Students looking for ways to get active outside of varsity sports will have new options, thanks to the Duke Department of Campus Recreation.
The new recreation department, headed by Managing Director of Campus Recreation Felicia Tittle, aims to revamp the way students can participate, exercise and get involved in sports and activities by “engaging the mind, body and spirit through recreation,” according to its mission statement. The department oversees four areas of recreation, including aquatics, intramurals, outdoor adventures and sport clubs. Director of Athletics Kevin White appointed Tittle to the position last September.
Most of the changes that Tittle has made already in the department involve internal administrative adjustments and working to create an identity for recreation around campus. The department also has long-term plans to improve services for students, employees and the Durham community.
“Our goal is to become the best recreation department in the country and offer Duke students a very enhanced experience,” Tittle said. “We hope to offer programs targeted to women, day tournaments through intramurals and a lot more programming for students so they can have the option to do something in the evenings.”
Other challenges the department hopes to tackle include managing equipment, organizing events such as the upcoming Bull City Showdown basketball tournament and creating an advisory board to allow students the opportunity to make recommendations. Overall, Tittle said she intends to engage students and provide options for student employment through the recreation department.
The Department of Athletics hired Tittle last Fall because of her experience in recreation at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she had worked since 2005.
“[Tittle] came from a university that put a good amount of resources into their recreation program,” Deputy Director of Athletics Stan Wilcox said. “She took an upstart program and grew it into one of the top programs in the south Florida area.”
Whether the changes Tittle intends to make will require additional financing, however, is still unclear. Funding for the department is managed through a committee that reviews the fee structure every three to four years for students, faculty, alumni and other members of the Duke community, Wilcox said.
“I could not tell you at this point in time whether student fees will be increasing,” Wilcox said. “There is a plan to standardize fees for other user groups that have been lagging behind, such as employees and graduate students.”
Student Affairs looks forward to working closely with the recreation department to tie together many different areas of campus life, Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek said.
“Our hope is to have a very cooperative and collaborative relationship with the folks in recreation,” Wasiolek said. “Our goals are the same. We want to make the Duke experience for our students as fun and meaningful as possible, and we are all in it together.”
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