Typically, the cost to use campus recreation facilities is included in a student’s tuition. But faculty and staff, if permitted to use the college’s rec facilities, must pay independently.
Since renovating their facilities in 2011, and currently updating their aquatic center, gave a rise in memberships, Northern Arizona State University is changing the way faculty and staff can pay for recreation memberships.
Rhonda Powers, the director of campus recreation at NASU, explained that instead of paying for a full year upfront, faculty and staff can now pay for their memberships throughout nine payroll periods, deducting the cost of the membership through paychecks.
The university is also bringing back combo memberships so faculty and staff can have access to the campus rec facility and other areas, such as the new aquatic center.
Powers explained the payroll deduction is twofold: easy to pay for staff at NASU and easy to audit for the campus recreation professional staff. “The beauty of the payroll deduction is you get to spread your annual membership, the $300 fee, over a period of time,” said Powers. “Everyone is looking at over the holidays and new years … If we shifted everything to kind of that timeline, it would run January to December. And we wanted to get everyone on that same schedule, in terms of a payroll deduction, so it was easier to manage and audit.”
In order to receive the payroll deduction, she explained the faculty or staff member must be a benefit-eligible staff member. And they are allowed a plus one, if that additional individual is 18-years-old, or older.
Powers recognized that financial burdens often act as a barrier that keep people from taking action. “If you can create a creative way instead of providing them … with a payroll deduction, you’re affording them a very similar payment plan, but you’re not charging them interest. If you can remove a barrier, then you might have a faculty member take action, get involved and start living that healthy active lifestyle that they’re wanting and they’re desiring,” she said.
It’s $300 for an annual membership to the facility, and $500 for the combo membership. Split between nine pay periods, faculty and staff would see approximately $33 and $55 taken out of their paycheck, respectively.
Primarily, Powers strives to serve the students at Northern Arizona State University, but she is excited about the opportunity to also serve professionals and bring “high-quality facilities…all abut promoting a healthy and active lifestyle” to both parties.
