Division of Student Affairs
2008-09 Annual Report
Department: Intramural-Recreational Sports
Person Completing Report: Dale Ramsay
Date: 6/17/09
1. Major Accomplishments (accomplishments from your department associated
with the Strategic Plans. These should also be accomplishments we can use to
promote your department and Student Affairs.
General Statement: The Department of Intramural-Recreational Sports continues fo
grow and flourish. Approximately 16,000 different individuals in the UofL community
participated in at least one aspect of our program in 2008-09. One of the strengths of
our program is the volume and quality of collaborations that Intramural-Recreational
Sports has across campus. These collaborations serve to enhance IntramuralRecreational Sports' ability to effectively serve our various constituency groups.
Major Accomplishments:
(Tied to Department/Strategic Plan)

There were a record number of participants in Intramural Basketball, Flag
Football, and Soccer.

Three new Sports Clubs- Men's Rugby, Dodgeball, and Ultimate Frisbee were
created.

There was a 31% increase in F itness Class participation.

The Cardinal Corner Game Room again had a record number of users.

After the consultant's review of the recreational space in the SAC, it was
determined that an expansion in the SAC is not feasible. The recommendation is
that a new Student Recreation Center be built to accommodate the future needs
of Intramural-Recreational Sports.

Our arrangement with Nelligan Sports Marketing continues to provide much
needed revenue for Intramural-Recreational Sports.

We are extremely proud of the fact that the University, when it revamped its
web site, listed Intramurals as a link on the main page. This is a testament to the
importance the university places on the significance of our program.

There continues a high level of sportsmanship displayed in our Intramural
program. We continue to promote our "Dare to Play Fair" program. The
emphasis we place on sportsmanship has resulted in relatively few discipline
problems in our competitive leagues.

With the help of Nelligan Sports Marketing, we have entered into an agreement
with KAI Digital Media on the installation of five flatscreen televisions, which will
be used to promote and market our program.
2. Staffing summary: (Changes, Updates, Challenges, Issues related to staffing in
your department )
General Statement: Intramural-Recreational Sports has 15 full-time employees. We also
employ 150 students as facility workers and sports officials. The strength of our staff is
their dedication and loyalty to the Department. The full-time staff has in excess of 230
years of service to the University of Louisville in Intramural-Recreational Sports.
Specific Changes and Issues:

Adam Jines was hired as our Intramural Coordinator. Adam was formerly a
Graduate Assistant at the University of Delaware.

Rusty Michalski was hired as the evening Facility Coordinator at the HSC Fitness
Center. Rusty was a former student employee of Intramural-Recreational Sports.

Shawn Newton, former Undergraduate Assistant, was hired as a Graduate
Assistant in Intramural Sports at the University of Kentucky.
3. Activities and initiatives that support Academic Units (Collaborative efforts
with academic units or programs and services that support students classroom
experience)
General Statement: We have an outstanding relationship with the Health and Sports
Studies Department (HSS). HSS uses both the SAC and Humana Gym for activity classes
during the fall and spring semesters. These classes benefit our program due to the fact
that by attending the HSS classes, students get exposure to our program.
Specific Activities, Programs or Initiatives:

Intramural-Recreational Sports provides internship opportunities for HSS
students.

Dale Ramsay is an HSS faculty member teaching classes in Recreational Sports
Management and Sports Officiating.

Intramural-Recreational Sports also attends the Internship Fair sponsored by the
College Student Personnel program. We offer internship opportunities to CSP
students looking for experience in Intramural-Recreational Sports, a non-
traditional area of Student Affairs.

Due to the "Extreme Home Makeover" project, the Marching Band now uses the
Intramural Field as its practice facility.
4. Activities and services that support diversity
General Statement: One of the strengths of our program is its diversity of participants.
Our motto of “A Sport For Everyone And Everyone In A Sport” promotes inclusiveness in
all aspects of our program. It is obvious that all segments of our program are popular
with the rich and diverse student population of UofL. It is also apparent that these
students view our facilities as a place where they feel comfortable participating in our
various programs.
Specific Activities, Programs or Initiatives:

In Intramurals, there is a high percentage of African-American students who
participate in Flag Football and Basketball. The student group Porter Scholars
became very active in the Intramural Sports program this year. Our student staff
is extremely diverse in both gender and ethnicity. The majority of our Intramural
Sports supervisors and officials were African-American students.

In Informal Recreation, the number of users of the recreational space in the SAC
is approximately 20% African-American. It is apparent that African-American
students are active participants in all phases of our program.

