Campus Recreation Sees Transformative Potential of Proposed Facility

Campus Recreation Sees Transformative Potential of Proposed Facility

By Brian Hiro

Outdoor Adventures is one of many Campus Recreation programs that would benefit from the proposed wellness and recreation facility.

Two years ago, Alyssa Loschiavo decided to work for Campus Recreation because she needed a job to help support herself financially as a student at Cal State San Marcos.

Loschiavo found so much more than a steady paycheck. She advanced to being the student coordinator of Outdoor Adventures. She developed skills that include leadership, communication and technical know-how. She even began to see potential career pathways that she never would have considered previously.

"Before joining Campus Recreation, my career prospects felt limited," said Loschiavo, a junior kinesiology major. "But this experience has greatly expanded my understanding of available opportunities."

Loschiavo is part of the small but mighty team at Campus Recreation, which features five full-time professional staff members and 35 student assistants. In the most recent academic year, the organization hosted 24 day and overnight trips through Outdoor Adventures, serving 221 students; ran 12 intramural leagues, serving 869 students; welcomed more than 2,000 participants in 290 group fitness classes and nine wellness events; and supported 425 members across a dozen sport clubs.

Campus Rec, though, has long since run out of space while sharing Clarke Field House with CSUSM's athletic department, limiting its ability to grow in line with the campus. To remedy that, the group for years has been advocating for a new wellness and recreation facility that would address its needs and benefit the student body holistically.

Next week, Campus Rec hopes to take a big step toward making its vision a reality.

From Oct. 21-23, a referendum will be held in which students can vote on whether they want to increase their student fees to fund the project. Voting will begin on Monday, Oct. 21 at 7 a.m. and continue until Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. Ballots will be sent to eligible students via their university-registered email addresses. All matriculated students who pay the recreation fee are eligible to vote.

CSUSM is planning to lease space in a new mixed facility boasting 49,200 square feet for wellness, recreation and basic needs services, plus 530 new student housing beds. The building would feature, among other amenities, more than 10,000 square feet for cardio machines and strength training equipment; dedicated wellness areas; an outdoor rooftop deck with a synthetic turf field for fitness programs, intramurals and sport club workouts; two standard-sized indoor courts; multipurpose rooms for a variety of individual and group activities; and a commuter lounge and e-sports collaboration den.

The wellness and recreation facility would be located across Barham Drive from University Village Apartments and directly next to The QUAD.

Lisa Dickinson, director of Campus Rec, said CSUSM is one of the only California State University campuses that lacks such a facility for its students.

"This is truly a now-or-never opportunity," Dickinson said. "The traditional path to a building on campus is too expensive and therefore not possible. This facility can be transformative in young people's lives and create waves of positive change for families and their communities."

CSUSM held a referendum on the same project in April that received a low response rate and failed to garner the requisite majority of the vote. Since then, Campus Rec has solicited feedback from students and modified its proposal accordingly.

The three notable changes are:

• The increase to the recreation fee was reduced by $20, to $245 per semester (representing a $210 hike to the existing $35 fee). The referendum in the spring called for a fee of $265 per semester.
• The fee will not be charged until the year when the facility opens, which is projected to be 2026-27. Students objected to language in the previous proposal calling for them to start paying the higher fee in fall 2025, one year before the building's opening.
• The facility will be able to support more diverse programming. Large spaces like the indoor courts, rooftop terrace and outdoor courtyard can be reserved for student organization, department or student life events, which will expand programs to promote recruitment, retention, community and student success.

"I'm optimistic about this referendum vote because of the changes we made to it," said Jacob Alvarez, a student assistant for Outdoor Adventures. "The biggest criticism we heard was about the fee for students who weren't going to be here when the building opened. Now that we have deferred the payment until the opening of the facility, this will no longer be an issue."

Alvarez and Loschiavo are among the student assistants who double as Campus Rec ambassadors, fanning out across campus and social media to educate their fellow students about the referendum and the facility, and encourage them to make their voices heard. The ambassadors have given presentations on the upcoming vote in classes and to sports teams, even appearing at large events like the recent Cougar Madness. They mention aspects that could be appealing, like the 70-plus student employment positions and academic program partnerships.

"We've received a great deal of positive feedback from the places where we have made presentations on the proposal," Loschiavo said. "I feel that students are much more educated about the referendum this semester. The student ambassador and project team's goals are to be as transparent as possible to students, to allow them to fully understand what the referendum entails so that they can provide an accurately educated and informed vote."

Students who will graduate before the facility opens won't have to pay the fee, nor will they be able to enjoy the facility, but they can leave a legacy of supporting well-being and better spaces for future Cougars.

"This referendum has to pass for the benefit of all future students and for the good of the campus," said Davis Hancock, a fourth-year student who plays lacrosse at CSUSM.

Loschiavo understands how important the vote next week is to Campus Rec and the university.

"The proposed facility," she said, "has the potential to transform the CSUSM student experience."

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist

[email protected] | Office: 760-750-7306