Running head: Extend the Holmes Sports Center Hours 1

Extend the Holmes Sports Center Hours

Rebekah Carroll, Natasha Ouimette, Lilli Blumkin, Abby Willis, and McKenzie Lewis
Management 234-01
Professor Shapiro
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Extend the Holmes Sports Center Hours

Overview

When those who choose to go to college move and start a new chapter of life, they are

typically concerned about their health, both mental and physical. Students rely on their schools to

help them feel the best they can when they are away from home. Unfortunately, for students at

Simmons College, the Holmes Sports Center hours are not supporting the healthy lifestyle of

college students. After interviewing 100 Simmons students about the Holmes Sports Center, we

determined that the gym hours do not correlate with a conducive healthy lifestyle. Students and

members of the gym are restricted to certain hours to use the facility; therefore, the sports center

is not being used to its full potential. Simmons has an opportunity to make a change that is

beneficial to its students, staff, and other parties affected. This problem can be solved by

extending the hours of the gym throughout the school week, on weekends, and during the week

of final examinations. By extending the hours, the entire Simmons community will have the

opportunity to exercise and relieve stress. In this proposal, we will look more closely at the

problem, the solution, the benefits, the possible objections as to why the Holmes Sports Center

hours need to be changed, and finish with why you should be confident in this proposal.

Problem

The Holmes Sports Center currently operates for 97.5 hours a week, opening at the

earliest of 6:30am Monday-Friday, and closing at the latest of 11:00pm Monday-Thursday

(Simmons College, 2016). Students at Simmons College require different hours for the gym than

are provided at this time. We surveyed 100 students about their personal motivation to attend the

Simmons College gym and learned that only 15% of the surveyed group felt motivated to attend.

Then, when asked “What could Simmons do to help you feel more motivated?”, many stated that
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there was a problem with the operating hours. According to the survey, 67% of students stated

that it would be helpful for the gym to be open earlier or later, especially on weekends

(Appendix B). Many students and members would like to workout early before they start their

weekend or early before their 8a.m. class, with time to shower; other students would like to

workout before they go to bed. This could be fairly late, such as 11:30p.m. A majority of

students would like to live a healthy lifestyle and workout as much as possible, and they feel this

is not permitted with the current operating hours.

After researching these other colleges in the area: Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley, Mount Ida

College, and Emmanuel, we found that these schools have extended gym hours (Appendix C).

Students at these schools have said that they are happy with the gym hours and state that they

feel that their schools accommodate their needs. These students agree that having convenient

gym hours for students can be vital for their mental and physical health.

It has been scientifically proven that physical exercise increases the likelihood to

maintain and enhance good mental health. Research findings concluded that exercise is

associated with improvements in mood, self-esteem, confidence, and concentration in class. The

American Psychological Association (2011) reports that exercise is one of the most effective

ways of mood enhancement. Michael Otto (2011), PhD, a professor of psychology at Boston

University reported that, “The link between exercise and mood is pretty strong, usually within

five minutes after moderate exercise you get a mood-enhancement effect” (p. 48). Exercise

provides an outlet for people to relieve stress or anxiety about school. People feel more confident

after going to the gym because of the physical payoff, too. Higher levels of confidence correlates

with higher self-esteem, which is important for how a student perceives themself in school.
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Having a greater sense of self-esteem is very beneficial when it comes to class participation and

a higher GPA.

Many studies at colleges have shown that students who exercise and have a higher GPA

compared to students who do not use the gym regularly (Appendix D). That is partially because

students can learn to use physical activity as a way to cope with stress and anxiety, and in turn do

better in school. Amy Patterson Neubert at Purdue University found that students who attended

the gym regularly had higher GPA’s than the average student. A Professor of Kinesiology stated

that, “research shows how physical activity has a positive impact on student academic

achievement” (Patterson, 2015). Tricia Zelaya, assistant director for student development and

assessment at Purdue's Division of Recreational Sports, reported that, “Students who are

motivated by fitness and wellness tend to have better time management skills, and research

shows that being fit is good for the mind. It all ties together” (Patterson, 2015).

Simmons College is not using its full potential to support students inside and outside of

the classroom. By having hours that do not fit the average Simmons College student's schedule,

students are being put at a disadvantage for a greater education. Simmons College needs to

extend the hours of the gym.

Solution

How is Simmons going to support its students’ mental and physical health? Our proposed

solution is to extend the gym hours at Simmons College. Currently, the gym hours are limiting to

students at both Simmons and Wheelock, along with outside members (Appendix A). In

addition, the gym hours are cut short during finals each semester (Appendix A). We have

proposed new gym hours (Appendix A) that will accommodate for the needs of students; these

should stay consistent during finals. These hours include opening at 6:00a.m. and closing at
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11:30p.m. on Monday-Thursday, and opening around 7:30a.m and closing at 10p.m. on

weekends. The cost of running the gym for the additional hours will be offset by student’s fees,

which will be discussed later in the paper. By keeping the gym open longer and emphasizing that

it is important to Simmons College to have students know it cares about their health, Simmons

will retain more students.