Our program is also popular with International students. We host International
Night both Fall and Spring semesters in the SAC. The majority of the members of
our Badminton Club are International students. A large number of International
students also participate in our Soccer Leagues.
5. Activities and services that support community service and/or civic
engagement:
General Statement: Intramural-Recreational Sports is actively engaged in assisting
community groups, primarily through providing access to our facilities.
Specific Activities, Programs or Initiatives:

Project Graduation - Male High School and Bullitt Central High School - All night
chemical-free graduation parties.

Louisville Regional Science Fair - Host a science fair for all high schools in the City
of Louisville.

St. X High School IM Basketball League and Jefferson County Middle School Flag
Football League - Intramural-Recreational Sports assigns UofL student officials to
officiate these games.

Upward Bound - Provide facilities.

Deaf Youth Sports Festival - Provide facilities.

Louisville Metro Senior Games - Provide facilities.
6. Staff professional development activities and programs including: individual or
department recognition awards, conference presentations, publications and
involvement in university wide committees and /or professional activities
General Statement: The Intramural-Recreational Sports staff are actively engaged on
campus and through State and National Organizations.
Specific Activities, Programs, Initiatives or Professional Involvement:

Dale Ramsay - Taught two classes for HSS (Rec. Sports Management and Sports
Officiating). High school and college basketball official. Contributing writer to
VYPE Magazine. Served on Staff at ACIS National Intramural Basketball Champ.
Served as Clinician for Mid-South Basketball Officials Camp. Served as Clinician
for KIAC Basketball Officiating Camp.

John Smith - Taught First Aid/ CPR Classes. Red Cross Instructor. Conducted
clinics for Kentucky High School Athletic Association. Assigning Secretary for High
School Volleyball and Softball in Jefferson County. Served on Advisory Board for
Louisville Area Red Cross Chapter. Attended NIRSA Conference.

Adam Jines - Assigned officials for St. Xavier High School Intramural Sports.
Assisted Jefferson County Public Schools with establishing a Flag Football League.
Attended NIRSA Conference.

Debby Woodall - Attended ACPA Mid-Manager’s Institute. Served on Host
Committee for ACPA Mid-Manager’s Institute and Summer Leadership Academy.
Re-certified as a Personal Trainer through ACE. Did presentations for Alumni
Association on “Fitness and a Busy Schedule”. Attended NIRSA Conference.

David Rice - Attended NIRSA Conference. Attended CPAK Conference.
7. Assessment initiatives - (participant surveys, program reviews, student
learning outcomes, focus groups, feedback etc.)
General Statement: Intramural-Recreational Sports has always been a leader in the
Division of Student Affairs. We recognize the value of assessment and how crucial
obtaining programmatic data is so we can improve our program.
Specific Activities, Programs, or Initiatives:

My Fit Weight - The "My Fit Weight" program was successful in its first year of
operation. The program started with 12 participants and 6 completed to post
test and final weigh-in. During the program, participants had regular contact
with their assigned "coaches" to talk about their workouts, progress, etc. Their
coach helped the participant develop their own workout program and plan for
the semester.

Intramural Team Sport Focus Group - This year we changed to Intramural Sports
written tool to a town hall or focus group-type meeting, which was a temendous
improvement. 100% of those that attended the meeting indicated that they
greatly preferred the format over a written tool. We had many good discussions
concerning a variety of topics, including sportsmanship, benefits of participation,
increased sense of ownership to the university, imporved interpersonal
relations, and healthy behavior skills.

Injury Report Tracking - We have a very strong injury protocol in practice.
Anytime a supervisor renders first aid to a participant, they also fill out a report
form. From this form, the injured person is contacted by our department to see
if they need any assistance. Many of our students are form out of town and don't
know a doctor or orthopedic to see. They also may need help with parking,
university insurance, or other related items. All of our designated response staff
is certified annually in CPR/AED Administration and Standard First Aid. Standard
First Aid is actually a 3-year certification through the American Red Cross but we
feels that given the number of we deal with that the best practice is to have our
staff complete the training each year.

Informal Recreation Focus Group - We have had a focus group dedicated to
informal recreation in place for a number of years. The group is made up of
student, faculty/staff, and alumni representatives. The group meets three times
per year and reviews areas such as hours of operation, equipment additions,
customer service, and future plans for the department. Nobody other then the
focus group chair knows the identity of the members, so they are ensured
anonymity when they use the various facilities, which is important for their
ability to monitor customer service practices.
8. Top Goals for the Department/Program – Include specific goals your
department will be working on during 2009-2010. Goals should be in response
to items in the University and Student Affairs Strategic Planning documents.
General Statement: The following are the specific goals of the Intramural-Recreational
Sports Department for 2009-10.
Specific Goals for 2009-2010:

Work with the Vice-President for Student Affairs, Dean of Students, and Student
Government Association on the creation of a Student Recreation Fee.

