Survey Responses 2007

The Rec Center full-time staff responds to comments made on the 2007 Satisfaction Survey:

Jump to a section:

• Operations
• Fitness
• Intramural Sports
• ROPE
• Aquatics

Operations

1. Comments:
   What are the weaknesses of the Rec. Center staff?
   Concern: Student Knowledge and Attentiveness

   Rec Center Response:
   "While many people felt one of our strengths was our staff it is also very clear that many of you feel our staff is a great weakness. This shows us that our staff is not consistent with providing good quality customer service and for this we are very sorry. We are always looking at how we can improve our customer service. This we have hired a motivational speaker from Physicians for Phun to speak with our entire staff on the topic of customer service. We hope this will help our staff realize how important it is to take ownership in their position and provide each and every patron with the correct information, in an efficient and timely manner."

2. Comments:
   Do you desire facilities, equipment, or programs that you cannot currently find on the Rice Campus? Concern: More Equipment (specifically Cardio)

   Rec Center Response:
   "We understand there is a concern over the number of pieces of cardio equipment available to the Rice Community. Two big factors contribute to this growing problem. First is the lack of facility space in which to put the cardio equipment. Second, is the lack of financial resources to purchase and maintain more equipment. The Rec. Center currently offers 23 pieces of cardio. In our new facility we are planning on having over 60 pieces of various cardio available to the Rice Community."

3. Comments:
   In your opinion, what are the weaknesses of the Rec. Center facility and its amenities?
   Amenities Concern: Equipment and staff. See above.
   Facility Concern: Cleanliness (Locker Rooms)

   Rec Center Response:
   "One of the greatest weaknesses of the Rec. Center is the cleanliness. We have been and continue to work diligently with Custodial on the cleanliness of the facility. They have come a long way in the last year and progress should continue. There are gaps in the custodial schedule with which we are all trying to fill appropriately in order to maintain such a facility. The Rec. Center has recently received a new Custodial Supervisor. We will be meeting with her in late January to address the needs and concerns. You should see improvements. Please do not hesitate to bring your questions, comments and concerns to the attention of Sean Towery, Assistant Director for Operations. He can be reached at x4069 or towery@rice.edu."

Fitness

1. Comments:
   "Times all tend to be during the day or very late at night. This is not convenient for commuters (most graduate students) who come into the office like a normal job."

   Rec Center Response:
   "There are currently 26 Group Fitness classes offered every week, 16 of which occur after business hours or on weekends, and five more during the lunch hour. We have just four classes starting at 7:30pm or later as there is a high demand for activities and limited space during peak hours. All four of these classes are duplicated during 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. class times."

2. Comments:
   "Classes are rarely offered, students must pay to take classes, classes are often cancelled because so few students want to pay to take them."

   Rec Center Response:
   "Currently there is no fee collected from any students, faculty, or staff for membership to the Recreation Center. There are minimal charges for our group fitness classes and personal training due to the lack of specific funding for those programs. These costs are in place to pay for class instructors and equipment."

3. Comments:
   "The facilities and the equipment. Even within the difficult constraints of the Rec Center now, keeping up with new types of equipment could continue to improve your service... The bike track, stairs in the football stadium or track stadium, random locations in the colleges, are all places where Rice folks workout and the Rec Center could be inventive and helpful and finding ways to improve/use these spaces."

   Rec Center Response:
   "While there are some patrons who would like to see additional pieces of equipment in our cardio and weight rooms, we also have patrons who feel our weight and cardio rooms are too crowded. As a result, we are constantly reviewing current equipment needs in order to find that happy medium between offering enough pieces of equipment while maintaining a more comfortable and open workout experience."

Intramural Sports

1. Comments:
   A comment was made on the how poorly powder-puff officials were dressed and how unprofessional they acted.

   Rec Center Response:
   "Powder-puff is not currently associated with the Recreation Center and we have no involvement with their training or their dress code. This may change in the future, and at that time we would welcome comments or suggestions about their performance and professionalism."

2. Comments:
   The suggestion of offering different levels of competition for sports, as well as "pick up games" was mentioned.

   Rec Center Response:
   "It would be nice to offer different levels of competition for all intramural sports but with limited teams and or players we do not have the numbers to separate the different skill levels. If students would like to participate in "pick up" games they are more than welcome when the fields/gyms are not being used by intramurals or club sports."

3. Comments:
   A participant was unhappy that his or her team was forced to play at a specific time.

   Rec Center Response:
   "When it comes to scheduling we try to provide a great deal of flexibility for all teams and students. When signing up for a sport, teams are asked for 3 preference days. If a team does not receive their request for one of the three days the captain will be called to approve the new option. Teams are also allowed one reschedule per regular season as long as they contact the intramural office 48 hours prior to game day."

ROPE (Outdoor Programs)

1. A comment on the satisfaction survey related to the outdoor program was that we should have more diversity in programs. We aim to meet as many interests as possible. In fact, we will be visiting two new locations on trips this semester! Our most popular day trip, Coastal Sailing, returned for Spring 2008 semester. As the outdoor student staff and program awareness increases we will increase the number of programs offered per semester. There is a trip suggestion link on the ROPE web page for specific requests.

Aquatics

1. As a result of the survey we noticed an increased need for lap swim in the early evening hours. In response, we have added a lap swim for half the pool from 5:30-6:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (The early evening hours seem to be the most popular time to request programs at the pool, so half pool is all that was available.) This new lap swim is in addition to our morning, noon, and evening lap swims already on the schedule.

2. Comments within the survey were made about the need for additional "free time" at the pool. Our Recreational Swim times are from 1:30-3:30 p.m. on Saturdays and 7:30-9:30 p.m. on Fridays. Right now the attendance is still low at the Recreational swim times, and made up mostly of lap swimmers. The needs of the leisure swimmers have been addressed during the design of the new recreation facility.

3. Another comment about the pool in the Rec Center satisfaction survey was that Learn to Swim classes are not offered at convenient times. We have tried to pick the most convenient time for people. We currently have Monday and Wednesday evening classes. Saturday morning classes are also a popular time slot. While those times do not work with everyone it is the amount we can fit into the pool schedule. Over the summer we have pool availability earlier in the day and lessons begin at 4:30 p.m. The adult classes range from stroke mechanics classes (to refine strokes) and beginner classes for comfort and basics.

4. There seemed to be several comments that the pool does not have enough time for people to use the pool. The Recreations Center's pool is the only pool on campus and therefore has many requests for use. Priority goes first to Academic classes (LPAP) and Athletics. We have attempted to offer a wide variety of open swim times for the Rice community.