The goals and objectives of the ARC can be easily understood by reading its mission statement. According to Robyn Deterding, Director of Campus Recreation, the mission statement of the ARC is described "As a part of campus recreation that works to create positive lifelong learning through inclusive and valuable resources that enable our campus to achieve, create leaders, and serve the community at large at the highest level." The ARC was designed to have a little bit of something for everyone and was created to be accessible for everyone. Being about 340,000 gross square feet it is one of the largest facilities of its kind. About 88% of the students on campus use the ARC, a number which Deterding wants to be closer to 100%. To achieve this strict strategic plan that the ARC uses in order to constantly improve its services for all.
The ARC, like all recreation and leisure facilities, needs money to function and it meets this need almost entirely through student fees and a few other minor monetary contributors. Hardly any state funds are provided to the ARC and campus recreation in general. The ARC focuses primarily on providing services to university students, which, as stated above is the primary source of revenue for the facility. Other groups include faculty/staff, their spouses and other family members, retirees, and few community members.
Many jobs are offered at the ARC from full time jobs such as Business Manager and Human Resources, to Building Service Workers and Equipment Staff. More specific jobs include Aquatics, Intramurals, Outdoor Adventure, Reservations, Member Services, Strength and Conditioning, Fitness, Wellness, etc. Core competencies are fairly basic – good social skills, basic knowledge computers, training equipment, etc. However, each individual worker is trained more thoroughly in the field of their choice; for example, a lifeguard would need to be certified before even applying and then trained/informed of operating procedures at the ARC. About 700 student employees work in almost all job fields at the ARC. According to Deterding, teamwork is key to keeping the ARC functioning on all cylinders. All job areas must interrelate to help provide the quality services offered at the facility, interacting especially with Human Resources, the Business Office and Member Services. In order for everything to operate smoothly at Campus Recreation, everyone has to help out, take charge of their own responsibilities, and rely on themselves to accomplish their specific tasks.
Robyn Deterding proclaims that, yes, the ARC does achieve its goals. Due to strategic planning and hard work, the facility fulfills its role as the University of Illinois’ leading recreation center. Although Deterding was not specific, she explains that the ARC facility has fulfilled 24 pages worth of accomplishments that were outlined in the strategic plan. With the dedication of its staff and quality/abundance of services offered at the ARC, it’s no wonder 88% of the student population uses the facility.
CRCE
Similar to the ARC, we can better understand the purposes of Campus Recreation Center East (CRCE) if we learn more about its mission and vision statements. After talking to Kristin Duitsman, we learned that “Campus Recreation cultivates positive life-long learning through inclusive and valuable resources that empower our campus to achieve, develop leaders, and serve the global community at the highest level” The vision statement discusses how campus recreation wants to invite everyone to participate or interact with its services. Opening in late March 2005, it was remodeled to become a better complement to the Activities and Recreation Center, with a gross size of over 107,000 square feet. With this much room, CRCE is able to provide its students and members with services that help fund its daily operations.
Over 20% of the UIUC students use the CRCE facilities. CRCE is friendlier for family visits as they have a water slide and a place to play water polo. CRCE caters to a lot of people with different needs. For example, certain people like to keep fit through adventure, while others may prefer to swim. Further, others might just want to work out using fitness machines and the available free weights. CRCE caters to all sorts of people by providing specialized equipment that helps physical development.
CRCE was created to provide its members services, such as swimming lessons and access to its facilities such as its pool or its basketball courts. The competencies required for these jobs are good communication skills and basic knowledge on fitness and exercise. Employees that work as lifeguards, trainers, etc., should have the proper training that is required to have those titles. These jobs do interrelate to help provide the end services by successfully fulfilling the needs of its members. They do this by allowing members access to a wide array of fitness machines, basketball courts, a track, and a large pool.
Overall Synopsis:
Although the ARC and CRCE are both exercise facilities, they are very different from one another. Deterding explains that the ARC and the CRCE were designed rather differently from one another. For one, the ARC is much bigger and has many more multipurpose rooms and activities, such as a combat room, auditorium, kitchen, climbing wall, games room, the Campus Wellness Center, cycling studio and personal training studio. On the other hand, CRCE was designed to be a smaller facility offering more of a club atmosphere which makes some members feel more comfortable. This may be particularly true for females because CRCE houses a much larger number of cardio equipment than free weights. Primarily, CRCE markets itself as more of a machine based facility while the ARC is more focused on free weights, weight training and athletic fitness offering over ten basketball/volleyball courts and over twelve racquetball/squash courts. Another big difference between the facilities is the pools. The ARC offers 2 Olympic size pools, good for swimming laps, whereas CRCE has a smaller pool which includes a water slide and a volcano fountain making it more of a family oriented facility. Further CRCE is more accessible for those individuals with disabilities and individuals who have chronic health problems which prevent them from normally being able to work out.
Both the ARC and CRCE have some of the same strengths and weaknesses. A notable strength for both facilities is that they are capable of adjusting to new trends quickly and serve the entire student body with the most up to date equipment and activities. In addition, because these facilities have different locations, they can reach a much larger number of students, faculty and community members. On the other hand, a heavy reliance on student funds could present an issue for both facilities, especially if enrollment drops. Overall, it seems as though there are many more positive effects or pros than there are cons. When it comes to campus recreation, there is a place for everyone!
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