Saint Francis University

Facilities

Fitness Center

The Fitness Center includes exercise and teaching areas.  The exercise areas are:

• A core strengthening and stretching area
• A cardiovascular area with treadmills, upright and recumbent bicycle ergometers, elliptical units, an upper extremity ergometer, and a rowing unit
• A strength training area with a circuit of exercise units for the upper and lower extremities
• A free-weight area
• An aerobics studio that can also be adapted to accommodate a wide variety of other group activities, e.g., meditation, yoga, dance, etc.

The teaching areas are available for health and wellness promotion, including credit and non-credit classes in lifestyle modification like smoking cessation, weight loss, diabetes management, and cardiovascular preventative health.

The exercise area and the health promotion activities are available to members of the campus community and, on a controlled-access basis, to members of the wider community, especially those who are participating in research studies, those who are referred by the Dorothy Day Center and partnering organizations and individuals from the wider community, and those who are underserved by existing services.

Conference Center

The Conference Center is the teaching space of the DiSepio Institute and includes:

• A conference room that accommodates 12-15 people
• A wellness classroom that accommodates 30-40 people
• A symposium room that accommodates 65-80 people and can be divided into two sections.

The Conference Center enables the DiSepio Institute to communicate with the world through voice, video, and data technologies.  As with the whole of the Institute's construction, the Center electronic infrastructure is fiber optic throughout, all spaces have full wireless capability, and there is wired back-up in all critical areas.

Human Performance Laboratory

The Human Performance Lab supports the research function of the DiSepio Institute.  Its physical space includes the following components:

• A cardiovascular-metabolic lab that can analyze the exercise tolerance of a college football athlete or a geriatric patient with a cardiac condition or a child with Type I diabetes.  Body composition analysis is performed using various technologies, including underwater weighing, bioelectrical impedance, and air displacement.
• A kinesiological/biomechanical lab that uses an infra-red motion-capture system to perform analysis of the throwing style of a Little League pitcher or the gait of a war veteran with a lower limb prosthesis or the body movements of a child with cerebral palsy.  Peripherals that can be attached to the basic system include various types of exercise units, e.g., treadmills or upper body ergometers, and other evaluative devices such as electromyography units that detect which muscles are firing during a specific movement.

A single-subject area to perform a variety of psychological and behavioral response testing, including tests using biofeedback technology.

Spiritual Wellness Center

The DiSepio Institute's mission includes spiritual wellness.  The components of the Spiritual Wellness Center are:

• An outdoor labyrinth meditation garden
• An indoor ecumenical meditation area

Programming in the theology of wellness.