TWU
Home > Marketing
& Communication > News
Releases
TWU students vote in favor of new fitness and recreation fee
3/10/06
DENTON — Texas Woman’s University students recently
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. Online
voting via the TWU Pioneer Portal took place Feb. 27 –
March 2 and the results were 881 votes in favor of the new
fee, with 508 votes against.
The new fee will
cost no more than $75 per semester for a fall, spring or 12-week
summer session. It will cost no more than $37.50 for semesters
that are less than 12 weeks in length. Once approved by the
TWU Board of Regents and the Texas Legislature, the fitness
and recreation fee is scheduled to begin in fall 2007.
“Our fitness
and recreation staff and student government leaders campaigned
hard for this referendum,” said Dr. Richard Nicholas,
TWU vice president for student life. “They held numerous
information sessions for student organizations and classes
to answer questions and address concerns. They also maintained
a website and posted information on all campuses to get the
word out about the vote. Every possible effort was made to
inform the students of what the fee would mean to them in
terms of improved and expanded facilities to enhance the Fitness
and Recreation program.”
Currently, Fitness
and Recreation is funded by a portion of the TWU student service
fee. 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
Lasso, etc. In 2004-2005 students paid approximately $22 per
semester toward Fitness and Recreation services.
Dr. Nicholas says
that with the passing of the new fitness and recreation fee,
students will not be double charged. The Student Service Fee
Committee now has the option to subtract the fitness and recreation
fee from the student services fee.
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
“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,” said John
Cissik, director of TWU Fitness and Recreation. “Our
goal is to 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 fall 2009.
In addition to
a new fitness and recreation facilities 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 Parkland campus. 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 new fitness center
included in the TWU Houston Institute of Health Sciences opening
in fall 2006.
More information
about the new TWU Fitness and Recreation center and future
plans can be found at http://www.twu.edu/o-sl/wellness/.
###
For Further
Information Contact:
Amanda McKeen Simpson
Director of News and Information
Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: asimpson1@twu.edu |
