IMPROVEMENTS COMING FOR FALL '14 Autumn is once again upon us, and as the Fall season always brings changes in the weather and the color of the trees

     
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IMPROVEMENTS COMING FOR FALL '14

California-Fall

Autumn is once again upon us, and as the Fall season always brings changes in the weather and the color of the trees, so does the Fall term bring changes to our programs as we prepare to begin a new academic year. Our FitLife program is no exception to this trend, as our group exercise program will be introducing some large and small changes that will hopefully make your fitness pursuits even more enjoyable and fruitful this year.

Here are some of the changes to that you can expect this Fall, as well as information that will help you prepare for how they might impact your normal exercise routines and experiences.

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Pass Options & Pricing Changes

Beginning this Fall will be introducing a new unlimited-admission monthly-pass. This will be in place of our current multi-session punch-card options, which will be discontinued. We will still offer our current 1-class pass option, as well. The new monthly pass will cost $12.00, while the 1-class pass will still cost only $3.00. The monthly pass option will provide for unlimited class admission during the calendar-month in which it is purchased, while the 1-class pass option will provide admission to a single class session on the day of purchase.

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The New FitLife GX Card

The new monthly passes will go on sale beginning Weds, October 1st. They will be available for purchase online at activenet007.active.com/OPERS and at the front desk of the OPERS Wellness Center.

Since the first week of the Fall term (10/1-10/7) will be our free "Try Before You Buy" week, participants will have a week to purchase their passes before they will be required for admission beginning Weds, 10/8.

The monthly passes will be valid during the calendar month of purchase (rather than 30-days from date of purchase), and the 1-class passes will be valid during the day of purchase only. You will have the option of purchasing up to 12 calendar-months worth of monthly-passes at a time.

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"How do I get my new card?"

If you already possess an OPERS Facility Usage Membership card or a valid UCSC Student ID card, then you will NOT need to obtain a new card. Your purchased admission-pass information can be validated at our classrooms using your current card. If you do NOT already have one of these cards, then you WILL need to a FitLife GX card. To obtain your new card you will need to make a one-time visit to the OPERS Wellness Center to have your new card produced (if you purchase your pass online then bring your printed receipt). Since you may not be able to visit the Wellness Center prior to attending your first few classes, you will be allowed to use your printed receipt as your admission pass for up to 2 weeks.

More information on our Group Exercise program's admission pass options and prices, including links to the online purchase options for the passes, can be found on the "Admissions Passes" section of our website (http://wellness.ucsc.edu/GX/options_prices.html).

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Admission Procedure Changes

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In order to effectively facilitate our group exercise program under our new unlimited-admission pass options we will be introducing some new procedures for how you obtain admission to each workout session.

Each class will now have a classroom attendant stationed at the entrance to great you and validate your pass through our web-based facility & activity management system. If you arrive early to class, before the classroom attendant arrives, then you'll need to return to the door and provide them your pass.

If a classroom attendant is unavailable for the class then the check-in station will be set-up in "self-validation" mode, and simple directions will be provided for how to scan your own card. If the system does not show that you have a valid pass then it will be your responsibility to purchase one (and validating it) before joining the workout session.

You will need to bring your FitLife GX card, OPERS Facility Usage Membership card, valid Student ID card, or printed online receipt with you to every class. Your card or receipt will be scanned to validate that you have purchased a pass for the current month or day. If you forget your card or receipt it will cause a delay in the check-in procedures for everyone else as the classroom attendant attempts to search for your account information in our system.

If the classroom attendant finds that you do not currently have a valid pass, you will have the option of purchasing one on your smart-phone or mobile-device and showing them the receipt on your screen.

Since you will read and sign all of our required activity waivers and releases as part of your online or in-person purchase procedures, you will no longer need to sign-in on a clipboard prior to each class (with the exception of during our open-admission "try before you buy" week).

Our classroom attendants will shut-down the check-in system 5-10 minutes after the start of the class, so if you arrive more than 5 minutes late you may be denied admission to class. You are not allowed to join into a class if your admission-pass has not been validated.

More information on our Group Exercise program's admissions procedures can be found on the "Admissions Instructions" section of our website (http://wellness.ucsc.edu/GX/instructions.html).

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Class Schedule Changes & Additions

One additional and exciting change in store for this Fall is a significant expansion in the number and variety of classes we'll be offering. Beginning this Fall, our FitLife program is taking over a large assortment of fitness classes that were previously offered by our OPERS Recreation program under their model of pre-registration for 6-week terms of each individual class. Not only will our adoption of these classes provide a greater selection of workout opportunities for our current participants, but it will also provide a greater number of sessions with greater flexibility to their returning participants.

This Fall (Oct-Dec) we will be offering a total of 36 classes each week across our various OPERS and satellite classroom sites. These classes will be spread throughout the morning, afternoon, and evening of each day of the week, including weekends, in order to make classes available to as many members of our campus community as possible. Our Fall schedule is now available for viewing on our website (fitlife.ucsc.edu/GX/schedules), as well as in our Google Calendar, but please remember that this new schedule does not begin until Wed, 10/1.

Some of the most notable changes to our schedule for the Fall include:

1 - We've added 5 brand-new classes (9 new weekly-sessions total) to our schedule: Cardio Bootcamp (2), Cardio Kickboxing (3), Dance Bootcamp (1), TRX Pilates Fusion (2), and Worldanz (1). We've also added new sessions of our Barre (1), U-Jam (1), and Zumba (5) classes.

2 - We're experimenting with our first early-morning classes (7:30a and 8:00a). We're hoping that these classes will meet the needs and desires of those wishing to exercise before the start of their school and/or workday.

3 - We're adding our first weekend classes, at 10:15a and 11:30a on Saturdays, and 11:30a and 4:30p on Sundays, all within the OPERS East Field House Complex.

4 - We've scheduled the start-times of most of our mid-week classes to coincide with the most common academic class-block start-times (M/W/F - 8:00a/9:30a/11:00a/12:30p/2:00p/3:30p/5:00p/7:00p, Tu/Th - 8:00a/10:00a/12:00p/2:00p/4:00p/6:00p).

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It's our intent and hope that these changes will serve to make participation in our group exercise program EASIER, more AFFORDABLE, more ACCESSIBLE, and more FUN for the greatest number of UCSC campus community members as possible. We look forward to serving you this Fall and, as always, we welcome your feedback and questions. Enjoy your workouts!

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UCSC FitLife is a program of the Office of P.E., Recreation, & Sports (OPERS)

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