Chase Ellis named new Director of Campus Recreation
Chase Ellis has been named the new Director of Campus Recreation at Utah State University, and after one month, he is setting high goals and using previous experience to get students more involved in campus recreation.
Ellis, who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree at USU, has just come from working as recreation superintendent for South Dakota University’s campus recreation program. His career goal was to become a campus recreation director someday, so coming back to USU has been a dream, he said.
“I’d like to be here for a long time. It’s kind of fun. I had all these dreams for what campus rec could be like when I was working here as a student,” Ellis said. “The goal is to really utilize the students.”
Ellis and his team are working to make fitness programs better and more suited to students’ wants and needs, and to create a “rec atmosphere” where there is something for everyone, he said.
Being director of campus recreation is no small task. Ellis has responsibilities with intramurals, the fitness program, aquatics program, the club sports program, Aggie Legacy Fields, the HPER building and the various recreation facilities currently on campus.
But what he wants students to know that it doesn’t matter how busy he is. His door is always open to work with the individual.
“If students want to stop by and have ideas of things they’d like to see, we’re student funded … we don’t have all the ideas, students can feel free to stop by and see if it’s something we can implement in our program,” Ellis said.
The new Aggie Rec Center, which will open during the fall semester has been the biggest focus for Ellis since being hired in June, and there is much to be done, he said.
“We want to make sure that when we do open that we are providing the best experience for our students, as well as the greater USU community,” said Jason Hermes, facility operations coordinator for campus recreation. “Chase is in construction meetings, grand opening meetings, all of the behind-the-scenes work to make sure that this building opens and that we do it the right way.”
Exceeding the students’ expectations is what Hermes is most excited for, especially with so many students who have limited perspectives of what campus recreation resources are available.
Some students associate campus rec with intramurals, some with the Outdoor Recreation Center, and others with the George Nelson Fieldhouse, but this “will bring us under one roof, it will broaden the perspective of what campus recreation is … bringing a new face and new identity to campus recreation,” Hermes said.
The fact that the ARC was voted on by students and funded by their fees makes it all the more important that it turns out the way students would like and benefit from.
Having student fees increased to pay for the building was the only concern Trent Judd, a senior in pre-physical therapy, had when the idea for the ARC started floating around.
“I think I was okay with it once I realized what it was going to be and the space and change it was going to be able to offer,” Judd said. “More intramurals and better quality of field or courts to play on. I was okay with the fee upgrade and how it was going to better campus.”
The increased space — a new weight room and workout area options — is what Judd is most excited about, including the new exercise equipment that will come with.
“I’ve been so many times at the Fieldhouse or HPER and it’s so crowded, a workout that should take 45 minutes takes closer to an hour and a half, ’cause I have to wait for machines or weights to use,” Judd said.
The ARC with come as the new and improved side of campus rec — including biometric hand-readers at access points, for students to enter quickly and efficiently — much of which comes with a young staff, with fresh ideas for the entire program.
“We do have a young staff, but we have a professional staff and a motivated staff. We work well together as a team,” Hermes said. “There’s a lot of innovation when it comes to what our staff can bring to campus recreation … that’s what campus recreation is about. We have something for everyone. We encourage and offer diverse programs, and it’s nice that our staff is diverse, as well.”
The ARC is set to open on November 17, 2015 and construction is currently on-schedule. Students can learn more about it and campus recreation at usu.edu/campusrec.
—mandy.m.morgan@aggiemail.usu.edu