Understanding graduate student’s constraints to engaging in campus recreation: A case study
Campus recreation facilities on university campuses across the nation offer students a plethora of opportunities to participate in informal recreation, group fitness classes, intramural games, and club sports. Previous research indicates that campus recreation programming helps students feel welcome (Henchy, 2011) and provides them with a sense of belonging and identity (Lindsey, 2012). Further research shows positive relationships between the number of unique student visits to campus recreation facilities and positive academic outcomes. According to Huesman, Brown, Lee, Kellogg, & Radcliffe, (2009), first year students who use campus recreation facilities more than 25 times significantly increased their chances of retention at the university and graduating in five years. Regardless of this correlation, many students continually choose not to maximize or participate in campus recreation due to constraints (Stankowski, Trauntvein & Hall, 2017). This is particularly true of graduate students. Henchy’s (2013) study found that undergraduate students were more than twice as likely to use campus recreation facilities as graduate students. To better understand this phenomenon, more research is needed to understand what prevents graduate students from using campus recreation facilities. The purpose of this study is to explore graduate students’ perspectives on constraints they encounter to using CRFs. The study will use Hierarchal Leisure Constraints Theory to identify common barriers that limited or prevented use of campus recreation facilities. Understanding these constraints will be useful for Campus Recreation Professionals to understand optimal ways to increase participation of graduate students in campus recreation.
Graduate Student, Campus Recreation, Constraints
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign