Grover Center’s faculty fitness area recently received an upgrade.
WellWorks, Ohio University’s wellness program, updated its enrollment process and equipment to benefit faculty and graduate students who use it and the students who learn from it.
The updated enrollment process offers a discounted rate and waives the $35 enrollment fee but requires a health screening, in which WellWorks’ staff check customers’ blood work and cholesterol levels before they can begin exercising for the first time. The program also now offers an optional fitness component to the test, assessing a customer’s flexibility, strength and cardiovascular ability.
WellWorks is a division of the College of Health Sciences and Professions that employs students studying health fields at OU so they can gain experience as health professionals and trainers.
“We are trying to make those two things converge: really meet what the customers want and not contradict what the students are learning,” said Director of WellWorks Kim Valentour.
The changes stemmed from employee requests and were funded through the benefits area of the Office of Human Resources, Valentour said.
The program’s discounted rate costs OU employees $175 for the year or $27 per month. Those who do not participate in the new enrollment process pay $275 for the year or $42 per month.
All money collected goes toward basic operations, maintenance and purchasing new equipment, Valentour said.
The new assessment process will not only benefit WellWorks customers, but will also enhance the education process for the students, Valentour said, adding that the new screening process teaches the student trainers about health screening by experience — a skill that isn’t offered by many gyms.
Lindsay Fowler, a senior studying health communication and employee for WellWorks, sees the benefits of the screening process from customer reactions to the program.
“I think members are more comfortable asking any questions they have,” she said. “They feel more comfortable with the staff.”
Valentour admits that a few prospective members were pushed away from WellWorks because of the new process. With busy schedules, some customers did not want to be assessed before they could begin their first workout.
“When people are ready to exercise, usually they want to come in, put their money down and go for it,” Valentour said.
However, WellWorks members such as Chris Yost, a professor in the College of Business, like the idea of setting goals at the beginning of the enrollment process.
“Good things are going to result from just doing that process and then carry forward to our lives outside the mandatory meetings,” Yost said.
Valentour said she believes the new enrollment process enforces WellWorks’ goal of improving the lives of customers through fitness, not just turning a profit.
“We want to encourage a more sustainable type of a workout,” Valentour said.
dk123111@ohiou.edu
