The Student Fitness Center held its grand opening on Monday. In other campus news, applications for the fall semester of the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation Program will be accepted through May 1.
Student Fitness Center now openThe new Student Fitness Center, located off campus at Bluffcreek Towers, 4201 Medical Drive, Suite 160, is now open. Second-year medical student Neil Mauskar was on hand to cut the ribbon Monday afternoon with Theresa Chiang, Ed.D., vice president for academic administration.
The 5,446-square-foot Student Fitness Center offers an alternative to the 500-square-foot fitness room on the first floor of the Dental School, which has been available to students, faculty and staff for more than 12 years. The older facility will remain open, but the new center is exclusively for students.
What’s thereThe new facility features four treadmills, two stationary bikes, three elliptical trainers, one arc trainer and 12 other workout machines. Students can also participate in a number of classes, including belly dancing, kickboxing, tango dancing and tai chi.
There are men’s and women’s day-use lockers, free parking and regular patrols by university police.
Hours of operationThe Student Fitness Center is open:
Monday through Thursday — 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Friday and Saturday — 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sundays — noon to 8 p.m.
Plans for the future“This has been in the planning stage for more than five years and a concern of students for longer than that,” Dr. Chiang said. “Dr. Cigarroa and I meet annually with student leaders and this is something they have been wanting for a long time. Once we had the idea that we were going to do this, I saved a portion of the student service fee each year for five years to fund it.”
“This is actually a short-term solution,” Chiang added. “The students, hopefully, will agree to tax themselves with a recreation fee to build a recreation facility on campus. Each of the student government associations will have to float a referendum and it will have to pass in order to do this.”
Setting up the Student Fitness Center involved a number of staff members. Hector Gonzales, director of academic space allocation, planning and scheduling, and Lisa McDougle, director of student life, were involved in selecting the site and the design of the locker rooms. Ben Rivers, director for wellness and recreational programs, selected the workout equipment, hired the 10 staff members and scheduled the classes.
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| Medical student Neil Mauskar tries out the equipment at the Student Fitness Center. | |
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Mauskar, president of the Student Government Association, represented the 2,800 Health Science Center students. The new Student Fitness Center represents what students would like in an exercise facility, he said, but there are still a number of improvements they would like to see. “What I’ve heard from practically everyone I’ve talked to is they want free weights and a sound system,” he said. Having the center on campus for a fee comparable or less to a regular health club is also high on students’ wish list.
For more information, contact Rivers at
riversw@uthscsa.edu or 210-567-5220, or the Student Fitness Center at 210-567-7551.
Master of Science in Clinical Investigation Program accepting applicationsApplications for the fall semester of the Master of Science in Clinical Investigation Program will be accepted through May 1.
The program is open to fellows, students, faculty and staff from all disciplines and affiliated programs at the Health Science Center. Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the interdisciplinary program seeks to train health care professions in the core competencies for the safe conduct of clinical and translational research.
The core competencies include:
∙ Responsible conduct of research
∙ Research methods and study design
∙ Biostatistics and data analysis
∙ Data management
∙ Integrating molecular biology with clinical research
∙ Scientific communication
∙ Health services research
Electives involved with the course include:
∙ Grantsmanship and peer review
∙ Instrument development and validation
∙ Genetics and genetic epidemiology
∙ Cross cultural adaptation of research instruments
For more information visit
msci.uthscsa.edu. You also may contact Program Director Michael Lichtenstein, M.D., at
lichtenstei@uthscsa.edu or Academic Coordinator Juanita Sherfield at
Sherfield@uthscsa.edu or 210-567-4631.
