ABSTRACT
New recreation facilities have been constructed at Mississippi State University and the University of Southern Mississippi to serve and recruit students. Within the past several years the University of Mississippi has renovated the Thomas N. Turner HPER Center to increase the quantity and quality of recreation opportunities for the students attending Ole Miss and to attract new students.
Marketing campus recreation has focused on students but largely ignored faculty, staff and alumni or individuals users from the community. These memberships are important sources of revenue for campus recreation program and facility operation budgets. Increased operating funds generated from non-student members obligate recreation facility managers to discover the wants and needs of this segment and a practical method to accomplish this goal is to determine the satisfaction and interest faculty, staff and community members have with offered services and programs. Ultimately, this information can be used to develop marketing strategies that attract new and retain current members.
 

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purposes of this study were to survey current community, faculty and staff members of the Thomas N. Turner Center at the University of Mississippi to determine which activities and services were significantly correlated with satisfaction. Various studies reveal consistent findings of satisfaction in campus recreation programs that are highly correlated to life satisfactrions (Leitner & Leitneer, 1966), (Downs, 2003), and (Paul, 1999). Other pertinent studies revealed positive health benefits and altered health behaviors were obtained from college recreation centrers (Sparling, 2003), (Ellis, Compton, Tyson, &Bohlig, 2002), (Luquis, Garcia & Ashford, 2003) and (Leenders, Sherman & Ward, 2003).
 

METHODOLOGY
Individual subjects for this study were current community, faculty or staff Turner Center members, male and female, ages 18-75. Permission was sought from The University of Mississippi Department of Campus Recreation before obtaining any information in order to complete the study and the Institutional Review Board (IRB) granted approval for the study. To determine reliability, twenty undergraduate students who used the recreation facilities within the Turner Center were administered the survey A split-halves reliability analysis showed the questionnaire to be reliable (r=.93). The tool was given to three recreation educators to determine content and context validity and several alterations to the questionnaires were made. Four hundred thirty subjects were randomly chosen from an electronic membership database of 713 total memberships. The survey was mailed through U.S. Postal Service and/or campus mail with a cover letter detailing the importantance of responses. A final administered questionnaire count was adjusted to 391 after accounting for undeliverable surveys. Sixty-four surveys were returned; 16% community, 37% staff, 47% faculty, and 8% “other members” for a return rate of 16%.
Quantitative data collected provided in-depth information on the Turner Center memberships satisfaction and use levels with recreational facilities, services and amenities. The qualitative data augmented this information by revealing members comments on how to improve the activities, services and amenities offered at the Turner Center.
A descriptive and cross-sectional research design was selected for this study. Descriptive statistics were calculated to obtain the mean and averages of data so that a participation/satisfaction table could be completed. Cross-tabulations were performed to gather additional descriptive analyses of the data and provided the overall means necessary to form a participation/satisfaction comparison.
An overall mean score was calculated for participation and satisfaction scores as well as satisfaction with amenity scores and used as the judgment line for determining whether activities were “High” participation/satisfaction or “Low participation/satisfaction. Activities and service participation rates were measured using a 5-point Likert-type scale with 1) “Almost Daily”, 2) “3-4 times per week”, 3) “1-2 times per week”, 4) “Once per week”, and 5) “Less than once per week”. Satisfaction ratings of the subjects with activities, services and amenities were obtained by using a 5-point Likert scale with 1) “Extremely Satisfied”, 2) “Very Satisfied”, 3) “Satisfied”, 4)“Not Satisfied”, and 5) “Extremely dissatisfied”. Data was also analyzed using a Pearson-Rank correlation coefficient test to determine if significant correlations existed between user satisfaction rates, facility use rates and satisfaction with services and amenity rates of current recreational center members.
A hierarchal cluster analysis was calculated to determine if there were activities, amenities or services that could be the focus of improved quality of service delivery. Finally, qualitative comments were gathered by asking three open-ended questions. 1) “What, if anything, do you find “best” about the recreational services and Turner Center facilities?”, 2) “How might the recreational services and Turner Center be improved?”; and 3) “Any other comments?”
 

