New campus recreation director emphasizes exercise and sports on campus

Brian Mills started his position at UHCL this June as the new director for campus recreation and wellness.

Mills served as the assistant director for recreational sports and family programming at University of Houston-Main Campus beginning in 2012. He holds a master’s degree in higher education from Ohio University, and his dissertation was on the recruitment and retention of students through campus recreation.

Mills credits UHCL’s opening of a new department and the Recreation and Wellness Center (RWC) in Fall 2018 as the main reasons why he wanted to come to this campus.

“Having a new facility for the university is going to be an amazing addition, but it is still just a building,” Mills said. “To ensure our success as a department, and for a true impact on campus, the career and student staff will make the building and current facilities something that we can all be a part of, have pride in, and use to truly develop students for the future. I have never felt more pride in my job than I did in building a new culture on campus.”

Mills wants the RWC to be a safe place where all students can engage with each other through various activities and feel welcome.

“A rec. center can be very intimidating and scary for people who aren’t used to working out or recreating on a normal basis, but our facility will be open for all of our students, and we will focus on making sure that people feel welcome,” Mills said. “Our staff will be focusing on safety, education and engagement so that our patrons can come to them for questions, assistance or guidance when using the facility.”

The RWC will also have services that Mills hopes will make everyone’s fitness experience more convenient and enjoyable.

“We will be able to check out equipment if needed (basketballs, soccer balls, jump ropes, belts, etc.), as well as provide workout towels for everyone,” Mills said. “We want to keep costs at a minimum, so having as few services that we have to charge for will also be a goal for us.”

The RWC will also have memberships available for faculty and staff.

“Those rates and details have not been worked out yet,” Mills said. “We are working on making sure it is competitive with local facilities without charging less than what students are paying in their semester fee.”

The RWC will feature indoor basketball courts as well as a multipurpose-activity court to serve as a recreational space and a site for the university’s intramural sports program.

Mills plans on organizing an intramural sports program for UHCL. He has educational and employment experience in intramural sports, sport clubs and family programming.

“I cannot wait to get our intramural sports program more developed and have them become part of the campus culture,” Mills said. “Working with professionals in Student Life, we will be discussing the creation of a sport club program and see how we can bring on some current student organizations as recognized club programs and have them start representing UHCL in local, state and potentially national events.”

For intramural sports, Mills also plans on creating a strong foundation of student staff to work for the Campus Recreation and Wellness department as sports officials and supervisors. Mills looks forward to hiring students who are interested in these positions as early as August, and he aims to get sports programs started in late September or early October.

For more information on campus recreation and wellness, contact them at 281-283-2410 or email Brian Mills at millsb@uhcl.edu.