November 15, 2016
Rachel Librach
On Nov. 10, SGA reviewed bills to fund various endeavors on campus, and the director of the Gallogly Recreation and Wellness Center spoke about how student fees are used to fund the center and its expansion.
Senator at large Collin McDowell and his committee are in the process of forming a partnership between UCCS faculty, students and Pikes Peak Makerspace in Colorado Springs.
Makerspace is a company that provides workspace and equipment for people to experiment with their ideas and startups. McDowell hopes that their business will offer opportunities for the UCCS community.
According to McDowell, UCCS Study Abroad is trying to partner with other UCCS colleges to expand their programs.
The College of Business has a study abroad program, and Bachelor of Innovation will launch the BI Global program headed by senior instructor Colleen Stiles.
“Hopefully, if more colleges can partner with Study Abroad, that might give more students the opportunity to expand their options.”
Levi Mallonee, a senior working on a design project developing and producing a recycling tool in which cacao husks can be converted into animal fodder and fertilizer, said he intends to travel to the Philippines in January and spring break.
Joseph Conrad, SGA director of finance, wrote a senate bill for Mallonee’s research which will allow Mallonee and a group of three other students to travel to the Philippines with the Lutheran World Relief organization to work on his project.
The bill will be consulted on and a decision will be made at the next senate meeting.
A bill for the Indian Student Alliance was unanimously passed, for $1,461.66, which will go toward their Diwali event on Nov. 19.
The National Society of Leadership and Success requested money for their upcoming lecture event, What I Wish I Would Have Known on Nov. 18. They were allotted $839.50 for food and advertisements.
Director of the Rec Center, Skyler Rorabaugh, spoke at the meeting about what the center offers students and how the programs are funded.
“There are 17 club sport teams on campus as of today. It costs students $20 to participate in all of our group fitness classes per semester, and we offer 25 group activities per week” said Rorabaugh.
“There are three intramural leagues that are taking place in the month of November. 75 pieces of cardio equipment are located on our fitness floor. We offer a variety of different resources for students such as outdoor learning experiences, rafting trips and bike clinics.”
Students can attend an unlimited number of classes per semester.
Student fees make up a large portion of the Rec Center revenue; students pay $160 each in the fall and spring semesters and $80 for the summer semester.
According to Rorabaugh, the diversion of those costs help fund the Rec Center and the expansion, he explained.
“Recreation Center programming fees is a dollar per credit hour per student and that helps fund all these programs throughout the entire year,” Rorabaugh said.
“We set a percentage of that funding aside to have that set in reserves so we don’t fall behind on our bond payments, renewal of equipment and purchases of new equipment. We have just a little over $1 million dollars in reserves right now,” he added.
Other sources of revenues, Rorabaugh explained, come from their rental programs, the Outdoor Center, group fitness programs and intramural team fees.
The Rec Center purchased about $500,000 worth of new cardio equipment for their strength fitness section, meaning more money has been spent this year than they have brought in.
The money for the equipment came from the center’s reserves, which have been mostly replenished, according to Rorabaugh, and he feels comfortable with the center’s current financial state.