroughly and link facility use to additional social and academic developmental outcomes.

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