We propose that Simmons holds a trial period during one semester to see if the hours are

utilized. Based on our survey results, these hours would be utilized by many students. However,

we do not want Simmons to have to change the hours if students end up not using them. By

having a trial period, we will be able to see if this proposal should be fully acted upon.

Solution Plan

The Simmons College student body has proven that they would like the gym to have

longer hours. Therefore, this plan will be a success as long as: the changes are marketed

correctly, more students are hired for work study, cleaning crew is properly notified, and the cost

of electricity is recognized. These changes need to be marketed by emails and signs. If it is not

marketed correctly, little-to-no change will occur. The marketing could be done by the work

study students, since more students should be hired for work study positions. Many students at

Simmons have work study positions yet do not actually have a job fulfilling them right now.

Simmons College does not have to pay much for these students to work, since the federal

government pays for more than half per hour. Student life could also help market this with

announcements through email and telling the hall staffs to promote the new hours to their

residents. This would allow currently hired students to keep their regular hours and/or work

additional hours if desired and able. Extending the Holmes Sports Center hours would also

increase the work study opportunities on campus.

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With extended hours, the cleaning crew would now have to work later. It is not

uncommon for college gyms to be open late. Therefore, one would think this change would not

catch the crew off guard. We also outsource the cleaning company from Unico. With this in

mind, a strong communication would have to be held with the cleaning crew before making this

change.

The extended hours would also increase the cost of electricity, but this would be a small

change and it could easily be paid for by the students with student fees that are included in our

bills. In addition, the fee for members could increase to cover the extra cost. Despite the possible

issues, many stakeholders will benefit from this change.

Benefits

By changing the hours of the gym, many different groups connected to Simmons College

will benefit. Students of Simmons College may use the gym around their busy schedules

therefore they are more likely to experience higher satisfaction at the gym. With this higher

satisfaction from students, it allows for better health. Students may use the gym at more

convenient hours.

Second, the student employees get paid for longer hours and can do homework at the

front desk. Also there is potential for more job opportunity due to the increase of hours. Many

students struggle financially, so by having longer hours in the gym, student employees would be

benefiting in multiple ways.

Third, athletes have practices held within the hours of the gym, and sometimes out of the

hours during times of midterms and finals. With the proposed hours, the athletes would be able

to use other parts of the gym at different hours of the day to continue training at an individual

level throughout the course of pre-season, season, and post-season. The other benefit to allowing
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athletes to use the gym at extended hours includes allowing the community to use the facilities

like the basketball court for more hours because these cannot be accessed if a team is practicing

or playing.

Fourth, if the gym hours were increased, parents would not have to worry as much about

their child’s health. They would know that their child has the ability to go to the gym more often,

especially during increased stress points of the school year.

Fifth, there are still work study jobs are available at Simmons and they are a minimal cost

for the school. The federal government through FAFSA pays a large portion of the compensation

for work study jobs. At the Holmes Sports Center, the front desk job is a work study for some

students. Therefore, by extending the hours, Simmons does not have a large pay increase for its

front desk employees.

There are many benefits to the proposed change of increasing the Holmes Sports Center

hours for the stakeholders. Simmons College should act upon this opportunity and make the

proposed change. With all the benefits of extending the gym hours, there are some objections

anticipated with the proposed change.

Objections

Although one may think that the Holmes Sports Center hours are already long enough,

this has been proven wrong by the interviewed population. The opportunity cost outweighs the

cost of running the gym for a little bit longer each week. The gym is constantly using electricity,

so why not allow students from both Simmons College and Wheelock College, as well as

members from the community, to use the gym more frequently?

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We recognize that it is possible for people to talk about living a healthy life and working

out, but never follow through. Students may have hope that if the gym is open later or earlier

they will work out more. This is a possibility that needs to be considered.

On the other side of employment, it is noted that the Holmes Sports Center has

employees other than students. These employees consist of the cleaning crew, who may be angry

about longer hours. However, the cleaning crew does not need to start cleaning when the gym is

closed, then can start cleaning beforehand to get ahead. Since we outsource the cleaning crew,

they could come in an hour or so later than now, and the amount of hours would still remain the

same, making the cost the same.

Lastly, for objections, paying extra money for lights, heat or air conditioning, television,

and equipment, may add up. However, looking at the long-term of this proposal, these added

costs would not be much. Students already pay a fee for using the gym, and other community

members pay for a membership. The amount of money that goes into the gym would allow for

the extended hours. Despite these objections, we feel that this proposal is extremely beneficial

and can help raise the value of Simmons - which is why you should be confident in us and this

opportunity.

Confidence

Simmons College should take advantage of this opportunity to extend their Holmes

Sports Center hours because of the beneficial factors. These beneficial factors include a low cost

change, options to make up for the low cost change, and happier, healthier students as a result for

an overall better Simmons community. In order to increase the hours at the gym there will be an

increase of cost for upkeep and employment but it is a minimal expense for such a large benefit.

