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Central Michigan University improved IM facilities based on feedback from student needs

November 24, 2015

The State News has heard what MSU students and some faculty have to say about the state of our Intramural Sports Facilities, and well... It's not good. So, we're packing up our reporter and sending him to all the Big Ten schools we can, with the hope of answering one lingering question: Are MSU's IM facilities really as bad as students say they are?


The final visit on the journey to find better IM facilities is Central Michigan University, a university claiming to be dedicated to the wellness of its student body and its subsequent performance.

Assistant vice president of facilities Stan Shingles heads the Student Activity Center, or SAC, at CMU. He said he has even met with visiting students, including some from MSU, hoping to gain a perspective on how they have maintained impressive facilities for their student body.

Much like MSU, CMU students took notice to their severely underfunded and lobbied to have them updated, even offering a referendum to impose a fee that would automatically assess a fee to student tuition that would go towards funding the facilities.

The university consented and the project was completed in 1990.

When built, the facility was “way ahead of its time,” Shingles said. “It became the place to see and be seen.”

Shingles said he takes great pride in the social aspect of the complex, pointing out that its bowling alley and billiards room are extremely popular among students, children and adults alike.

However, the primary goal has always been student wellness.

CMU officials have maintained a consistent focus on openness and versatility in order to be compatible with both student wellness and interests, he said.

"These are not luxuries, they are necessary amenities for student wellness. There is proof that student wellness affects student performance"

Shingles is also the president of NIRSA, an organization devoted to research and development of recreational complexes and their connection to student wellness and performance.

He added the SAC boasts an "adequate amount" of space per student, referencing studies conducted by NIRSA. MSU falls below this recommended level of space for student wellness facilities.

In addition, the equipment based on all-around wellbeing and fitness is located in the front of the building.

CMU’s facilities come complete with a database that tracks the amount of times each student visits the SAC.

“These are not luxuries, they are necessary amenities for student wellness,” Shingles said. “There is proof that student wellness affects student performance.”

Shingles and his team noticed, not surprisingly, that there was a correlation between the frequency of student attendance and performance in the classroom.

For example, Shingles and his colleagues noticed a significant spike in student GPA along with heightened attendance in extracurricular activities.

Unlike MSU, the student fee to use the centers was rolled into tuition in 2005 in what was known as the CMU Promise, Shingles said.

Now, every student attending the university can utilize the SAC.

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The SAC has not needed regular renovations in more than 25 year of its existence because of the progressive planning that went into the initial designs, Shingles said.

Furthermore, he said, this has kept costs relatively low.

Despite the progressive planning of the initial designs, 25 years still wears on the equipment. The most recent renovations occurred in 2010, Shingles said, and even then the focus was optimizing the space for student utility. The renovations provided more space for core workouts as well as updated modern equipment.

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