Campus Recreation: The ARC
Campus recreation is a fast growing field that has many different aspects to it. Many colleges around the nation have now added multimillion dollar recreation facilities that are open to all students and faculty. It is one of the fastest growing fields in recreation, sport, and tourism. These recreation centers have become essential to students of almost every university because it provides a way for them to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday college life. It provides them with an escape from their studies and it gives them a great place to stay in shape and have fun.

There are several reasons why campus recreation developed on college campus’. Here are a few. The first reason Is a very simple one. Colleges used to act in loco parentis, which means that they act in place of parents in regards to private life. The universities laid down curfews, codes of behavior and other restrictions to curb bad activities like drinking and gambling and such. However, in the 1980’s it became clear that these simply were not working and colleges had to think of more creative ways to combat these things. So most decided on alternative options to drinking, such as clubs and intramural sports they then realized that they would need somewhere to house all of these things and thus the campus recreation centers were born.

Here at the University of Illinois we have two campus recreation centers the ARC, and CRCE. The one that I am going to focus on is the ARC, the ARC was actually originally called IMPE. It was built in 1971 and was then shut down to be renovated in 2005 and was subsequently renamed The Activities and Recreation Center when it opened in 2008. It is one of the biggest campus recreation centers in the country. It provides a great opportunity for students to get away from the grind of every day school work and blow off some steam playing a sport or working out.

At the arc there are many activities for students to participate in. They have an indoor pool for lap swimming during the winter or evening, and they have an outdoor pool for swimming when it is warm outside. They have seven basketball courts and six volleyball courts for students to play on. They have twelve racquetball courts and three squash courts in the basement to play on. They also have a full weight room and full equipment checkout for students who don’t own racquets or basketballs. The Arc has everything you need to get a workout in and offers great alternatives to the partying and carrying on. It is also home to a large number of intramural sports that students who aren’t good enough to play on the school team can play competitive sports still.

Employment at the ARC ranger from can be a part time job or a career. To apply for a job is a simple 3 step process. First you attend the information session, then you submit an application, and then you interview. If you are chosen for a job you could do any number of things like swipe students id’s in, maintain the facility, or you could also manage the desk for students to check out equipment. The application process has been closed for this semester but will open back up in the spring semester.

The agency’s definition of leisure is a layered one. It really depends on the definition of the person that is taking advantage of the ark. For example, one student may think of leisure is playing a game of basketball with their friends, however someone else might think of leisure as lifting some weights or doing a cardio workout. The ARC provides a great opportunity to do all of these things. You can just sit around and go on the computer or you can have a high energy cardio workout. It really is for everyone.

The Arc was a great place to do this project on because it gave me a change to explore it for the first time completely. I got to see all of the stuff that makes it up. I think that a career in campus recreation could be a good thing if you were the head of a major college recreation department. Otherwise a job in campus recreation is a good way to make some money while you’re at college. It is also a good way to network and try to get a career in the business if that is what you are truly interested in. I think a bad thing working for campus recreation is that you may not be exposed to the greater world of the recreation sport and tourism field. You may get key holed into working just campus recreation and you would not really have an opportunity to advance further into the field. This fits into the leisure service system as delivering leisure opportunities to kids on college campuses that otherwise would not have any opportunity to participate in sports and get a good workout in. I think that this is a very important industry that must be continued in the future