Choose a current policy area from the following within the context of campus recreation: funding; competition for limited facilities; access; event m

Like any other department in an institution of higher education, the recreation unit must develop and update policies. The Campus Recreation Director leads the debate on issues of policy, gathering input from both full- and part-time recreation employees and participants. Some issues are impacted by policy enacted by the institution as a whole. Some of the current policy areas that impact campus recreation leaders today are discussed in this section.

Resource Constraints

In the sport industry, managers are always dealing with balancing limited resources, and this is true for campus recreation as well. The three main resources sport managers work with are money, personnel, and facilities. Let’s start with money and budgets. As mentioned earlier in the chapter, the main source for funding campus recreation programs comes from student activity fees. While this makes good sense since students are the primary people who use the facilities and programs (although some never do), care must be taken to not overtax them. In addition, as we move forward, there are going to be fewer typical college-aged people. The eight-year time period ending in 2019, for example, saw an 11% decline in college student enrollment (Nadworny & Larkin, 2019). While several factors contribute to this, two major ones are (a) the fact that there are fewer high school students and (b) the cost of college remains on the rise. These factors mean there will be fewer students to collect activity fees from, resulting in some tough budget decisions.

The next resource is personnel. In order to offer safe and quality programs, you need properly trained personnel. Lifeguards, fitness instructors, and personal trainers, for example, all need to be properly certified by organizations such as the Red Cross. Finding people, primarily students, who meet that criteria can be challenging and then training them can also be costly. Yet, this is necessary to ensure appropriate programming.

Finally, there are facilities. Campus recreation administrators may want to offer an exciting and broad array of activities, but will their campus facilities be able to meet those needs? Aquatics programs are very popular, but the cost of maintaining a pool can be astronomical. Oftentimes, a campus only has one pool and it typically falls under the responsibility of the Athletic Department and the competitive swim teams. While this may shift some financial burden away from Campus Rec, it also will limit availability for use by the general campus population since the swim teams will control schedules those teams’ practices and meets will be given priority in scheduling. There may also be demand for new activities (for example, climbing walls) which require building new or updating existing facilities, so decisions must be made about the feasibility of making these changes.

Activity Trends

Deciding on which activities to offer, mentioned above as an issue in funding campus recreation programs, is an important area in policy development. Fads and trends are normal in recreation, and they shift quickly. Campus recreation leaders need to have their fingers on the pulse of shifting interests, and they can gather the information they need through three important mechanisms. First, they can administer participant and nonparticipant questionnaires to collect interests, likes, and dislikes. Second, Recreation Department student employees can gather informal data about interests. Finally, recreation administrators can observe what events are popular, what events fail to draw participants, and what other colleges and universities are offering in the way of programming. Through program evaluation, managers can gather information needed to make appropriate changes. This is critically important to meet the interests and needs of the people who would be using the campus recreation facilities, and how these interests and needs change. Ensuring that facility development includes adaptable space for multiple uses is a key planning issue given that participation fads change. After all, the campus recreation program is nothing without participants.

In the past years, participation in esports has increased at a powerful rate. Reports indicate that 21% of the Internet population participates in esports and the industry revenue was projected to reach $159 billion in 2020 (Fazio, 2021). This trend has not been lost on NIRSA or campus recreation programs when it comes to program offerings (NIRSA Communications, 2021). However, offering esports programming has its challenges. For example, where should esports programs really be housed – campus rec, athletics, or Student Affairs? There is also a question of facilities when hosting an esports event. Finally, esports culture can have downsides such as the sometimes toxic environment in online interactions. All is not negative, though, as esports provides a number of benefits as well. When COVID-19 forced us to limit direct personal interactions, esports were able to maintain a stronghold because being in-person was not as essential. The popularity of esports also offers opportunities for sponsors because of the large number of views available (Howard, 2021). There is no denying esports are here to stay and offer savvy campus recreation professionals the opportunity to create participation opportunities on their campuses.

Risk Management

Campus Recreation Directors must be concerned with risk management (Zabonick-Chonko, 2016). Of course, some risk is associated with crossing the street or playing a game of baseball. One may be run over by a speeding car or hit on the head by the baseball. Society attempts to minimize the possibility of being run over by a car by posting speed limits, building sidewalks, and setting up traffic lights and stop signs. Similarly, recreation administrators attempt to minimize risk in physical activity by requiring participants to wear protective equipment, ensuring that participants are taught proper techniques, and strictly enforcing safety rules. If the baseball player is hit in the head with a ball, hopefully their helmet will protect them. It is impossible to eliminate risk; the challenge is to manage the risk. In other words, the recreation professional is responsible for setting up and delivering programs that reduce overt risks and communicate other levels of risks to participants. According to Zabonick-Chonko