| IUPUI Exercise Science Students Make an Impact at Westside School
Featured in Inside IUPUI
INDIANAPOLIS – Lake a stone dropped in a pond, an IUPUI fitness program at George Washington Community School is creating waves that will eventually reach the entire west side of Indianapolis.
The Fit For Life program sends 45 IUPUI exercise science students to the school, where they work with George Washington students in daily physical education classes and during an after school program.
The IUPUI students are those whose career goals are to become personal trainers or exercise clinicians. They teach lifetime fitness such as how to set personal fitness goals, how to use weight machines, or how to exercise at home if a gym isn't available.
During the after school program, IUPUI students act as strength and conditioning coaches and personal trainers for athletes and other students at George Washington.
George Washington students are also brought to IUPUI's Human Performance Laboratory where their muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition, blood pressure and heart rate are assessed. If needed, they are coached about how to lower their blood pressure through exercise and nutrition.
The intent of the program, said its creator Nicole Keith, an assistant professor in the Department of Physical Education at IUPUI, is to teach lifetime fitness to all kids. "Fit for Life doesn't require try-outs, which intimidate some kids. It's for anyone who wants to exercise and receive the same kind of attention as athletes receive."
While students in grades 6-12 at George Washington are the targeted beneficiaries, Keith is studying how the impact of the program rubs off on others, including staff at the school who are free to participate in the after school program and the parents of the George Washington students.
"They see changes in the kids and think "I can do this too'," Keith said. "I get to research how a program like impacts children, helping them to become more active, and how changes in kids and staff at the school impact the community."
That impact will grow significantly with the recent arrival of more than $26,000 in new cardio exercise equipment and weight machines that will form the centerpiece of a 6,000 square foot wellness center that will be built at George Washington. The wellness center, expected to open in the fall of 2007, will serve west side residents, who would be able to use the center by paying a one-time $20 fee.
Keith applied for and received an Indianapolis Public Schools physical education grant to pay for the new equipment.
Once the wellness center is established, IUPUI's physical education students will also work with community residents using the facility, providing the students with needed hands-on experience of planning fitness goals and exercise routines.
Growth and continued success of the program is assured as Dr. Lisa Angermeier, Dr. NiCole Keith, and Dr. Mark Urtel applied for and received an $82,000 grant from the Center for Service and Learning Commitment to Excellence Funds to support the Fit for Life program in the years to come.
City Market Revitalization Seeks Help from TCEM
The Indianapolis City Market Corporation is undergoing a revitalization effort that seeks to transform the Market into a full-day, multi-faceted food destination and major tourist attraction in downtown Indianapolis.
The ICMC partnered with the IUPUI Solution Center to conduct a study as part of the revitalization effort. The purpose of the study was to measure customer satisfaction with City Market, demographics of the visitors, and City Market's competition.
The Department of Tourism, Conventions, and Event Management was invited by the Solution Center to take on the project. Drs. Yao-Yi Fu and Suosheng Wang supervised the research project. The project was completed as class project, which facilitated learning and real-world experience for students. IUPUI students enrolled in TCEM 461 will assist the researchers with this project. Between July 18 and July 22 of 2005, TCEM 461 students conducted an on-site survey at City Market. A total of 403 visitors participated in the survey.
Results of the study provided The Indianapolis City Market Corporation valuable demographic information and customer satisfaction level with the City Market.
TCEM Cruise Class Recap
The Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management hosted its 4th Annual Cruise Line Management course (TCEM 309) in March this year. Seventeen students joined the class and traveled to Athens, Greece over spring break to embark on a five-day cruise through the Greek Islands.
Students had the opportunity to visit Mykonos, Patmos, Crete, Rhodes, and Santorini while learning about different cruise lines, environmental concerns, security and safety on board, jobs and life on a cruise ship, and marketing and sales techniques of cruise industry. The course will again be offered in July 2007.
TCEM Students Assist at NCAA Final Four
TCEM student volunteers became involved with selling merchandise during the NCAA Final Four after being contacted by a staff member of the Indianapolis Convention and Visitor's Association. Volunteers worked with Event 1 Retail Services, a subsidiary of Gear for Sports, who were preparing to set up sales in several hotels and were in need of volunteers.
Volunteering for a shift became a requirement in our Special Event Management class and was also open to all students. The students covered forty shifts over a five day period in seven downtown hotels. The length of the shifts ranged from five to eight hours. The experience proved to be very positive for the students and for Event 1.
