Wentworth Institute of Technology

Wentworth On Campus

Gym Facility Report

MGMT 250: Research Methods in Business

Brian Veltri, Ryan Conrad, Ryan Delgado

12/9/2010

Executive Summary:

The purpose of this study, in the short run, is to determine potential financial and

operational benefits of the Athletics Department of Wentworth Institute of Technology. The

more detailed purposes of this study are to gain knowledge of what gym facilities on campus are

used by whom, how often, overall improvement on services available, cleanliness, quality, etc.

The research was conducted in each on campus gym at Wentworth by means of a ten

question questionnaire. Tansey, Beatty, 610, and Evans Way were the subject of the study. An

open folder was placed at the sign in area of each respective gym, encouraging students to take

part in the student run survey. The group collected 70 surveys with 77% of them coming from

Tansey Gymnasium. The question was asked in order to improve quality & operations

efficiency, how likely are you to be willing to pay a $5/month fee to use this fitness center on

campus? 1 was Very Unlikely, and 5 was Very Likely. The average likelihood of the surveys

collected was 2.53, which we found to be on the unfavorable side, in accordance to our

hypothesis. Other significant findings were that of the 29 athletes surveyed, 79% of them used

Tansey, and not any other gym. Most students are aware of Beatty, with 85% of the students

knowing about it.

Some very practical and relevant suggestions did come out of the questionnaires

themselves, especially at Tansey. Suggestions include, fixing the clock that has been stuck on 3

o’clock, having cleaning stations on the walls with stocked paper towels and cleaner, fixing the

sit up machine, attaining a roman chair, and fixing the treadmills that seem to rarely work.

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….1

Purpose……………………………………………………………………………….1

Statement……………………………………………………………………………..1

Review of the Literature…………………………………………………………………….2

Research Methods…………………………………………………………………………….

Results………………………………………………………………………………………...

Summary, Conclusions & Recommendations………………………………………………

References…………………………………………………………………………………….

Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter One: Introduction

Purpose:

The purpose of this study, in the short run, is to determine potential financial and

operational benefits of the Athletics Department of Wentworth Institute of Technology. The

more detailed purposes of this study are to gain knowledge of what gym facilities on campus are

used by whom, how often, overall improvement on services available, cleanliness, quality, etc.

In addition, to look at a possible five-dollar monthly fee for usage of the gym, this would go

towards the Athletics Department to use at their discretion.

Statement:

This study will discover if students, inside and outside of the Wentworth community, will

be willing to pay a five-dollar monthly fee to use the gym equipment. This is important to study

because the Athletics Department could be losing out on a potential supplementary income.

Even if Wentworth students are not charged the fee, other Colleges of the Fenway students may

be charged. This can bring in extra money that can go towards several different areas.

After looking at different areas of the Athletics Department, such as athlete support,

facilities, and the program as a whole, the decision was to merge all of the ideas into one

proficient study. With the permission of Lee Conrad, Director of the Athletics Department, this

study will be further pursued, and surveys will be distributed. Data will be gathered that will

allow an explanation, stating that a low monthly fee of five dollars is convenient and affordable

to students and faculty, as well as beneficial for the Athletics Department. In addition to

possibly having one gym, specifically the Tansey gym, designated to WIT athletes, who tend to

use the gym several times a week. Therefore not being disturbed, or their workouts prevented or

postponed due to other non-athletes using the equipment when they have a first need basis.

Assuming that all surveys are received, the ability to derive data and express in various

ways will be completed. The benefits the Athletics Department can receive will be present

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature

Doing a research topic on gym facilities on a college campus that is not done often, and

rarely published for the public to see. After extensive group research, documents and

sites that discussed on campus gym facilities we a rarity. Duke University was the best

literature found and implemented in the process. The university charges students a flat

$100 dollars per semester. The money (since Duke Athletics are in well hands with

money) was used in the student activates sector. The money would be used in campus

events and such.

An annotated bibliography was complied of five (5) sources. All sources

contributed to group work and compilation of survey and methods. A baseball player and

selected student were interviewed to to get a sense of the ideas and indications of the

survey. A survey of a student-athlete, and a non-athlete was then conducted.

Interview questions:

How often do you use the gym?

Athlete: “6 days a week, usually at night”

Student: “A couple of times a week, not a lot though

Your thoughts about paying $5/month for non-athletes to use the facilities?

Athlete: “If it goes to athletics I’m all for it”

Student: “$5 a month is probably as high as it should go if anything”

Campus Map of Gyms Circled

Chapter Three: Research Methods

The methods of gathering information Leaving survey at each gym on campus Hypothesis.

To justify if students will pay for gym and facility usage. Athletes/Non-athletes were surveyed.

Collect surveys weekly Quantitative analysis of all questions. People that don’t step foot in gym

will not be contacted to do survey

A ten-question survey was placed in each on campus gym at Tansey, Beatty, 610, and Evans

Way respectively. The survey is going to be a simple random survey, and will be collected by

placing folders at each sign in spot at every gym. The folder will instruct the students that the

survey is completely voluntary and strictly for research purposes only.

