SIUE Campus Recreation Staff to Present at Annual IIRSA State Workshop
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Amanda Couch, fitness coordinator, Estelle Gyimah, fitness graduate assistant, and Kari Kolle, facilities graduate assistant, will represent SIUE Campus Recreation by presenting at the Illinois Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (IIRSA) state workshop, being held Oct 25-27 at Illinois State University in Bloomington-Normal.
They will be introducing the topic of “The Psychology of the Fitness Floor Layout. A view of our observations and changes to maximize use.”
“This topic has been an idea that I’ve had in my head for a while and when Estelle and Kari approached me about wanting to present, things started to take shape,” Couch said. “I’m thankful for their desire to grow professionally, for us to get to explore this topic together and to share what we have found with others.
“I have been collecting data on equipment usage since my arrival in fall 2013. That data, paired with the information Kari and Estelle are bringing, will allow us to present a topic to the conference that I have not seen before.”
“Fitness has been my passion since I was an undergraduate student at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University, and it is rewarding for me to be able to learn and educate others on such an important topic not many people are discussing,” said Gyimah, who is also a college student personnel administration graduate student. “I am quite fortunate to have this opportunity to grow both mentally and professionally with the support of such an involved and caring staff. I hope that people leave the presentation feeling as if they learned something new or have a new perspective on what factors play an important role in designing a fitness floor.”
“I am excited for this opportunity to combine my studies in exercise and sport psychology with my work in Campus Recreation, be able to apply it, and provide insights to Campus Recreation colleagues at the state level,” said Kolle, who is also an exercise and sport psychology graduate student. “After this presentation, we plan to do more data collection through our peer universities in order to present at NIRSA (National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association): Leaders in Collegiate Recreation’s Annual Conference in March.”
The 2018 March NIRSA conference is set for Denver.
Photo (L-R): SIUE Fitness Coordinator Amanda Couch and graduate assistants Estelle Gyimah and Kari Kolle.
