By SUSAN JONES and SHANNON WELLS
As the new Recreation & Wellness Center prepares to open in September questions remain about if Pitt faculty and staff will have access to the facilities and if so, how much will it cost.
The center, which has been under construction on the hillside above O’Hara Street since 2022, will open to students on Sept. 14. The nine-story, state-of-the-art facility includes an aquatics center, indoor jogging track, courts, weight and cardio zones, climbing wall, esports lounge, and wellness suites.
Officials from both the Pitt Staff Union and the Union of Pitt Faculty say that they are in discussions with the University over access and fees.
Jennifer Goeckeler-Fried, chair of the staff union bargaining committee and a lab manager and research specialist in the Department of Biological Sciences, said that during contract negotiations on Aug. 20 they were told that unionized staff would not have access to the new building until fees are negotiated as part of the collective bargaining agreement.
She said the University proposed a $45 fee for staff making more than $50,000 and $35 for those making less. She said they will continue to negotiate on this issue.
“It’s disappointing that Pitt has decommissioned all the exercise facilities that staff could use for free on campus and is now expecting us to pay fees that in some cases have a higher cost per month than a lot of local gyms do,” Goeckeler-Fried said. “That’s not much of a commitment to wellness.”
Previously staff and faculty had access to pools and fitness facilities in Trees and Bellefield halls. The Bellefield pool is now permanently closed, and faculty and staff can no longer use the Trees facilities.
An announcement on the Recreation & Wellness Center website says: “The new facility will operate on a membership model, and pricing for faculty and staff is still being determined. Our goal is to ensure affordable, competitive pricing. Membership fees will support the long-term sustainability of the RWC and ensure consistent, high-quality service and maintenance.”
Tyler Bickford, president of the Union of Pitt Faculty and an English professor, said the union asked Pitt administration in May for information about faculty and staff access to the Recreation & Wellness Center and for a meeting to discuss access and bargain regarding potential new fees.
“They finally provided some of the information we requested and met with us on Aug. 13,” he said. “We have some disagreements about their obligation to bargain over fees, and what those fees will ultimately be, and we expect to meet with them again soon to seek a resolution.”
David Salcido, chair of the Senate Campus Utilization, Planning and Safety committee (CUPS), said his committee has not received any update about faculty and staff access and fees for the new rec center since early this year.
“That said, this is an important issue that the Senate CUPS committee will undoubtedly return to this year in some form,” he said.
Maintaining access to high quality recreation and wellness facilities for faculty and staff is a multi-dimensional investment in the University, he added, that “helps us recruit and retain, build strong interpersonal bonds, and maybe most importantly, impacts health.”
Salcido noted that fees for the wellness center would not be completely unprecedented, citing fees required to join the University Club gym, or necessarily unjustified, “but it’s important to understand what they are covering and how they are set.”
“I would object, for instance, to fees that ultimately were just there to strategically disincentivize faculty and staff use of facilities,” he said. “On the other hand, I would support fees designed to carve out spaces, programming or blocks of time at the rec and wellness center exclusively for faculty and staff to work on their health and wellbeing.”
Noting that these are just examples, Salcido said he thinks they “demonstrate why this should be a discussion.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042. Shannon Wells is a University Times reporter. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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