The increase cost would be extremely minimal for the extension of the Holmes Sports Center
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hours. Therefore, there are multiple options to make up for the added expenses. Members at the

sports center, which there are nearly 600 of, pay for a membership (S. Wilson, personal

communication, 2016). Alumni could have an increase in a membership cost to make up for the

cost of increasing the gym hours. Another option of making up for a loss would be increasing the

activity fee slightly in students’ tuition. Since there are about 1,700 undergraduate students, just

raising the fee five dollars would make a large difference. This would be an annual increase for

extending hours at the gym. Students will be more willing to pay an increase in the activity fee if

they can see it will personally benefit them.

Happier and healthier students would be a result of the proposed change. Another result

would be a higher satisfaction with the Holmes Sports Center. This makes the opportunity to

extend the gym hours a benefit to not only current students but incoming as well. Prospective

students looking to attend Simmons College will be more likely to attend if the gym hours are

more accommodating. Simmons mission states that it puts the needs of its students first, but right

now that is not the case with the hours of the gym, which is why the hours need to be extended

(Simmons College, 2016). Overall the Simmons community can be a more well-rounded college

with an extension to the gym hours, and compete more with the surrounding schools.

Conclusion

The gym should have longer hours. We recognize that a potential problem with this

would be that the gym faculty would have to have longer hours or more shifts. A way to get

around this would be to create more work study jobs. If more people are hired than hours do not

need to be increased for current employees. Students that need a work study are also benefiting

because this would increase the number of jobs. Most stakeholders within Simmons College

would benefit. The minimal cost to increase the gym hours slightly is worth it for Simmons.
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Students are suffering every day with high level stress and anxiety. By increasing the gym hours,

students are more likely to use the Holmes Sports Center, and in turn, have better physical and

mental health. When students see that Simmons College is willing to support them outside of the

classroom, more students will stay on campus, and the retention level of Simmons will increase.

When competing with large schools in Boston, Simmons needs to keep up in the small areas, like

gym hours. If Simmons can retain more students and have potential future students see that the

gym is accommodating, Simmons will bring in more money each year. This opportunity

provides for an easy choice - extend the Holmes Sports Center hours, and positive reactions will

follow.
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References

Simmons College. (2016, December). Holmes Sports Center. Retrieved from

htttp://athletics.simmons.edu/facilities/holmes/holmessportscenter.

Simmons College. (2016, August). Our Mission. Retrieved from

http://www.simmons.edu/about-simmons/why-simmons/our-mission.

Patterson Neubert, A. (2013). College students working out at campus gyms get better grades.

Purdue University: Purdue Today. Retrieved from

Weir, K. (2011). The Exercise Effect. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from
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Appendix:

A:
Current Hours:
Monday-Thursday 6:30am-11:00pm
Friday 6:30am-8:00pm
Saturday 9:00am-5:00pm
Sunday 10:00am-8:00pm

Finals hours:
Monday-Thursday 8:00am-9:00pm
Friday 8:00am-8:00pm
Saturday 9:00am-7:00pm
Sunday 10:00am-8:00pm

Proposed Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 6:00am-11:30pm
Friday: 6:30am-10:00pm
Saturday: 7:30am-9:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am-10:00pm
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B;
Survey

● Students that feel the gym should be open earlier or later.

● Students that feel the hours do not need to change.

● Students that feel the gym should just be open earlier.

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C:
Other Schools

The schools that we specifically looked at were Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley, Mount Ida College, and
Emmanuel. Mt Holyoke’s gym is open from 6:30am-11:00pm on weekdays and 6:30am-
10:00pm on weekends. Wellesley’s fitness center is open from 7:00am-11:00pm on weekdays
and 7:00am-10:00pm on weekends. The Mount Ida College Athletic Center is open from
7:00am-11:00pm on weekdays and 6:00am-11:00pm on weekends. The Emmanuel Jean Yawkey
Center gym is open from 6:00am-11:00pm during the week and weekends.

Gym Hours of Colleges in Boston

College Gym Hours: Gym Hours:

Weekdays Weekends
Mt. Holyoke 6:30am-11:00pm 6:30am-10:00pm
Wellesley 7:00am-11:00pm 7am-10:00pm
Mount Ida College 7:00am-11:00pm 7:00am-8:00pm
Emmanuel 6:00am-11:00pm 6:00am-11:00pm

Emmanuel College. (2016). Jean Yawkey Center. Retrieved from

http://www.emmanuel.edu/discover-emmanuel/campus/jean-yawkey-center

Mt. Holyoke College. (2016). Hours of Operation. Retrieved from

http://athletics.mtholyoke.edu/facilities/fitness_center

Wellesley College. (2016). Facilities. Retrieved from

http://www.wellesley.edu/athletics/facilitieshours.

Mount Ida College. (2016).Intramurals, Recreation & Fitness. Retrieved from

http://www.mountida.edu/student-life/intramurals-fitness/

D:
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GPA
Out of 1,820 students who went to the gym at Purdue University at least 16 times a month earned
a GPA of 3.10 or higher. The statistics on gym users who went at least seven times a month
showed having an average GPA of 3.06. (Patterson, 2015).