RESULTS
Results are presented in terms of subject demographics, interest/satisfaction levels, correlation scores and cluster analyses. Of the 64 responces, there were almost equal numbers of males (49%) to females (51%). Eighty-four percent of respondents were Caucasian. Approximately 48% of the subjects used the Thomas N. Turner Center at least three times per week, while 30% used the Center once per week or less.
Overall, 17% of the respondents used the Turner Center almost daily, 36% 3-4 times per week, 21% 2 times per week, 7% used the facility once per week and 19% used the facility less than once per week.
The top five activities or services, by respondents use rates, were 1) open swim at the pool, 2) equipment rental from Ole Miss Outdoors, 3) intramural sports, 4) indoor walk/jog track and 5) basketball. The activities or services that received the highest satisfaction ratings were 1) the Fitness Center, 2) equipment rental from Ole Miss Outdoors, 3) indoor walk/jog track, 4) open swim at the pool and 5) intramural sports.

Three amenities that received the highest ratings were, 1) cost of membership, 2) safety while inside the Thomas N. Turner Center and 3) satisfaction with the recreational staff, respectively. The three amenities with the lowest ratings were 1) satisfaction with locker room, 2) restroom facilities, and 3) parking availability, respectively. Expected levels of use by faculty, staff and community memberships were measured by asking them whether they used the Turner Center 1) much more than I initially expected, 2) more than I expected, 3) about the amount of time I expected, 4) less than I expected or 5) much less than I expected. The results (Table 1) indicate that 59% participated at their anticipated level of use, 27% use it less then expected and 14% used the facility more then originally expected.





Table One. Expected Level of Use by Thomas N. Turner Center Members
 

Table Two contains the mean scores for the breakdown of overall use, program satisfaction and satisfaction with amenities by membership type. The data reveals community members and faculty used the Thomas N. Turner Center more than staff members and that community members were more satisfied than either faculty or staff with services and amenities.
Table Two. Comparison of Thomas N. Turner Center Members Levels of Use, Satisfaction with Activities and Satisfaction with Amenities and Services by Membership Type
 

Pearson Rank Correlation Coefficients were calculated among satisfaction scores, actual Thomas N. Turner Center use levels, perceived use (member use based on the level they expected to participate), and selected demographics. The significant (p< .05) findings showed that age was inversely related to overall use, which indicates as the participant became older, their satisfaction rates with the Turner Center increased. The results also showed a significant positive relationship between overall Turner Center use and levels of satisfaction, which indicates as the membership used the Turner Center less, their satisfaction rates decreased also. As members used the Center less than expected, their scores on the belief that the Turner Center was a good value fell also.
Finally, a hierarchical cluster analysis was calculated to determine which activities and services showed the highest and lowest satisfaction. The results of the hierarchical cluster analysis showed overall, the subjects indicated they were highly interested in improved restrooms and locker rooms, decreased noise levels, better parking, and improved facility cleanliness. Subjects also indicated they would enjoy better towel service and an improved walk/jog track. Females were especially interested in increased safety to and from the facility and an improved indoor run/jog track A separate cluster analysis was performed to look at overall satisfaction, comparison between males and females, and a comparison between staff, faculty and community members.
 

