As on-campus entertainment professionals, we understand our students’ rapidly changing needs, interests, and schedules. Therefore, we must be adaptive and efficient in evaluating our fitness program.
Unfortunately, one of the most challenging parts of the process is often deciding where to start.
Whether you’re trying to determine why attendance at your group fitness programs is low, navigate how to raise awareness about campus fitness services and offerings, or identify a new fitness show your campus is interested in, the solutions to these pressing questions abound. Easier than you might expect: keep it simple.
Here are some simple strategies I use to maximize effectiveness in evaluating a fitness program:
1. Just ask
In the early stages of my career on campus, I made the fatal mistake of thinking that my job was to tell participants what was best for them.
It wasn’t until my remarkable feats received less than stellar attendance and I began to do away with the work of guesswork and go straight to the source.
I took the time to call, email, or candidly ask clients about their feedback on fitness offerings. Doing so allowed me to meet their programming needs efficiently and effectively.
To get the most insight, ask questions like:
- What made you come?
- How can we help increase your attendance?
- What types of programming would you like to see more of?
- What types of programming would you like to see less of?
2. Consider rebranding
Low attendance at a fitness show doesn’t always mean it’s time to put the program on the shelf. Oftentimes, all you need is a change of brand.
In partnership with the marketing team in your department, you can develop creative ways to reinvent an existing fitness offering.
For example, at a former institution, when attendance at a popular bootcamp-style training class called WAR began to decline, we simply incorporated some new equipment—like kettlebells—into the class and renamed the course the Kettlebell Bootcamp instead.
This simple rebranding immediately increased our engagement numbers and renewed the offer.
3. Meet your residents wherever they are
When I started in my current position as Assistant Director of Fitness at Florida International University, one of my early priorities was to look for unique ways to increase awareness of our fitness programs and services.
I was hoping the heightened awareness would bring some new faces to our recreation center.
I quickly noticed that students don’t stream to our promotional events inside the Recording Center, so I decided to go with them.
By scheduling short pop-up group fitness classes at various locations around the campus, we were able to engage with the campus like never before. This increased participation has translated into a new presence as well.
Extra credit: Recreation on the University of Montana campus offers GrizGo, a pop-up fitness program designed for individual groups.
As you can see, the most effective solutions to the challenges you encounter are often the simplest and most cost-effective.
By learning to value simplicity in evaluating a fitness program, we have the opportunity to stop and begin to think about the problems we perceive in our fitness offerings.
Join Brittany Baldwin on May 30th at 3pm for an in-depth webinar on the topic. Register here.