The hypothesis derived was that the students would not want to pay a $5 per month fee, and

have it go to anything but them. Students think they pay too much in tuition to begin with, so

adding money for something like a gym, wouldn’t go over so well. As a part of the survey the

group hopes to attain ideas, suggestions, and thoughts on how to improve each gym, specifically

Tansey.

Each survey was completed by gym users only, as they would be able to provide the best

first hand input. Most of th

Chapter 4: The Results

With seventy surveys collected during the study, there was a lot of information and

numbers to go through. Crunching the numbers was very time consuming and took a lot of

effort. It was interesting to read through the surveys and look at what people thought about it,

how they answered and the comments that were left. Some results where surprising to see, while

other results were expected.

The first question of the survey asked for the person taking the survey to state their

gender. Out of the seventy people surveyed, fifty-two were male, and eighteen were female,

meaning 74% were male and 26% were female (Figure 1.1). However, considering that eleven

of the surveyors were from another school (which will be discussed later) those eleven people

were subtracted from the seventy to get a percentage of people who were surveyed at

Wentworth. Three males and eight females were taken away from their respected group and a

new number was created. That number is forty-nine males and ten females. When converted

into a percentage, those numbers are 83% male and 17% female. The second set of percentages,

based on Wentworth students, is almost right on target with

the percentage of males and females of the entire school.

The second question asked for the surveyor to state

what year they are in school. They were able to choose from freshman, sophomore, junior,

senior, 5th year/graduate, faculty or other. Nine people responded with freshman, twenty-four

sophomores, eighteen juniors, fifteen seniors, two

5th year/graduates and two faculty. When these

numbers are divided by the total number of

surveys, the overall percentage is derived.

Freshman made up 12.9% of the surveys, sophomores were 34.3%, juniors 25.7%, seniors

21.4%, and 5th year/graduates and faculty both had 2.8% (Figrue 1.2). It is obvious to see that

the sophomores had the biggest representation is held by the sophomores. These numbers are not

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.2

consistent with the percentage of students that attend Wentworth. Those numbers are spread out

a little bit more evenly.

Question three asked for which school the person taking the survey is affiliated with.

Although the gyms are open to all six schools of the Colleges of the Fenway students, only two

schools were represented; Wentworth and Massachusetts

College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Wentworth

accounted for 84% of the total surveys and MCPHS

(Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences) accounted for 16% of the surveys.

Meaning that 59 surveys were from Wentworth and only 11 from MCPHS (Figure 1.3).

Question four asked if the surveyor was a Wentworth athlete, and if they chose yes, then

to specify the sport that they play for. Out of the seventy surveys,

the majority was not of a Wentworth athlete, 41 to be exact. On the

other hand, athlete surveys numbered 29. About 59% were non-

athletes and 41% were athletes (Figure 1.4). For the people who are Wentworth athletes, the

team sports that were represented were men’s hockey, men’s baseball, men’s and women’s

lacrosse, men’s and women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s rugby and women’s

tennis.

The fifth question asked how many times a week that person used a gym facility. The

options were either one to two times, three to four times, or five

to seven times a week. Fifteen people work out one to two times

a week, thirty people work out three to four times a week,

and twenty people work out about five to seven times a week. By proportion, these numbers are

Figure 1.3

Figure 1.4

Figure 1.5

21%, 43% and 29% respectively (Figure 1.5). The majority of the people surveyed use a gym

facility about three to four times a week.

Question six asked for each gym listed, to be circled if that person was aware of that

gym. Awareness of the gym could vary from the person knowing that it simply exists, to that

person actually using that gym in the past. The four gyms that are on

campus and that were listed were Tansey Gym in Tansey Gymnasium, Beatty Gym in Beatty

Hall, the fitness center located on the fifth floor of 610 Residence Hall, and the fitness center

located in Evansway/Tudbury Residence Halls. For Tansey, fifty-four people were familiar with

a that gym, fifty-nine for Beatty, thirty for 610 and fifteen for Evansway/Tudbury. Therefore,

77% of people know of Tansey, 84% know of Beatty, 43% know of 610 and 21% know of

Evansway/Tudbury (Figure 1.6).

Question seven asked the surveyor to rate the gym they were

in, or to choose a particular gym and rate it on five different

topics on a scale of one to five, one being poor and five being great.

The five topics were quality, equipment, cleanliness, services

available, and overall satisfaction. Out of the seventy surveys, the average rating for gym quality

was a 2.96, average equipment rating was a 2.77, average cleanliness rating of 3.38, average

available services rating of 2.79 and an average overall satisfaction rating of 2.99 (Figure 1.7).

On a percentage scale, quality was a 59%, equipment was a 55%, cleanliness was a 68%,

services available was a 56% and satisfaction was a 60%. These ratings are relatively low when

they are based on a 100% scale.

