If you attend classes at the Southeast Community College Lincoln campus you are paying for a service that you probably aren’t using. Chances are, you probably don’t even know the services are available, according to staff member Brett Ducker.
Ducker is the Fitness and Wellness Coordinator at the SCC Campus. He has been on the job since January of this year and said most students at SCC don’t know there is a wellness center and gym at the school.
“A majority of the students don’t know this exists (the wellness center and the gym),” Ducker said during a recent interview in his office.
“When I talk to classes, half the students don’t know this is here,” said Ducker of the wellness center and gym. “It’s unreal.”
The wellness center resembles a traditional weight room and fitness center, with exercise equipment including three treadmills (two are brand new), a stair stepper, two stationery bikes, free weights, dumbbells, a total body circuit machine and a Smith machine (which is for bench press and squats).
The center is located at the back of the gym. Both facilities are open Monday through Friday for use by the students and staff. In addition, there are men’s and women’s locker rooms available at no cost to students and staff. All any student needs to use the facilities is a student identification card. Student fees fund the wellness and fitness program, said Ducker.
“I remind the students they are paying for it (the wellness and fitness program) through their fees,” Ducker said. “If you are enrolled for the quarter (at the school) you have already paid for it.”
Currently there are over 10,000 students taking classes at SCC’s Lincoln campus. Throw in the staff and faculty who work at the school. How many people do you think use the wellness center and gym on a daily basis?
Not very many, according to Ducker.
“I would say anywhere from 25 to 40 a day, including the gym and the wellness center,” Ducker said.
So why don’t more students and staff use the facilities? The reasons vary, according to Ducker.
“It’s a commuter campus,” Ducker said. “People are coming and going all day long. Students and staff don’t want to stick around at the end of their day (to exercise). I have heard some staff say they don’t want to exercise with students or be in the same (exercise) facility with them. Students want to go home after classes.”
Ducker came to SCC from the northeast YMCA in Lincoln, where he spent four months as a nutrition specialist, personal trainer and wellness coach. Prior to that position, he was in school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he graduated in May 2012 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition, Exercise and Health Science.
“It’s been a whirlwind since I graduated,” Ducker said of his career.
In addition to running the wellness center and the gym, Ducker is in charge of the wellness programs and intramural sports programs at the school. He also offers wellness checks, body composition checks and develops personal exercise programs – all free of charge – to students and staff alike.
In his position, Ducker also plans wellness events, meets with the student senate about wellness and fitness programs and is in charge of staff wellness at the campus.
Interested staff members can participate in the “Education Health Alliance” program through Blue Cross/ Blue Shield of Nebraska. The online health program is administered by Ducker and is for staff and faculty.
Through the program, staff and faculty members can keep track of a variety of things, including how much they exercise, how much sleep they get and what their individual fitness programs include.
On May 20 the SCC Lincoln campus hosted the May Health Fair in the gym. The health fair – organized and planned by Ducker – included exhibits from 18 vendors, including St. Elizabeth Hospital, Complete Nutrition and the Vitamin Shop.
During the upcoming summer quarter, two other wellness events will be offered, with golfers in mind, according to Ducker.
Students can play a free round of miniature golf at the Adventure Golf Center (56th and Old Cheney Road) and take up to three guests for only $2 per person. Tickets will be available at the wellness center office once the summer quarter begins.
Those who prefer traditional golf can play a round of nine holes at Pine Lake Golf and Tennis (6601 S. 84th St) for only $4 for students and take one guest for the same fee, said Ducker. Tickets for this activity will also be available at the wellness center office.
Intramural sports are popular at the school, Ducker said, during the spring and fall quarters. During the spring three-on-three basketball was offered and during the fall quarter, five-on-five basketball will be offered.
Among his goals for the wellness and fitness program, Ducker said he would eventually like to offer a class which would be like the fitness “boot camps” that are offered at health and fitness clubs.
Along those lines, Ducker is currently in the process of getting certified as a group exercise instructor online through the American College of Sports and Medicine.
The wellness center and gym are open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Ducker works Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and a student assistant works Monday through Thursday from 4:30 – 9:30 p.m. in the wellness center and the gym.
Ducker can be contacted at (402) 437-2634 or by email at [email protected].