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No Guessing: How Data Drives Decisions for Campus Recreation

What does it mean to maximize the student experience at UT? For RecSports, this means carefully collecting data that drives a strategic and agile approach to programs, spaces, and supporting the overall health and well-being of every student.

RecSports serves students, faculty, and staff by providing a wide variety of programs and well-maintained facilities for almost any sport- or fitness-oriented person. Whether it’s friendly competition through intramurals, adventure and daring with outdoor pursuits, or fitness training and stress management with aquatics and sport clubs, RecSports is a place where well-being happens.

A National Leader in Student Recreation

Every three years RecSports participates in a national assessment that measures the self-reported impact of participating in campus recreation on the student experience. Results from this assessment are organized by category: recruitment, retention, emotional wellness, physical wellness, and social wellness. Last administered in 2022, the survey results clearly position UT as a leader in this area.

“Other institutions are looking to us to see how we’re impacting student retention and recruitment,” says Sean C. Basso, associate director of RecSports. The assessment also produced some very clear associations between students’ rates of participation and their stress management, respect for others, fitness level, and physical strength. Students also indicated that their feelings of well-being and overall health improved through participation in RecSports.

“I’ve made friends and memories using these facilities, as well as worked on myself here. That would otherwise not be possible if not for places like TRECS.”

Basso notes that staff retention is also a goal for the department, and meeting that goal is made easier with such clear data.

“When I can know and measure the real effect my work has on a student’s well-being, it’s that much easier to come to work, even on the tough days,” notes Basso.

Participation Data and Daily Decisions

RecSports engages in data collection regarding participation in multiple ways and shares this in a public-facing dashboard on their website. Anyone can visit the dashboard at anytime to see participation or usage trends across month, day of the week, or classification.

For Basso, this data collection is key to driving important decisions about operations at every level of the department, from annual budget allocation all the way down to hours of operation for specific facilities.

Basso notes that RecSports is also working to pivot and expand program offerings as the UT student population grows. When the TRECS facility opened in 2003, there were roughly 21,000 undergraduate students on campus. Today that number is 38,728 with a 91.9% retention rate.

“We are actively exploring opportunities to grow and be better stewards of the resources within our department, whether that’s transformed fitness spaces with a rubberized floor or maintenance upgrades to the third floor of TRECS or outdoor weight lifting facility, we’re motivated to innovate on all fronts. Data is the backbone of these decisions,” says Basso.

Students scan their UT ID to gain access to RecSports facilities and participate in RecSports programs, such as intramural leagues and tournaments, outdoor trips, or other events. This practice provides RecSports with the chance to measure when and where students are engaging, how long they are staying, and which offerings are most popular for future programming decisions.

22,567 unique members recorded 820,507 participations with RecSports in 2023-2024.

For example, staff analyzed TRECS facility access data across weekend hours and projected that Sunday participation would increase by 100 students if TRECS opened two hours earlier. The change in operation was made to move from a noon open to a 10 a.m. open, and participation increased by 111 unique students on average in fall 2024, just as staff hypothesized it would.

RecSports hosts 90 weekly group fitness class and oversees 50 intramural leagues and tournaments each year, with a varying number of teams and students participating. By tracking student participation in these areas, staff can see what is most popular with students rather than making an educated guess, accurately anticipate the number of student staff needed to support each area, and prepare to launch each semester’s programming with timely and responsible stewardship.

“We’re using this to drive decision-making with recruiting specialized student staff, scheduling classes, and defining budgetary goals on an annual basis,” adds Basso. “The statistics show that students are both engaging in these programs and having a better overall experience at UT because of their engagement.”