WHY “SAVE UW BADGER POOL”? WHAT ARE THE ISSUES CURRENTLY AFFECTING THE UW POOLS? In March 2014, the UW Division of Recreation Sports will put a referendum before the students to vote on providing new and renovated recreational facilities on campus. The overall cost of the new and renovated recreational facilities is currently estimated to be just over $200 million. According to the Recreation Department website uwmadisonrecsports.wordpress/ funds are expected to come from an increase in student fees, private and corporate donors, the state, and campus partners. If the referendum is approved, recreation-related fees for students would be raised to a level similar to other Big 10 schools, and their recreational facilities would be brought in line with UW’s peers in quality and quantity. The referendum will have pool-related impacts at the SERF (South East Recreation Facility) and the Natatorium as outlined on the Rec Sport Division website. uwmadisonrecsports.wordpress/ One immediate concern is the potential loss of the 50-year-old Natatorium, with no plans to replace it, resulting in having no facility on campus capable of hosting any type of meet. This would impact the thousands of users of these facilities, including: campus fitness/recreational users, area aquatics groups who rent pool space, and competitive swimmers and divers, both local and statewide. The UW Swim and Dive team would also be impacted. WHO ARE THE UW POOL ADVOCATES? We are a community-minded group of supportive stakeholders advocating for the future of competitive swimming and diving for the University of Wisconsin, the Madison area and the entire state of Wisconsin. Thousands of people have expressed interest in this topic through a variety of mechanisms, and their passion is evident. This is fantastic! In order to maximize the impact of all this interest, a team has formed called UW POOL ADVOCATES. Our intent is to lead and coordinate efforts to meet our goal. WHAT IS OUR GOAL? As part of the proposed campus wide investment in recreational facilities, we want ensure the inclusion of an aquatic facility capable of meeting both recreational and competitive swimming and diving needs. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF UW POOL ADVOCATES IN REACHING THESE GOALS? 1. Provide accurate and up-to-date information 2. Foster positive conversations among community members and stakeholders about potential solutions 3. Facilitate the process of bringing diverse stakeholders together to accomplish the goal. 4. Work to find solutions to bridge the apparent funding gap 5. Be the “central funnel” for consistent and accurate communications to the influencers and decision makers. We feel this approach can best represent the thousands of people who have expressed interest in the topic. WHAT IS THE TEAM DOING RIGHT NOW? The UW POOL ADVOCATES’ primary focus right now is on the ballot wording for the student referendum. It is our first goal that the language does not exclude the possibility of a competition pool. Wording for the referendum needs to be finalized in early February. The team also continues its effort to fully understand all of the nuances and details of the many sources of information. We are working with the Rec Sports Division and other decision makers and stakeholders to create a satisfactory solution to the competition pool issue. WHO ARE THE CURRENT MEMBERS? Deb Archer archer@visitmadison Judy Frankel frankel@visitmadison Jamie Patrick [email protected] Rich Lynch rlynch@findorff Laura te Duits laurateduits@gmail Gregg Shimanski Gregg@madrent Pat Finley Patrick.M.Finley@morganstanley Brad Horner bhorner1486@hotmail Louisa Enz lenz@starkhomes Deb Still dstill@jacksonconsultingpr Dave Kettner dave_kettner@virent Sara DeTienne [email protected] HOW CAN YOU HELP? 1.) PLEASE STOP SENDING ADDITIONAL E-MAILS OR MAKING CALLS to the influencers and decision makers. They have received MANY of these already, and there is a risk that additional emails could hurt our efforts. The exception to this is if you have personal connections and feel you can provide insights and opinions they may value. 2.) Allow the UW POOL ADVOCATES to represent the thousands of people interested in this topic. Please help this team be the “central funnel” for consistent and accurate communications to the influencers and decision makers. 3.) Since the students will vote on the referendum, you can serve the cause by communicating with UW students about the pool topic. For example, visit and leave comments which are positive and serve to educate and create awareness on the “Badgers 4 Rec Reform” Facebook site https://facebook/home.php#!/Bdgrs4RecReform . If the referendum contains wording retaining the potential for a competition pool, as we hope it will, we will want to make sure it passes the student vote. 4.) Keep informed so that you can accurately relay information about the issues to others that may be interested and be ready to react if and when actions are needed. Our group is making every effort to make sure the information we provide is accurate. We expect to provide regular updates, providing answers to frequently asked questions, responding to comments, and updating followers about what is happening. 5.) Participate in discussions and share ideas that can lead to solutions. Please try to be positive without compromising your strong feelings on the topic. Remember that it is highly likely that everyone wants a first class aquatic facility at the University of Wisconsin. Avoid jumping to conclusions and making ill-informed comments on Facebook and elsewhere. These could be detrimental to the cause.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 20:59:32 +0000
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