When you attend a continuing education event, the goal is to leave with takeaways and action items that you will implement.
This is what happens when one attends the Campus Rec Leadership Summit.
And the variety of those takeaways is astounding. For example, look at Cornell University. “Since the 2023 Leadership Summit, we have started working on building a boxing room with Aktiv and bought massage chairs from Human Touch,” said Jen Gudaz, the senior associate director of Athletics and the director of Physical Education and Recreation. “Because of the small setting, I’m able to get to know attendees and sponsors more in-depth and bring more of an impact back to my campus.”
Chantelle Lancaster, the director of University Recreation at Hardin-Simmons University, also attended the Summit in June 2023. Since then, they have teamed up with Human Resources on campus to purchase Human Touch chairs, a sponsor of the Summit.
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In addition, Lancaster shared they brought HIGH Fitness in to spice up their group fitness classes. “HIGH Fitness has been a fun collaboration — glad we were able to meet them at this year’s Summit,” she said. “Without attending the 2023 Campus Rec Leadership Summit I wouldn’t have known about either vendor.”
But vendor relationships are just one takeaway from the Summit. Nashid Bracy, the director of Recreation Services at Colby College, has implemented more modern practices he discussed with other attendees at the Summit.
Michelle Rieger, the senior associate director of programming and operations at Cleveland State University @ CENTERS LLC, implemented mental health check-ins for her professional staff team. Todd Bauch, the associate director of Operations and Student Development at Portland State University, echoed this. “We were a roomful of people dealing with a common concern that was summarized by a quote, ‘Don’t forget to check on the strong ones,’” he recalled.
At the University of Illinois Chicago, a departmental goal of enhancing employee onboarding came about because of the Summit. “Through collaborative efforts, we are revising and implementing a comprehensive procedure that ensures seamless integration, fosters skill development and contributes to our operational excellence,” said Lynne Thompson, the senior director of Campus Recreation.
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The education happening at the Summit is far reaching. It’s impacting attendees, their teams, students they serve and the campuses they work on. Monica Verity, the director of Recreation at Wellesley University, summed the impact up best with a story she shared out of her Summit takeaways: “I think for me this year the biggest takeaway is how I was able to present in front of our Friend’s Board a 25-minute presentation about the state of Recreation in the post COVID-19 era — what the national conversations are, what the trends are, why Wellesley is special, what we are doing well and what we need to strengthen,” she said. “The questions and feedback were incredible. I have a strong feeling there could be more donations and giving support coming specifically to Recreation in the future.”
It’s the education learned at the event being put into action that’s helping to continue world change.
Are you interested in attending the 2024 Campus Rec Leadership Summit in San Antonio, Texas? Limited spots remain! Fill out this interest form and a member of our team will reach out.
