Faculty Staff Fitness at Oregon State University started with a single class in 1984.

Now, the program offers more than 30 classes, including pickleball, country line dancing, adaptive exercise and — starting winter term — hula fitness. Between 1,000 and 1,500 people participate each term.

To celebrate the longevity and success of the program, FSF is hosting an anniversary celebration from 5:30-7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15, in the Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families. The event is free and open to all; register here.

Faculty Staff Fitness, part of OSU’s College of Health, aims to not only help employees stay physically active, but to provide a safe space for them to learn new things and feel good about themselves.

“I’ve been in the fitness industry for a very long time, and the programs that have stood the test of time do one thing really well: They create a sense of community, of belonging,” said Nicole Kurth, coordinator of Faculty Staff Fitness and a senior instructor teaching physical activity courses (PAC). “I tell our instructors, ‘Everyone deserves to be there; make them know that.’”

Faculty Staff Fitness instructors pose with gym equipment.

Prior to OSU, Kurth worked in the private fitness sector, where gyms and classes often feel exclusionary and inaccessible. In her work with the PAC program, she teaches a fitness and wellness leadership course where she works to instill healthy values in the next generation of fitness instructors so that gym spaces can be more welcoming and instructors know how to tailor programming to students’ individual levels.

“I believe that everyone should be able to have health care, and fitness is preventative health care,” she said. “That’s why I think it’s important that when people come into our classes, that they see themselves represented. Too often people walk into a space, and they feel like they’re being judged.”

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Archival photo of Bill Winkler.

FSF was started by the late Bill Winkler in 1984 when he was a professor emeritus. His first class was a circuit weight training class with 30 or 40 participants. Winkler applied to be the program’s first director when former dean Michael Maksud of the then-College of Home Economics wanted to offer something for OSU faculty and staff.

“Bill enjoyed creating community,” Bill’s wife Judy Winkler told Kurth in an interview last year. “Bill’s vision was to promote well-being with a sense of joy, and bring people of diverse backgrounds together creating community.”

FSF’s current instructors embody that same mindset, Kurth said. Many are retired faculty or staff from OSU who want to stay involved in the university community; many volunteer while working full-time at OSU; and some are students in the College of Health looking to gain experiential learning to prepare them to work in the fitness industry.

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Participants were all smiles in a post-workout selfie with instructor Carolyn Hudson-Harris after a cardio dance class in 2023. 

Going forward, Kurth wants to expand the program beyond just OSU’s Corvallis campus. FSF recently started to hold classes at the Printing and Mailing facility on Research Way, and most courses have a remote online option, but Kurth hopes to eventually offer programming at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport and at OSU-Cascades in Bend.

“I want everyone to understand that whether you are a seasoned fitness person or you’re new and don’t feel welcomed in traditional gym spaces, Faculty Staff Fitness is for you,” Kurth said.