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campus wellness
History
The wave for a coordinated effort of Wellness in the university community began to build in Fall 2002. Faculty from nursing, nutrition, psychology, counseling and social work began to meet regularly to discuss their ideas about campus wellness. Dr. Lynn Bell, Associate Professor of Nursing, brought these individuals together. A committee began to grow to include faculty and staff from throughout campus with wellness interests. In the first meetings nutrition, drumming, tai' chi, meditation, student wellness, spirituality, sexuality, and faculty and staff support were explored as ways to create an environment that supports wellness at Valdosta State University.
We were energized to see that so many people on campus were interested in holistic wellness. It was exciting to see so many of us could bring their rich knowledge and skills not only to this committee but also to the campus as a whole. In Fall 2003 the committee officially became a part of the VSU HUB Learning Cooperative by establishing a HUB*CAP. Ms. Faye Altman, Counselor- VSU Counseling Center, connected the Wellness Committee with the Lowndes County Partnership for Health Well Workplace Initiative and with senior level administrative support from Valdosta State University. We began the steps to become a Well workplace utilizing the Well Workplace model developed by the Wellness Councils of America. This model uses the health risk appraisal as a data collection tool to drive programming efforts. In Spring 2005 the committee continued to collect data through the Health Risk Appraisal and sought ways to increase faculty/staff participation in the survey. To date, click here for a summary of Wellness Workplace accomplishments.