VU Rec Brings Employment Opportunities in Student Center

With the brand new Student Center almost finished, there is a lot of planning happening behind the scenes of VU Rec to make improvements for student enjoyment. The new center has opened up more space for students to be able to work out, along with openings for on-campus job opportunities.

VU Rec as a team wants to be able to promote many forms of wellness instead of just lifting for the students. Right now, the weight room is limited to equipment and, mainly, only lifting has been available. 

According to Kyle Kenney, Coordinator of Intramural and Recreation Programs, they hope to be able to provide a place where everyone has an opportunity to find a way to work out and be physical.

“We want to make sure that the new facilities are open, available, and inclusive to as many people as possible,” Kenny said.

The fitness center will include free weights, machines, cardio equipment, and more. The current weight room will be turned into a gym and will be used specifically by the athletic teams for training and lifting.

Every semester there are about 30 official positions for students to apply for and the applications begin the prior semester. The hiring process has been going on for the past month and students have been able to do interviews over the past two weeks. 

There are currently four students who work as weight room attendants. By the end of the hiring process, Kenny and his team will hope to have up to 18 new staff members.

As a first-year student, they can apply for VU Rec to work for intramurals or in the fitness center. These new jobs can offer commuter students an easier daily routine.

“For students who live on campus, this could be a great job for them considering there are on-campus students who do not own cars and do not have consistent ways of transportation,” Kenny said.

Rather than them making multiple stops to work, school, and home, these openings will eliminate some of this extra travel for students.

“We are excited to get people involved and connected on campus through a work opportunity,” Kenny said.

There are many students who pay for gym memberships off-campus and, with these new benefits, students will be able to save a cost.

VU Rec is hoping that the Student Center will open by February so that they can put their plan to action and students can start their new on-campus jobs.

The upstairs of the center will include a section of the fitness center and it will be a space where students have a lot of opportunities to be active.

The fitness center will be open more hours than the current hours of the gym now. Their hours will be from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. As of now, the gym is open from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. From 18 hours a week to 15 hours a day, students can now use the facilities. 

Since there are more open hours at the new fitness center, there is a need for more staff to be hired. The extended amount of open hours will give more opportunity for the new staff to work during the day and in between their classes. 

In the future, VU Rec hopes to incorporate fitness classes and personal trainers in their vicinity to bring more variety and enhancements to fitness on campus.