What Parking Problem?
When students enroll in any of Nancy Barton's classes in the School of Physical Education and Tourism Management they soon learn that the so-called parking problem at IUPUI doesn't exist. It doesn't just disappear, but in their minds it is no longer an obstacle of worry.
Barton teaches H195 Principles and Applications of Lifestyle Wellness and H180 Stress Prevention and Management. As part of these classes the students have to wear a pedometer.
What is a pedometer? A pedometer is a small device that is worn at the waistline to record all steps all day. It essentially records all movement that you make. Pedometer research reveals that at daily activity of 10,000 steps a day, participants receive health benefits that would place them in a moderately active range. These benefits may include weight loss or maintenance, stress reduction, improved vitality and vigor and positive feelings of well being.
Barton tells her students to strive for 10,000 steps a day. Sadly, most Americans barely reach 5,000 steps a day. The students started the semester with a week one daily average of 7,811 steps. At the end they reported daily average steps of 9,865.
The findings for the 66 students participating during the Spring semester 2006 revealed an average daily increase of 2,054 steps—that's about one mile of extra movement. The students learned that parking a little farther away from class was, in fact, an opportunity to increase their steps and daily activity. Some intentionally parked farther away and left their books in the car so that they would have to make return trips during the day. Many students noticed improvements in their previous negative attitudes about parking issues.
This may seem like a small increase in day to day movement, but over a lifetime, if maintained it may enhance the students general health and well-being.
Monastery Seeks to Build Image as a Tourist Destination
The Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand are working on a project to develop marketing strategies for increasing people's awareness about the Monastery Immaculate Conception as a travel destination. They contacted the IUPUI Solution Center to help them with the project. Dr, Yao-Yi Fu, Assistant Professor of the Department of Tourism, Conventions, and Event Management at IUPUI worked with the Solution Center on the project.
IUPUI students enrolled in TCEM 231 (Tourism and Hospitality Marketing) were involved in this research as a class project. Students had an opportunity to gain a hands-on experience regarding marketing a travel destination in the real-world situation. Those students took a field trip to tour the Monastery Immaculate Conception in February, 2006. It helped students to gain more information about the project.
Dr. Fu will finish the analysis and prepare the final report. The study will be completed by December 31, 2006. A market analysis will be conducted to review current markets and current promotions strategies.
This study will provide recommendations for promotion and communication activities such as advertising, public relations, media publicity, web site marketing and event development which will help create exposure of the Monetary. Potential alliance partners such as tourism offices, convention and visitor bureaus, tour operators, and religious communities will be suggested.
TCEM Conference Recaps
2006 IMIC Conference in Greece
Dr. Sotiris Avgoustis, Dr. Amanda Cecil and Kristin Wood represented the TCEM Department at the 2nd annual International Meeting Industry Conference in Athens, Greece in February, which attracted over 300 conference attendees.
The department partnered with the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association and Dr. Avgoustis lead a presentation entitled The History of Indianapolis as an Emerging Meeting, Conventions and Exhibition Destination and Dr. Cecil and Ms. Wood presented Continuous Education in the Meeting Profession.
2006 Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference
The Tourism, Conventions and Event Management department hosted the first Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference on May 12 at University Place Hotel and Conference Center. The program featured Dr. Richard Florida as the keynote speaker and Lt. Governor Becky Skillman as the luncheon presenter.
The Fort Wayne/Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau was awarded the 2006 Efroymson Award for Excellence in Cultural Tourism Development receiving a $25,000 grant. The conference attracted over 225 hospitality and tourism professionals.
Next year's conference will take place May 11, 2007.
Dr. Rafael Bahamonde chosen as FACET Member
Congratulations to Dr. Rafael Bahamonde for his nomination and for being chosen as a member of FACET, the Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Bahamonde was one of six IUPUI faculty chosen and one of faculty chosen from all IU campuses.
Once selected into FACET, members are expected to contribute their experience and skills to FACET activities, and continue to advance Indiana University's Faculty Teaching Mission. Throughout the year, FACET members are involved in a range of cooperative and collaborative activities at the campus, university, and national level, promoting inquiry and engagement in teaching and learning. Activities currently include publications on effective teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning; conferences and institutes exploring diversity; the impact of technology on learning and teaching; and the development and training of associate faculty and future faculty.
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