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New TWU fitness and recreation fee approved by Gov. Perry
6/20/07
DENTON —
A bill enabling Texas Woman’s University to charge students
a new fitness and recreation fee has been signed by Gov. Rick
Perry.
HB 902, filed by
Rep. Myra Crownover (R-Denton), gives TWU the authorization
to charge the new fee — approved by a TWU student referendum
in spring 2006 — starting with the spring 2008 semester.
“This is
an exciting time for TWU, the students, as well as the community,”
Rep. Crownover said. “I applaud both the students and
the university on their desire and hard work to make this
vision a reality. Growth in mind and body are imperative,
and through state-of-the-art amenities the rec center will
prove to be a tremendous addition to a growing TWU campus.”
The new fee will
cost no more than $75 per semester for a fall, spring or a
12-week summer session. It will cost no more than $37.50 for
semesters that are fewer than 12 weeks in length.
“The fee had the overwhelming support of our students,”
TWU Chancellor and President Dr. Ann Stuart said. “Now
we can offer students even more services to promote healthy
bodies and minds.”
In spring 2006
during TWU student government elections, students voted in
favor of a new fitness and recreation fee to build, operate,
maintain and program fitness and recreation facilities at
all TWU campuses in Denton, Dallas and Houston.
“We worked
so hard on the referendum last year, which passed with a huge
majority,” Christianne Kellett, TWU’s student
regent and TWU Student Government Association president for
2007-2008, said. “The new fee will be beneficial not
only for current students, but future students and the future
of the university because it puts us in a different league
in terms of fitness and recreation and what the students will
be able to do.”
The new TWU fitness
and recreation fee will pay for:
• A new or expanded Fitness and Recreation Center in
Denton
• Maintaining the fitness and recreation facilities
on all TWU campuses
• Equipping fitness and recreation facilities on all
TWU campuses
• Staffing fitness and recreation facilities on all
TWU campuses
• Fitness and recreation services and programs on all
TWU campuses
Currently, a portion
of the TWU student service fee funds fitness and recreation
at the university. The student service fee is an umbrella
fee, which means that many services and programs are funded
from it, such as athletics, the counseling center, student
government, the student newspaper, etc.
Dr. Richard Nicholas,
TWU vice president for student life, said that students will
not be double charged, because the fitness and recreation
fee will be subtracted from the student services fee.
“Our current
facility at Jones Hall on the Denton campus is more than 20-years-old
and cramped, with students often having to wait for access
to a machine or arriving to find there is not enough space
for them in a group exercise class,” Dr. Nicholas said.
“Our goal is to eventually build a state-of-the-art
fitness center that includes cardio-vascular exercise equipment,
strength training machines, free weights and group exercise
rooms.”
The proposed expansion
could also include a climbing wall; gymnasiums for basketball,
volleyball, indoor soccer and badminton; and an outdoor adventure
program for the renting of camping equipment, safe and inexpensive
trips, leadership development and the teaching of lifetime
skills.
The target date
for opening new facilities on the Denton campus is 2009.
In addition to
a new fitness and recreation facility in Denton, the fee also
impacts campuses in Dallas and Houston.
The fee will be
used to pay for and maintain the equipment in the fitness
center in the proposed new TWU Institute of Health Sciences-Dallas
Center. It also will be used to provide services such as group
exercise classes and intramurals to students in Dallas and
to improve upon the existing facilities and services as needed.
In Houston, the
fee will help equip, staff and maintain the fitness center
included in the new TWU Houston Institute of Health Sciences-Houston
Center, which opened in August 2006.
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For Further Information
Contact:
Amanda McKeen Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu
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