UD Home | UDaily | UDaily-Alumni | UDaily-Parents


HIGHLIGHTS

Delaware SBDC gives small businesses a leg up

Scrounge continues tradition as favorite student/staff hangout

UD Online Resource Center

The welcome mat is out and well-used at UD’s Visitors Center

Carpenter Sports Building inspires teamwork

Financial aid staffers help college dreams come true

University Museums complement educational goals

Paint Shop keeps campus fit and trim

Animals and staff thrive on UD’s farm

Telephone Services team keeps lines of communication open

IT-NSS keeps UD communications humming

CFIS putting the world at UD’s feet

Admissions staff evaluates 21,000 applications to select Class of 2009

ADA office meets varied needs of those with disabilities

People helping people at heart of UD’s Wellspring

Housing Assignment Services staff creates homes away from home for UD students

Faculty and Staff Assistance Program

Recruitment and Employment and Training and Career Development

Benefits, Classification & Compensation partners in support of UD employees

Payroll and Systems Administration

Lock Shop works to keep UD safe and secure

Every day is like opening day at Vita Nova

Academic Enrichment Center offers something for every student

Archivists are guardians of UD history and treasures

Excellence is the standard at Blue & Gold Club

Camaraderie carries staff through football-season-ticket blitz

Custodial Services: Responsible for the cleanliness, protection and preservation of UD

Nonstop fun, games and hard work at UD's ice arenas

UD bus drivers see campus from unique vantage point

Teamwork’s critical at Graphic Communications Center

The many facets of the University Bookstore

UD has grounds for celebration

Neither bees nor trombones, keep Campus Mail Services staff from their appointed rounds

Parking Services requires patience and good cheer

For events big and small, Conference Services handles it all

Running student centers is nonstop adventure

Running The Bob requires complex game plan

Commencement planning is full-time job at UD

UD's catering service is efficient, well-oiled machine


UDaily is produced by the Office of Public Relations
The Academy Building
105 East Main St.
Newark, DE 19716-2701
(302) 831-2791

Carpenter Sports Building inspires teamwork

Ever wonder what keeps UD running smoothly? Up Close & Personnel profiles the employees who keep UD ticking around the clock throughout the year. This week, the focus is on the Capenter Sports Building staff.

2:17 p.m., July 26, 2005--Located near Mechanical Hall off North College Avenue in Newark, the Carpenter Sports Building (CSB) is one of the busiest facilities on UD’s Newark campus, but the team of staff and students who keep the complex running take it all in stride.

Known affectionately as "The Little Bob," this 167,000-square-foot building is the primary recreation facility on campus for students, staff and faculty. Included inside are the Harry W. Rawstrom Natatorium; two gymnasiums, including Barbara Viera Court (volleyball); student and employee fitness centers; racquetball courts; a rock-climbing wall; and locker rooms, as well as offices for athletics and recreation staff and Department of Health, Nutrition and Exercise Sciences faculty and staff.

Named in recognition of the generosity of the Carpenter family, long-time benefactors and supporters of the University, the CSB serves as host to UD’s volleyball and men's and women's swimming and diving teams and is a facility for UD club sports, intramurals and student, faculty, alumni and community recreational activities.

"It can be an adventure; things can change in an hour, depending on the crowd that we have," Rexell Miller, the head custodian who has worked in the building for 28 years, said. "Our motto is that the whole building belongs to all five of us. I wouldn't trade this for anything else." Miller was referring to the team of five custodians who work in the building, where the day begins at 5 a.m.

Teamwork in the complex is crucial. “Carpenter Sports Building has a way of coming together no matter what your title is. I love working here! I work around good people," he said.

Neil Kline (seated) and Rexell Miller
There are 17 staff and more than 100 student workers to keep the building running, Kate Pohlig, associate director of the Intercollegiate Athletics Program who oversees the CSB, said, recalling one evening when she rushed back to the building after a wayward basketball tripped the sprinkler system in one of the gyms. "I was out there mopping up the water alongside the volleyball coach," Pohlig said.

Bruce Pyle, building supervisor, said three decades of working at the CSB and countless phone calls to his home when alarms go off in the dead of night make him feel like the building's babysitter.

Pyle, who also teaches a spin class and organizes backpacking trips for students, said he enjoys working around students. "I've made friends with many students over the years, and they often come back to say, ‘Hello.’ The students keep you young. My daughters love it because I keep up with all the fads and fashions," he said.

