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Holmes Sport Center Hours - R
Holmes Sport Center Hours - R
Holmes Sport Center Hours - R
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
(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
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
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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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
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
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
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
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,
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
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
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
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
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
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
htttp://athletics.simmons.edu/facilities/holmes/holmessportscenter.
http://www.simmons.edu/about-simmons/why-simmons/our-mission.
Patterson Neubert, A. (2013). College students working out at campus gyms get better grades.
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
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.
http://www.emmanuel.edu/discover-emmanuel/campus/jean-yawkey-center
http://athletics.mtholyoke.edu/facilities/fitness_center
http://www.wellesley.edu/athletics/facilitieshours.
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).