Introduction

Individual health is closely linked to community health, and community health is profoundly affected by the collective beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of individual community members (Healthy People, 2010).  Likewise, on a college campus, employee and student wellness is reciprocally related to the wellness of the campus community. A healthy campus can increase educational and civic engagement in support of academic excellence and community service.

The University of Oregon recognizes that healthy faculty, staff, and students benefit the university and the State of Oregon.  Student Affairs professionals have long understood the relationships between choices made during college, student physical and mental health, and academic achievement.  Increasing overall student wellness can result in fewer class absences, improved retention and persistence, reduced utilization of physical and mental health-care services, more effective study practices, work productivity and academic success and the development of healthy living skills and habits for lifelong physical and mental vitality.

Benefits to the university workplace include decreased absenteeism, increased productivity, greater focus and concentration in the workplace, decreased turnover, reduced chronic illness and disease, fewer and less expensive disability claims, increased satisfaction and enjoyment, the development of healthy living skills and habits for lifelong physical and mentally vitality, and reduced utilization of the physical and mental health-care system leading to decreased health care costs (Sibson Consulting, 2008; WebMD, 2006).

The Healthy Campus Initiative is based on the belief that healthy students, faculty, and staff are more likely to achieve the ambitious goals set forth in campus strategic and academic plans.  Through collaborative efforts across campus, the Healthy Campus Task Force hopes to create a culture in which the pursuit of a balanced lifestyle is valued, physical and mental health is fostered, and all members of the university community are encouraged to take responsibility for choosing to be well.


Farm to Table Event


Yoga Class

UO Healthy Campus Task Force

The concept of Wellness is one that encourages individuals to take personal responsibility for making positive choices for their health and well-being. Recently, the Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Robin Holmes, invited a cross-campus group of individuals to explore the idea of making wellness a priority for the UO campus. The Healthy Campus Task Force recommended pursuing a campus-wellness initiative by developing a coalition of key stakeholders to move us strategically toward wellness for students, faculty, and staff, making the UO campus community a healthy place to live, learn, and work.  The task force set a goal to propose a cohesive and comprehensive approach to health and well-being for the University of Oregon.

The Healthy Campus Initiative Task Force has included representatives from the following departments: Physical Education and Recreation, Human Resources, Counseling and Testing Center, Health Center, Environmental Health and Safety, University Housing, Student Life, Athletics, Facilities Services, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Human Physiology.

Until now with the hiring of a new Director of Healthy Campus Initiatives, the UO lacked a single, centralized office or individual responsible for coordinating programs inter-departmentally; establishing well-defined, overarching objectives to guide programming; ensuring that programs adhere to best practices; safeguarding against duplication of services; assessing and addressing gaps in the array of programs and services; ensuring that users can easily identify resources at the point they are ready to make health behavior changes; standardizing outcome measures; and collecting and evaluating outcome data.

Current Programs and Services

Task Force members completed an inventory of current programs offered to enhance the physical and mental wellness of staff and students. While the list is not exhaustive, it provides a good representation of current efforts.

The inventory revealed a wide range of services and programs, including various physical activities, use of environmentally friendly cleaning products, mental health services, and healthy food choices.  These programs illustrate the commitment of several departments to create a healthy campus environment.  However, programs are not as widely utilized as expected. 

Recommendations

The new unified and coordinated approach to campus wellness will be more successful than the previous decentralized model.  The Healthy Campus Initiative program will include staffing for administration and program delivery, a uniform model of wellness, incentives for participation, a more aggressive outreach and marketing effort, a central website for information, and extensive data collection and program evaluation.