Working hard...and working out

Anyone on campus who has visited the Spaulding Gymnasium can see the high-quality facilities Keene State College offers. A lot of work is put into running the gym smoothly and efficiently.

There are several groups who use the gym’s facilities. In addition to recreational activities and people exercising, the physical education majors use the gym to learn and the recreational sports groups use these resources for their sports.

The many KSC athletic teams use the gymnasium as well. Spaulding Gymnasium offers top-notch equipment for any individual striving to improve their physical health and contains offices for most faculty involved with a sport or team.
There are a lot of inter-connected organizations that rely on the gym’s services to function. Typically, at the center of the operations of Spaulding Gym is Assistant Director of Recreational Sports Patrick Hearn.

“Ninety percent of what I do is deal with the rules and regulations of running the facilities,” Hearn said. “And another small portion of my job is scheduling the activities that go on here.”

Hearn has the responsibility of performing the hiring of the recreational staff at the gym. He said there are three branches of staff. Those branches include the facility supervisors, lifeguards and individuals who handle the sports equipment.

It’s Hearn’s job to fill about 30 supervisor spots, around ten life guarding positions and around 15 people in the equipment department. That’s a grand total of about 55 jobs that need to be filled, though most of those are returning employees. In order to get hired as part of the recreational staff, one needs to fill out an application and have an interview with Hearn.

The facility supervisors are the people who sit behind the desk in the main lobby.
Brittany Smalanskas, one of the supervisors, is a sophomore who has worked as a facility supervisor for two years now. Typically these supervisors work approximately 12 hours each week but that schedule varies depending on who is needed for what. It is Smalanskas’ job to check IDs to make sure only KSC students enter the gym.
In addition, supervisors can be quite helpful answering any questions people might have about the happenings of the gymnasium or in guiding students to their destination within the gym.

“What I like most about my job is getting to work with my co-workers,” Smalankas said. “I also enjoy all the interaction with the people who come through the gym.”
This is a quality Hearn looks for in the people he hires. It’s a very interactive job and requires strong people skills. It’s things like this that come out in the interviews that Hearn conducts with his potential new employees.

The advisor position also requires certification in first aid and CPR as they are the ones who oversee recreational activities and would be the ones responding to any accidents that may occur.

Freshman Kyle Underwood works at the gym in the laundry staff position.
“A good perk of my job is that I can do some homework after I throw a load in,” Underwood said.

Laundry staff requires about ten hours a week. Underwood said he filled out his application, had his interview and has worked in the laundry room since he got to KSC this year.

His responsibilities entail washing the athletic uniforms for the various sports teams and the towels used by the training room and Body Works.

“The kids do a great job here,” Hearn said. “We are very fortunate to have such high retention rates for our staff.”

There are employee evaluations at the end of each year but, aside from intended graduates, transfers or students traveling abroad, Hearn said he feels very confident in rehiring the students he’s gotten to know.

This is very helpful, as it lowers the number of new employees Hearn would need to interview, hire and train.

He said the staff has a great time together, really enjoy what they do and are more than willing to come back for future employment. It’s no surprise many of the students who apply for jobs at the gymnasium are in one way or another involved in sports, and other athletic activities.

“Scheduling everything can be kind of hectic,” Hearn said, “but we’re lucky that all three groups work together so well.”

Hearn takes care of scheduling the events involving KSC athletic facilities. It becomes a little more difficult as more and more outside organizations ask to rent out the gym’s facilities.

The scheduling is done about a month in advance but it’s not always that easy. Hearn takes the job day-by-day since new things spring up all the time and requests filter in as the days go by.

“Obviously I put Keene State activities first,” Hearn said, “but I try and work it out for everyone.”

Hearn explained just how lucky KSC students are to have such outstanding resources at their fingertips. “Every time outside organizations, mainly first-time users, use the KSC facilities,” Hearn said, “they usually comment on how terrific everything is.”

The Spaulding Gymnasium is a useful resource, for anyone looking to improve their physical fitness, and is just one more exceptional opportunity available to Keene State College students.

Ryan Glavey can be contacted at rglavey@keeneequinox.com