Written by: April Espinoza
Hulsey Wellness Center is open to students, faculty and community members. But which of these groups uses the facility the most?
Miguel Rivas, a software developer in the IT department at Southern Adventist University, pulled data from Hulsey’s servers last year and shared his findings with the Accent to see who goes to the gym most often.
According to the data, students went to the gym the most last year, accounting for 60% of Hulsey’s attendance, while community members came in second at 17% in attendance. Faculty members made up about 8% of the total attendance.
Hulsey was the busiest Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with an average of 2,610 people going on Tuesdays and 2,580 people on Wednesdays, according to the data.
The data also showed how the times students prefer to go to the gym differ from the times faculty members prefer to go to the gym. Students, on average, went to the gym in the afternoons between 5 and 8 p.m. Faculty members, on the other hand, typically went to the gym between 5 and 11 a.m.
Although Hulsey is on campus and free for students, some students still choose to go off campus and pay for a gym membership.
According to Anela Dixon, a sophomore physical therapy major, “The space is too small, and there is not enough equipment for the amount of people who go to the gym regularly. It feels crowded.”
Hulsey’s facility manager Darin Bissell said each year the gym receives a budget specifically for upgrading equipment. This year, Hulsey has had a couple of updates, including five new bench presses to help alleviate the heavy usage of the power racks which were purchased a few years ago and have been in high demand, according to Bissell.
“We also got two new stair climbers last semester, and we have a hack squat and t-bar row machine ordered that will arrive soon with some more plates and women’s needle bars,” he said. “We have also installed two new ice bath tables. And with the ice bath area receiving a lot of use, those have been very nice to have. Each year, we replace two treadmills to help weed out the ones that have higher mileage or other problems.”
The installation of new equipment has encouraged more people to use the gym. Bissell also noted that COVID-19 caused a decrease in community attendance, but the number has begun to rise in the decline of the pandemic.
“Students have always been the highest users of the facility since it was really built for student use, but we are thankful that it is a community outreach and also provides jobs for students to interact with the community, whether it be swim lessons, personal training or watching kids in child care.”
