Director of Campus Recreation Eric Maki resigns

The+Heskett+Center+on+Aug.+5%2C+2013.+%28file+photo%29

The Heskett Center on Aug. 5, 2013. (file photo)

The day after the student senate voted down a proposed YMCA on Innovation Campus, which many said would threaten the jobs of employees at the Heskett Center, the director of Campus Recreation, Eric Maki, left his position at Wichita State, according to university sources.

Maki has worked at Wichita State since 2012. Campus Recreation, located in the Heskett Center, provides programs, activities and services that promote the health and well-being of the WSU community.

Maureen Dasey-Morales, associate vice president for wellness, confirmed Maki’s resignation. She said that she could not speak to the details of his departure as it pertains to personnel records.

John Lee, associate director of campus recreation, said Maki “loved what he did.”

“(Maki) resigned his position as director after looking at the direction of the university and chose to take on a different career path,” Lee said. He said he received that information from an email from Teri Hall, vice president of student affairs.

“It’s hard because we worked with him for almost five years,” Lee said. “It’s been a tough two weeks between the Y thing — and not the concept of the Y, whether it should be on campus — as just the unknown that that brought.

“Are we gonna have a role there? Are we gonna have a job? Then Eric resigns and so that’s a double dip of a whammy in the same week. But we are a resilient bunch and he set us up for success,” Lee said.

Maki’s primary duties as director were “to shape the student life experience outside of the classroom” and “budget creation and administration, collaborating with various university departments on programs or events, and facilitating large-scale construction projects specific to Campus Recreation,” according to a university news story from when he was first hired.

“The programs and services we provide the Wichita State community are intentionally designed for all those we serve,” said Maki at the time. “Everything we do is with the WSU student in mind.”

Part of Maki’s responsibilities included evaluating renovations for the Heskett Center and enhancements to the outdoor playing fields.

“We do not want to just maintain,” Maki said in 2012. “We want to continually exceed the expectations of our students in providing programs focused on excellence and in complementing the academic mission of Wichita State University.”