While students were enjoying fall break, members of Student Government and University Recreation staff members visited several schools in Texas to acquire ideas for how to improve the UREC Student Recreation Complex.
SG Vice President Dani Borel went on the trip and said the group visited the recreational facilities of the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Rice University, University of Houston and the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Borel said the area was chosen because of the amount of students who come to LSU from Texas each year.
“Houston is one of our largest alumni bases,” she said.
Thomas Rodgers, SG assistant director of academics, said he didn’t realize before the trip how big of a role recreation centers play in recruitment, and some schools include their recreation centers on prospective student tours.
Borel said she and the others on the trip saw a few things in Texas they’d like to see implemented at the University.
Borel said almost every rec center the group visited had a large, nearly 50-foot rock wall, but she said she didn’t know if students would be interested in that new addition.
“I’m not really sure that’s a necessity,” she said. “Especially now, in times of a budget crisis.”
Another amenity the group was interested in was a leisure pool.
Borel said they saw a school that used its pool as a source of revenue when it wasn’t being used by students.
“They rent it out to Greek organizations and alumni associations,” she said. “Some do swimming lessons.”
The most important thing Borel said she found was the amount of cardio equipment each facility had.
“Rice has a student body of about 5,000 students, undergrad and grad,” Borel said. “They have nearly five times more cardio equipment than we do.”
Rodgers said Rice’s facility has only been open for one year, and the other facilities the group visited were all relatively new and were built fewer than 15 years ago.
He said all the facilities they visited were significantly larger than the UREC SRC.
Rodgers said the group also learned different ways each university organizes its programs, like intramurals and group classes.
Laurie Braden, LSU UREC director, said the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M each charge students about $100 each semester for use of their facilities but also charge students for each individual program in which they participate.
Borel said no plans have been made and any improvements made to the UREC SRC will not be implemented any time in the next year.
If UREC officials decide to make some kind of improvement, it will require an increase in student fees, Borel said.
Borel said in an e-mail that she found Texas A&M did construction on their rec center in an interesting way. She said an addition to the facility didn’t cause an increase in student fees until after construction was complete. She said the school’s athletic department contributed $3 million to fund the project because it also uses the facility.
Rodgers said he wasn’t sure how willing students would be to spend money on the UREC but thought the group’s visit would help them make an informed decision.
“When students see what other schools have, they’ll want that, too,” Rodgers said.
Braden said LSU UREC is constantly looking for student opinion, which is often collected through surveys.
“Our next step was to take students out and actually look at other facilities,” she said.
Braden said the money for the trip came from the UREC budget.
Braden said the trip was   successful because it was informative and gave those in the group a new perspective.
“It showed us what other schools have,” Braden said. “It showed us that we might be behind in terms of equipment or programs.”
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]