CONCLUSIONS
According to data collected 15.2% of all members are using the facility daily, (15% of faculty, 12.5% of staff and 33.3% of community members). For usage of three to four times per week, 32.6% of all members are using the facility, (25% of faculty, 43.8% of staff and 50% of community members). For individuals visiting the facility once or twice per week, 21.7% of all members are participating, (35% of faculty members). Only 6.5% of all memberships visit the facility once per week (5%) faculty and (16.7%) community members. For individuals using the facility less than once per week, 23.9% of members fall into this category, (20%) faculty and (25%) staff members. Community members use the Thomas N. Turner Center most, followed closely by faculty, then individuals with staff memberships. About half of all memberships (58.5%) use the facility as often as they anticipated; 26.8% of the memberships do not currently use the facility as often as expected and 14.6% use it more than expected.
When comparing participation levels of 15 different programming areas offered by the Thomas N. Turner Center, only three activities – open swim at the pool, Ole Miss Outdoors equipment rental and intramural sports – reveal that members are not participating in a majority of activities offered, but do participate heavily in these three areas. Thus, even through members are satisfied with other programs offered, they are not, or unable, to participate in them.
One of the most significant data from this analysis states that member’s number one amenity feature was cost versus value. Members stated for the cost of their membership, they consider the Thomas N. Turner Center to be a good value, thus increasing their overall satisfaction with their membership. The three amenity areas needing the most improvement are parking availability, locker rooms and restroom facilities. Breaking down satisfaction levels by membership type show results of community members being the most satisfied with amenities and overall with their membership, followed by faculty members, then staff.
A Pearson Rank Correlation Coefficient test showed the only recreation activity significantly related (p<. 01) with facility use and perceived use was the Fitness Center. High Fitness Center use was related to high satisfaction levels and the more the subjects participated over their expectation, the higher their satisfaction levels. This is a strong indication the Fitness Center is the premier recreation activity sought by, and participated in, by faculty, staff and community members.
Through the use of a cluster analysis, areas of improvement were determined. Overall, Thomas N. Turner Center members acknowledged restrooms, parking, towel service and the indoor walk/jog track as areas needing attention. Breaking this down by gender, males responded by noting locker rooms, parking, entry access, towel service and the Fitness Center as areas of needed improvement. Females indicated restrooms, locker rooms, parking, towel service and the indoor walk/jog track as areas of needed improvement. Additional cluster analysis determined faculty wishing for improvement in restrooms, locker rooms, noise levels, parking, towel service and the indoor walk/jog track. Staff member’s areas of improvement included parking, locker rooms, towel service, indoor walk/jog track and the Fitness Center. Community members indicated areas of improvement restrooms, locker rooms, parking and towel service.
 

RECOMMENDATIONS
This exploratory study provided information and a strong justification to conduct a more in-depth study of recreational center membership satisfaction. This study also allows for a starting point, or baseline, to prepare Thomas N. Turner Center recreational programmers for future topic examination and a comparison for future research. Conceivably some of the low use could be attributed to a lack of marketing to faculty, staff and community members. Current marketing efforts may be directed more toward students and not paying members, thus not creating an awareness of programs, services and amenities offered.
Recommendations from the cluster analysis results would suggest to recreation programmers at the Thomas N. Turner Center that the areas of parking, locker rooms, restrooms, towel service and the indoor walk/jog track deserve the most attention and require a need for improvement. walk/jog track, are more readily improved. Cleanliness, supervision and appropriate maintenance and care could improve satisfaction with all these areas.
Further recommendations for this particular research project would include presenting the data and results to Thomas N. Turner Center recreational administration so they may further investigate the interest and satisfaction levels of faculty, staff and community members. Once these individuals understand the research findings, they may choose to alter marketing programs to strengthen certain areas deemed needing improvement, along with assessing what areas need to maintain their luster. Additional membership satisfaction and interest surveys should be distributed annually throughout the entire membership to provide continued assessment of recreational services, facilities and amenities offered by the Thomas N. Turner Center.

References
Downs, P. E. (2003). Value of recreational sports on college campuses. Recreational Sports Journal, 27, 5-66.
Ellis, G. D., Compton, D. M., Tyson, B. & Bohlig, M. (2002). Campus recreation participation, health and quality of life. Recreational Sports Journal, 26, 51-62.
Leenders, N. Y. J. M., Sherman, W. M. & Ward, P. (2003). College physical activity courses: Why do students enroll and what are their health behaviors? Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 74, 313-323.
Leitner, M. J., and S. F. Leitner. (1996). Leisure enhancement (2nd ed.) Haworth Press, Inc; New York, NY, US; xvii, 447 pp
Luquis, R. R., Garcia, E. & Ashford, D. (2003). A qualitative assessment of college students’ perceptions of health behaviors. American Journal of Health Studies, 18, 156-164.
Paul, S. (1999). Students with disabilities in post-secondary education: The perspective of wheelchair users. Occupational Therapy International, 6, 90-110.
Sparling, P. B. (2003). College physical education: An unrecognized agent of change in combating inactivity-related diseases. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 46, 579-597.