In its final report Tuesday, the University's Task Force on Health and Well-Being recommended renovating and expanding Dillon Gymnasium and McCosh Health Center, enlarging the University Health Services (UHS) staff and improving child care facilities.
The task force also suggested increasing the Student Health Plan fee by between $300 and $400 — of which $50 would cover changes in service offerings and $250 to $350 would fund new staffing needs. The health plan currently costs $810.
"If we want to provide services to students, one of the things we can do is raise fees," said Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson, who co-chaired the task force.
The proposed increase would bring the student health plan fees in line with those at peer institutions, University Vice President and Secretary and task force co-chair Bob Durkee '69 said.
The 500-student expansion slated for 2007 was another important consideration for the task force, Durkee added.
"You just can't fit every student into McCosh anymore," Durkee said.
To address the health care needs of a growing campus population, the task force proposed adding 10 staff members — including an outpatient physician and a health educator — and extending to the summer.
The report also recommended several improvements aimed at faculty and staff, including new nursery school facilities for their families.
"We decided we needed to be reasonable, to ask for things that you could raise money for," Durkee said. "Our consultant, who's run two other health services, told us we actually underbid regarding costs. We actually went back and added some recommendations."
Durkee said the report's recommendations will be implemented at different rates, with some changes appearing almost immediately.
"Some of the things we asked for can be done entirely within our power right now," Durkee said. "Dillon Gym could start half an hour earlier or end half an hour later. For these kinds of changes, we don't need additional resources."
And some earlier recommendations have already been followed. The Frist Campus Center Beverage Lab, for example, was converted into the Healthy Eating Lab over the summer.
Other changes have included repairs in Dillon Gym, increased funding for UHS personnel, around-the-clock faculty and staff counseling and the expansion of childcare services.
Ventures like the proposed childcare facilities may take two years to complete, Durkee said.
"We also have to take into account the University's capacity to build," Dickerson said. "Right now, the [four-year] residential colleges are taking up most of the University's construction resources."
Dickerson added that the majority of the task force's report provides a longterm strategic framework, or a "10-year plan," for campus health services.
"Many members of the committee will continue to work on some of the report's recommendations," Dickerson said.
"We want to do more research, with one or more consultants, on the feasibility of expanding fitness locations on campus," she added.
Though the task force examined a range of campus health issues, alcohol use and sexual health were not addressed in the report.
"Those are very large issues, and we recognized the time limits we were under," Dickerson said. "[The University] will continue to work on those issues."
This most recent report was the task force's third and final since its formation in September 2003.
The recommendations will be presented to the U-Council, undergraduate and graduate student governments and department chairs.
Many of the proposals will undergo another round of review by the University's Priorities Committee, which will decide which recommendations to fund.
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