News

Katrina & Rita financial relief extended for second year

Membership renewals and registration fees will be covered for affected members

Loyola’s swimming pool after $130,000 worth of repairs

Loyola’s new wood courts and aerobics room floors, which had to be torn out and replaced due to water damage

Tulane’s primary intramural field immediately after the storm.

The same field now, at night.

Roof damage to Tulane’s natatorium.

The natatorium after repairs.

At their 2005 Midyear Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, the Association’s Board of Directors joined with NIRSA staff to offer a one-year waiver of membership dues and registration fees to NIRSA Members in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas who were directly impacted by hurricane damage, including members who provided refuge and material support to those in need.

One year later, at their 2006 Midyear Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Board of Directors recognized and acted upon the need to continue the financial assistance. The Board passed a motion to extend the waived membership dues and registration fees for NIRSA Members in the same five states through September 30, 2007.

It is hoped that these actions may continue to provide some financial relief to NIRSA Members who may need their national association now more than ever. “How to pay for NIRSA membership will be one less thing for affected members to have to worry about,” said NIRSA Region II Vice President George Brown, CRSS, University of Alabama. “There is very much a sense of shared pain among NIRSA Members, and we really do care about each other. This is one way of showing that,” he added.

Just like the first year, the second year of financial relief includes a registration fee waiver applicable to the Annual Conference & Recreational Sports Exposition and all NIRSA symposia, schools, and institutes held between October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007. Membership renewals will be waived a second year for those qualifying NIRSA Members who request it.

To request access to any of these opportunities, or to verify that all NIRSA Members at your institution are made aware of them, please contact NIRSA Membership Director Mary Martin, 541-766-8211 x37.

Member update: Nan Davis, CRSS, Director of Recreational Sports at Loyola University New Orleans

The recreational facility at Loyola University New Orleans was one of the most heavily damaged buildings on campus. While there was no flooding, the roof was completely peeled back, causing $4 million worth of damage to the facility and equipment. Now, over a year later, Nan reports the following:

“The building is mostly back together, except for the basketball floors and our skylights. The challenges have been huge. Our budget and staff have been cut; enrollment is down 35%. My student staff of 40 is down to 25, and then we have to compete with restaurants and hotels paying double what we can pay. We still have some staff members living in FEMA trailers, which is very stressful. They’re noisy and small. It’s like living in a tin can. Plus, there’s still a lot of uncertainty about the future, so staff are on edge and tired all the time.

“But, it gets better a little at a time. We have to celebrate small successes, because that’s how they come. The NIRSA family has been very good to us. I get calls and emails from members all the time, asking how we are and how they can help. (Send us some lifeguards!) Knowing that you’re not forgotten is very important.

“We’re very glad that NIRSA has extended the financial assistance. Going to the Annual Conference is such a time of renewal and connection with colleagues. Plus, people around here really need to get away, even if it’s just for a few days. It does us a world of good.”

Member update: Missie McGuire, Assistant Vice President of Campus Recreation & Student Centers at Tulane University

The campus recreational facilities at Tulane also suffered significant damage. Ground-level flooding was the main culprit, and it particularly affected administrative and programming space within the Reily Student Recreation Center. Missie had this update for NIRSA Members:

“We’re up and operational, but still working on punchlist items with the national restoration firm and third party vendors, which can be very challenging. The squeaky wheel gets the oil in these situations, and we’ve been pretty squeaky. Our natatorium has re-opened, and we’re hosting the University of New Orleans’ Division I women’s swimming and diving teams.

“We’ve got 1,400 students a day coming through the turnstiles, and we’ve even seen an increase in team entries this fall across the board, despite our decreased enrollment. I think this is largely due to the fact that the students who are attending Tulane are more actively engaged, and they recognize the need to balance the stress of their academics and the ongoing recovery effort.

“Our primary intramural field was used as a staging area in the aftermath of the storm, and it was trashed. But, we’re excited that we’re very close to having a synthetic turf field installed, which will allow us a full six-week flag football season while standing up to the volume of annual play.

“Four universities, all NIRSA Institutional Members (Dillard, Xavier, Loyola University New Orleans, and Tulane), have formed a consortium to leverage resources and assist each other. As part of that, Tulane extends our student membership rate to students of the other universities who want to use our recreational facilities.

“We were very lucky to be able to keep all of our staff and not experience any serious budget cuts. Although our budget was held static, we are trying to program more with the same amount of money or less. The financial assistance offered by NIRSA was huge for us. It meant that our staff could go to the Regional Conference as well as the Annual Conference, and not have to choose. We are very appreciative of this continued support.”