Campus Wellness Celebrates Ten Years at VSU

VALDOSTA -- Campus Wellness celebrates a decade of caring this year at Valdosta State University.

The Campus Wellness Committee was formed in Fall 2002 when faculty members from nursing, nutrition, psychology, counseling and social work met to discuss ideas for promoting wellness in the workplace. The committee grew to include faculty and staff from throughout campus, each with a variety of wellness interests.

The following year the committee coordinated a partnership between the university and local community with the Lowndes County Partnership for Health Well Workplace Initiative. With senior level administrative support and organizational placement within Human Resources and Employee Development, steps were taken to make VSU a Well Workplace utilizing the model developed by the Wellness Councils of America.

The grassroots efforts of VSU faculty and staff have made Campus Wellness a thriving program at the university. In the first wellness meetings, committee members explored activities and topics such as nutrition, drumming, tai' chi, meditation, spirituality and sexuality. Today, the committee hosts various successful programs like VSU Walking Club, Shape up and Ship Out, the Active for Life program, Weight Watchers at Work and Fresh Start.

Touching on all aspects of the holistic embodiment of wellness, VSU’s Campus Wellness program promotes and supports an increased awareness and practice of a healthy lifestyle by offering a variety of educational activities and programs that address the social, intellectual, occupational, spiritual, physical and emotional wellness of the university's faculty, staff and student population.

The goals of the Campus Wellness Committee include increasing awareness of the holistic health model and the connections between one's physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, occupational and social (environmental) dimensions; educating and motivating the VSU community by creating and supporting a variety of activities that promotes a healthy lifestyle; developing partnerships throughout the university community to cultivate programs; implementing the seven step process of the Wellness Councils of America for establishing a Well Workplace; capturing senior-level support; creating a cohesive wellness team; collecting data to drive program efforts; crafting an operating plan; choosing appropriate intervention; creating a supportive environment; and evaluating outcomes.

For more information about Campus Wellness, visit http://www.valdosta.edu/finadmin/wellness/index.shtml .