Work with various University constituencies on the planning for a new Student
Recreation Center.

Continue to work with various constituencies to identify resources for getting an
artificial turf field installed on the Intramural Field.

Collaborate with Student Health and Get Healthy Now on offering Pilates and
Yoga classes to the UofL community.

Collaborate with Campus Health, Nursing, and Exercise Physiology in
implementing the “Fit Into College Program”.

Continue to use Facebook and begin to use Twitter as means of communicating
with our students and marketing our program.

Implement Sand Volleyball and Court Dodgeball as new Intramural Sports.

Begin to explore Outdoor Recreation programming and implement two
programs this year.

Take responsibility for scheduling the old band field to increase the utilization of
that space by our Sports Clubs.

Re-surface the wood floors in the SAC, Humana Gym, and Crawford Gym.

Work to obtain funding for a security system for the SAC Gym.

Work with KAI Digital Media on the installation of five flat-screen televisions
which will be used to increase the marketing of our programs.


Purchase new digital camera for the department and develop a digital library of
photographs.
Stay current with upcoming Red Cross changes in First Aid/Safety.

Work to improve the retention of officials in our various Intramural Sports.
9. Issues and Challenges for the Department During 2008-2009
General Statement: Intramural-Recreational Sports has had several issues and
challenges in 2008-09 that are detailed below.
Specific Issues and Challenges 2008-2009:

Increase in Minimum Wage - There was an increase in the Federal Minimum
Wage on July 1, 2008 and there is another increase on July 1, 2009. This
significantly impacts the amount of students we are able to hire and we have not
received any additional funding from the university.

Due to the advent of the “Extreme Home Makeover” project, we are now
sharing the IM Field with the Marching Band. This is significantly increasing the
wear on the field. The benefit of installing a turf field continues to be that it
would allow us to expand the use of the field to include Sports Clubs and general
student use. We will continue to work with the Dean of Students on this project.

The current university ID system continues to be a challenge for our department.
We are still not able to collect the data we should be able to obtain from the
current system (number of distinct users, breakdown of users- faculty/staff, etc).
We should be able to get this data which is critical to our program assessment.
Until the university makes the financial commitment to upgrade the card system,
we will still be unable to obtain the programmatic data we need to assess it.

The final challenge is our most exciting- planning for the creation of a new
Student Recreation Center. Last fall, architects reviewed the recreation space in
the SAC. They gave us a cost analysis on what it would take to expand the
recreation space in the SAC. It was apparent from both an architectural and
financial standpoint that expanding the recreation space in the SAC was simply
not feasible. With that information in hand, it is obvious that the direction we
must proceed toward is the construction of a new Student Recreation Center.
We are planning a 100,000 square foot facility to be built on the west side of
campus.
10. Report on metrics for programs and services during the year (usage and/or
customer numbers, occupancy data, number of programs provided,
participant demographics, retention statistics, revenue numbers, budget
savings, new funding sources and amounts, benchmark comparisons,
professional development/involvement data, web hits, student employee
numbers, etc)
General Statement: Intramural-Recreational Sports continues to have exceptional
participation as detailed in the information below.
Specific Metrics from 2008-2009:

Intramural Sports - Provided 30 individual, team, dual, and special events.
Conducted All-Campus Championship for campus organizations in the following
divisions: Fraternity, Women's, and Campus. There were 7697 participants in
2008-09 (Men - 5688, Women - 2009).

Informal Sports - Maintained the operations of four facilities (HSC, SAC,
Crawford, and Humana), providing informal opportunities for 450,000 users in
2008-09. We also provided space for over 100 campus/community groups.

Sports Clubs - Provided self-directed participation opportunities for 17 clubs with
over 300 individuals participating.

Cardinal Corner Game Room - Provided informal recreation opportunities with
over 3300 users per month. We also had 25 different student groups reserve the
Game Room in 2008-09.`

Fitness - Provided group fitness programs (aerobics, yoga, fitness assessments,
etc.) with over 500 individuals participating.

Awards - More then 800 Intramural Champions shirts were awarded in 2008-09.

Marketing/Assessment - 92 marketing/assessment projects were completed in
2008-09.

Provided 120 American Red Cross certifications in CPR and First Aid as well as 28
certifications in AED operation.