Delphine H. Lewis, a records specialist who sells locker space and guest passes and processes refunds, has worked at the facility for 13 years.

Staci Truitt, who has been the office coordinator at CSB for eight years, is convinced she has the most unpredictable job. In addition to managing the building's events schedule, which can number more than a hundred on busy days, Truitt processes applications and often has to rearrange events and discuss requests with students.

Kate Pohlig (seated) and Staci Truitt
"One of the most outrageous requests was last fall when a student asked if they could have a mud wrestling event inside the building!" Truitt said.

Kristin Davidson, AS '00, the newest member of the CSB team, said she instantly fell in love with her job when she became the fitness coordinator last year. "I love it, absolutely love it!" she said. "Great people to work with. We have a very good aerobics program.”

Davidson's instructors teach a variety of classes, including belly dancing, kickboxing, Pilates and yoga to about 7,000 persons, mostly students, every semester. She coordinates four fitness centers throughout the Newark campus, substitutes for all the instructors and occasionally works on weekends.

Taylor Simpson, a senior history major who has been a fitness specialist at the CSB for four years, said he would not trade his job for any other. "In between the social stuff, there is a great amount of work that we have to do, but it's a great social environment," he said. "It's a nice job; it's very flexible around your schedule."

Besides providing personal training lessons, Simpson also does simple maintenance of fitness equipment and upholstery and runs mini-fitness centers in CSB satellite sites within the Harrington, Rodney and Pencader residential complexes.

Bruce Pyle shows Sarah Simon, AS ‘06, the correct form on the stationary bike.
Tony Goldston, who has been coordinating the intramural program at CSB for six years, often jokes with his friends that he is paid to sit and watch football for hours at a time, but he quickly explains that the job is actually very demanding.

"It's a lot of hard work, especially in the early part of the fall when freshman students come in," Goldston said. "It comes with many challenges that change from day to day, which keeps it fresh. Scheduling is one of the biggest challenges, but, it's a lot of fun, too. I love my job!"

Neil Kline has been unlocking the doors to CSB at the crack of dawn for more than three years. As the building supervisor for the 5-8 a.m. shift, Kline inspects the entire building to make sure it is ready for nonstop use and often winds up his day checking identification cards and swiping them through a counter at the main entrance.

“Not only do we need to make sure IDs are valid, but we need a count to help us determine how best to offer services," Kline said. "It's a pretty active facility. There is something going on pretty much 365 days a year. I like the job. I really like it because you're among young people. It lightens you up. I enjoy it!"

Delphine Lewis (left) and Kristin Davidison, AS ‘00
Pohlig said the atmosphere of recreation makes the CSB a very pleasant workplace. "What I like about recreation is it's inclusive. People are here because they want to be here.”

The building is growing in popularity, Pohlig said. A record 418,913 UD card swipes were registered during the 2003-04 academic year, including June, July and August, compared to 386,000 during the same period the previous year.

"It's unusual when we’re not busy,” Pohlig said. "We just expect it to be that way. I have a great team that knows how to run the programs and the facilities. We look out for each other."

Opened in 1942 as a recreational facility, storage area of military equipment and an indoor drill area for the ROTC, the CSB served as the home court for the UD men's and women's basketball teams until midway through the 1966-67 season.

Tony Goldston (left) and Taylor Simpson
The Harry W. Rawstrom Natatorium in Carpenter Sports Building has served as home for the University of Delaware men's and women's swimming and diving teams since the 1966-67 season. It’s namesake served as head coach of the Blue Hen men's swimming and diving team from 1946 until 1981. A member of UD's Athletics Hall of Fame and Delaware Sports Hall of Fame, Coach Rawstrom died in 1994. The pool was dedicated and named in his honor in 1991.

The 15,000-square-foot natatorium, which underwent extensive renovations in 1996, includes an Olympic-sized pool, a diving well with 1-meter, 3-meter and platform boards, seating for approximately 700 fans, school and pool record boards, an electrical timing scoreboard and offices. The pool can be seen from windows located in the main corridor of the building.

In addition to UD home meets, the Rawstrom Natatorium annually hosts the Delaware Secondary School Athletic Association state high school boys and girls swimming championships, regional amateur meets and numerous conference swimming championships.

Article by Martin Mbugua
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

  E-mail this article

To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here.