University recreation offers a variety of programs for WSU students, from aquatics to intramural sports to the Chinook and Student Recreation Center. Activities, programs and fees receive consistent updates and changes within the UREC though, thanks to the UREC advisory board.
As students gear up for the fall semester, the UREC board has three open seats students can apply for. The spots available include one first-year student seat and two student at-large seats. The board consists of eleven voting student members, five non-student voting members and four non-voting members.
Students can apply for the open seats at the UREC webpage and then the UREC will send applications to the board to review. The board then interviews candidates they are interested in and decides who to vote onto the board as a group.
Applications typically do not close as students often resign due to other responsibilities throughout the academic year, UREC executive director Joanne Greene said.
While the board serves in an advisory role for UREC, the voting members can still have a real impact on the actions UREC takes, according to Greene, who oversees operations and facilities for UREC at the Pullman campus.
“The advisory board is the group that helps us decide on all of our major decisions, really,” Greene said. “Everything from new programming iniatives to building improvements to rate setting and fee setting in terms of registration fees.”
The board also oversees UREC’s budget and works with the UREC to plan for the upcoming year and make adjustments along the way, Greene said.
The UREC and the advisory board also recommend ideas and changes to each other and go through a process of approval on both sides. With budgeting and other fiscal decisions though, WSU administration may add a third layer to the confirmation process.
“With regards to our fees, like the student mandatory fees for the Chinook and SRC, they make a recommendation,” Greene said. “They approve an amount, and that actually goes to either ASWSU Senate or S&A Fee Committee, depending on which fee, and then from there, they go to the regents. So ultimately, the regents approved those fees, but our board can decide what we want to put forward for that.”
Greene said the UREC often does research by seeing what other schools are doing or getting feedback from students to gather more information. She said the board will often ask UREC to look into issues they’ve heard from students and it is the UREC’s job to bring back information for the board to vote on.
“We also have to consider things like risk management for the institution and WSU policies and procedures,” Greene said. “So it’s our job then to take that feedback from the board that they’re getting from constituents and bring options.”
Students may not always be aware of all the changes the advisory board makes, but behind all the logistics and formal meetings, the board does make changes that impact the experience at UREC facilities.
The UREC made changes last year to the way they schedule their courts, allowing for more volleyball courts to be available throughout the SRC’s hours after receiving feedback about court availability. The board also voted on bringing back the sports court for roller hockey and indoor soccer after the hardwood floors at the SRC were redone last year, Greene said.
Most recently, the board landed on its day rates for the upcoming year and discussed a major issue students had brought up.
“…[We] also decided on whether or not were going to charge for football parking in the [SRC] lot, because the board members were getting feedback,” Greene said. “We have got some feedback that students were not able to park to work out during football games and then also, because a lot of folks were parking and going to the game.”
Greene said working on the advisory board is a resume-booster and a good opportunity for professional development, especially when dealing with pretty large budgets and future planning. You also do not have to be a recreation major to be in a role.
“It might be a good way to get a little bit of experience there, but also, this group helps us to set the direction for right now and for the future, for recreation and for students on campus,” Greene said.
Greene came to WSU 26 years ago and served as a graduate student on the SRC advisory board. The Chinook was not built yet and the outdoor center was in the Compton Union Building when Greene arrived. Greene said she got to student involvement in planning the opening of the SRC from the ground up.
For Greene, she still gets a lot of joy about the work she and the advisory board do.
“I think the favorite part of my job is that every day you get the chance to make people have a better day,” Greene said. “Folks come to us and generally leave feeling a lot better than when they came in, and it’s a pretty great feeling.”
