The management at Dodge Fitness center has undergone some significant changes during the 2015-2016 school year. New worker policies have accompanied the change in management, much to the frustration of the student workers. Bwog reports on the concerns of student workers at Dodge, and the overall effects of implementing these new policies.

Last December, the Assistant Director of Facilities Operations left her post at Dodge Fitness Center. She was replaced by a new director, Danielle A. DiMeglio, whose day-to-day tasks include the management of all of the student workers at the Fitness Center. Based on the recommendations of higher management, Ms. DiMeglio introduced new policies regarding work ethics at Dodge that have received very mixed reactions from the student workers.

The new policies regarding the scheduling of hours for the students were by far the most controversial. Instead of one or two-hour block shifts that were in place last semester, DiMeglio put in place a three-hour-block system that only allows the students to pick shifts if they are able to work the full three hours. Most students argued that this change caused a whole range of problems for them and for the Fitness Center. One 25 year-old male student manager, responsible for managing the staff while DiMeglio was gone, stated that “this policy is just unrealistic” since most students do not have three hours to offer during weekdays. Not only is this policy inconvenient for the students, it is also seen as the cause of other problems, including understaffing. One 22-year-old female staff member explained that, “because of the three-hour limit, the gym has been understaffed.” In order for the gym to be fully staffed, 4 student workers must be working at all times. However, after the implementation of this policy, management has been struggling to fill the available time slots. The “Dodge Gym Employees” Facebook group shows a steady flow of messages from staffers pleading for students to come in because the gym is understaffed (see photos).

A compelling offer

Sounds like a pretty good deal.

These occurrences are much more frequent this semester than they were last semester. In fact, since last Monday, the gym has been reported understaffed eight times on the Facebook group. One 21-year-old female student explained that DiMeglio “could fully staff these shifts if the blocks were more flexible”. In order to respond to the problem, management has attempted to recruit more student workers but current students are skeptical about the initiative. Some suggested that making the hours more flexible would have a greater impact on the staffing problem. One worker pointed out that “last semester, the gym was not as understaffed” and that this was due to the shifts being “more sensitive to the students’ schedules.”

Some also suggested that the gym was understaffed due to the two-week scheduling policy introduced this semester. Instead of the schedule being set at the beginning of the semester, management publishes new schedules every two weeks. According to management, this facilitated the organization of hours at the gym and allowed more flexibility for the students. However, we received varied responses from the students. Some approve of the new policy. One 25-year-old student manager stated that this policy “works out pretty well for me because my schedule varies pretty frequently over the month.” Although similar opinions expressed by other students, most explained that this policy was highly impractical. One staffer stated, “it is hard to organize anything in advance if you are not sure when you will be working and it is hard to get your shifts covered by someone else if you only know your schedule last minute.” Most students said they would prefer a semester-long schedule and some even pointed out that they became a substitute worker because they could not keep up with the new scheduling. Student workers suggested that the two-week scheduling policy may also be a cause of the understaffing problem. Some part-time workers have become substitutes and do not work regular hours, which aggravates the issue.

Other controversial worker policies recently instituted at Dodge Fitness Center include a regulation on homework, use of electronics, and limiting eating on the job. Contrary to last semester, students are not allowed to eat more than a snack on shift. Most students confessed not actually following this new rule. They stated that the policy did “not take into consideration the fact that we work long hours.” One student explained that if they were working a 6-hour shift that went on during lunchtime, they would have lunch regardless of the rule. A graduate student worker also pointed out that some “people who work here are athletes” and that they “need to eat at specific hours of the day.” Although one student manager explained that eating looked “sloppy” in front of the patrons, all the gym patrons that we interviewed found the new rule to be unrealistic and told us that it was normal for students to eat at work. One male patron stated that he was “not offended when the workers eat. It’s normal since they are here for hours on end.”

Although management has been increasingly flexible about the new rules implemented, they have yet to take action on the three-hour block and the two-week scheduling policies that have caused the most problems and frustration amongst the student workers of Dodge Fitness Center.