UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Campus Recreation buildings have been going through changes to better align with best practices and serve the Penn State community. Visitors to Rec Hall, White Building and the Natatorium on the University Park campus will start to see some changes to how they access the buildings this spring.
Beginning March 13, Campus Recreation, a unit of Student Affairs, will staff desks at the entrances to Rec Hall. They will begin staffing desks at the entrances to the White Building and Natatorium on May 8.
Visitors to Rec Hall, the Natatorium and White Building will not experience any major changes, but students, faculty and staff should be prepared to show their Penn State ID card upon entering the buildings.
Community members will still have access to these buildings, but non-Penn State users will need to stop at the registration desk to provide some basic information to the staff, including their name and contact information. Campus Recreation staff will issue a temporary access card at no cost for non-Penn State users.
Anyone under the age of 18 will no longer be permitted into any Campus Recreation buildings unless they are a Penn State student or enrolled in an approved Penn State program, such as swimming lessons or sports camps.
By monitoring how and when people are using recreation facilities the Campus Recreation staff will be able to better monitor traffic in and out of the building, and also gain a better understanding of usage trends, which will help with future improvements. In addition, monitoring entrances to the facilities helps keep the buildings safe and in compliance with Penn State policy AD73 Accessing Athletic and Recreational Facilities.
“These changes are part of a larger initiative to take a holistic look at our campus recreation facilities and memberships to ensure we are offering the best recreational experience to our students,” said Josh Davis, assistant director of Campus Recreation for Membership Services and Outreach. “In the future, we hope to adopt a community membership arrangement, which has been standard practice at many of our peer institutions, so that we may continue to serve the State College community.”
Contact Davis at recmembership@psu.edu with any questions related to accessing facilities.