The eighth question asked the surveyor to rate their likeliness to pay a five-dollar a month

fee to potentially improve quality and operations efficiency. They were able to rate their

Figure 1.6

Figure 1.7

Figure 1.8

likeliness on a scale of one to five, one being very unlikely and five being very likely. The

average likeliness was a 2.53, or a 50.6% likeliness to pay five dollars a month, leading to a

conclusion that most students are somewhat unlikely to pay a fee to use the gym facilities (Figure

1.8).

Questions nine and ten were open-ended questions that allowed the surveyor to add their

input on the survey and the ideas behind it. Question nine offered the chance to express what

that person would like to see the five dollars a month go to, or what they think it will go to, while

question ten offered for any other comments. A vast array of answers were given for question

nine. But the most popular answers were for more equipment, free weights, the various

Wentworth sports teams, funding a Wentworth football team, an athlete only gym, stair climber,

stationary bikes, elliptical, trainers, extended hours and a bigger, cleaner and more open space.

Comments for question ten were very interesting. Some

highlighted comments are as follows: “There are too many

people. There should be an athlete only gym,” “The gym is

just not sufficient to serve 3 schools period. It is too small

and has too little equipment. Exercise is an integral part to many students’ lives and our schools

do not recognize or respect that face to make our experience better,” “Every time I try to use the

gym some random person is using the equipment,” “2 treadmills have been broken for the past 2

months,” “Tansey gym needs to have stretching posters like Beatty gym has.”

Going beyond the simple questions and relating a few together to find out more

information that may support some of the comments was another part of the results. Looking at

the number of athletes and non-athletes that use each gym was one of those

Figure 1.10

Figure 1.9

parts. Out of the twenty-nine athletes, twenty-three of them use Tansey, none use Beatty, five

use 610 and only one uses Evansway. Overall, almost 80% of athletes us Tansey gym (Figrue

1.9), and 87% of the athletes that use Tansey, use it more then three days a week, making it the

athlete workout hot-spot on campus (Figure 1.10). On the other hand, only 3% of the athletes

surveyed use Evansway/Tudbury as their workout facility. Not to mention only 3% of the

surveys came from that gym.

It seems as though a conclusion can be made that the Evansway/Tudbury gym is the least

active in regards to the number of students, both athletes and non-athletes that use the gym.

Perhaps the Athletics Department can save some money from emptying out that facility, putting

the equipment where it is needed, and opening up the space for other uses.

Other facts that stood out from the lot were that the number of males and females

surveyed from Wentworth were almost right on target with the percentage of men and women

that attend the school; only about 3% difference between the survey numbers and the school

numbers (Figure 1.11). Most non-athletes use Beatty gym for their workouts, about 46%.

Awareness of Beatty gym is the highest, about 84%. And the

likelihood of students paying five dollars a month is less then 50%

favorable, in summary.

All in all, the average person who filled out a survey was this: a male who attends

Wentworth, is a Sophomore, works out three to four times a week, who is a non-athlete, and who

works out at Beatty gym.

References:

Figure 1.11

Berkowitz, Steve. USA Today, “How student fees boost college sports amid rising budgets.”

USA Today, Gannett Co. Inc. September 19, 2010. 29 September 2010.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2010-09-21-student-fees-boost-college-

sports_N.htm

Griggs, Mary Beth. The Tufts Daily, “Students head off campus to get fit.” College Media

Network. April 22, 2010. 29 September 2010. http://www.tuftsdaily.com/students-head-

off-campus-to-get-fit-1.2236700

From this article based out of Tufts University, information regarding a fee to use the fitness

facility is explained. Imposing a fee to a college’s gym may be a deterrent in some ways,

but in more ways, it can be an incentive. Even if someone wants to use a gym only once in

a month, they will still have to pay the fee. Knowing that people are paying to use the

facility, they may be more inclined to get their money worth for the extremely low cost,

seeing it as a great deal.

Lamela, Natalie. The Chronicle, “Gym fees deter few Duke employees.” The Chronicle.

October 11, 2001. 29 September 2010. http://dukechronicle.com/article/gym-fees-deter-

few-duke-employees

Perez, Erica. California Watch, “NCAA report shows more college athletic programs losing

money.” California Watch, PNGV.com. August 19, 2010. 29 September 2010.

http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/ncaa-report-shows-more-college-athletic-programs-

losing-money-1-234

Even though this article focuses mainly on division I sports, it still provides basic

information that embraces the majority of all athletic department’s current situation. It

explains that more often then not, college athletic departments are losing money, regardless

of the amount. This supports our cause to create a minimal fee to use the services of the

gyms on campus. The money can then go towards the athletic department to help with

costs.

Singh, Mike. Ezine Articles, “Why should college students exercise?” EnzineArticles. June 8,

2006. 29 September 2010. http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-Should-College-Students-

Exercise?&id=215974