NIRSA and NASPA to co-host a thought leadership forum on wellbeing

The need to address student and employee wellbeing continues to grow on campuses across North America. Within this complex and nuanced space, one thing is certain—integrated approaches, fostered out of partnership and multipronged methods, result in the most sustainable success.

It is in this spirit that NIRSA and NASPA have partnered to invite several key thought leaders from each association to come together and discuss strategies and best practices for fostering a culture of health and wellbeing on campuses. Such a culture is key to students succeeding in their studies, forming and maintaining positive relationships, engaging in their campus communities, and completing their degrees.

To this end, NIRSA and NASPA have also invited two representatives of the American College Health Association (ACHA) to lend their experiences, voices, and perspective to the forum.

The event, generously hosted by University of Miami’s Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. Patricia Whitely, and Executive Director of Wellness and Recreation, Scott Levin, will take place from October 13–14.

NIRSA is also excited to announce the forum will be facilitated by NIRSA past president Kathleen Hatch, Principal Consultant of the Hatch Group.

Attendees include:

Jake Baggott, Assistant Vice President, Student Development, Health & Wellness at University of Alabama at Birmingham (ACHA)
Mick Deluca, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Campus Life at UCLA
Mark Forest, Interim AVP for Health and Wellness at The College of New Jersey
Stephanie Gordon, Vice President for Professional Development for NASPA
Stacey Hall, Director of Campus Recreation at University of New Hampshire
Suzy Harrington, Executive Director, Health & Well-Being at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
Devin Jopp, CEO of ACHA
Scott Levin, Executive Director, Wellness and Recreation at University of Miami
Ken Morton, Director of Campus Recreation at Stephen F. Austin State University and incoming NIRSA Board President
Art Munin, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Development/Dean of Students at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Erin O’Sullivan, Director of Advocacy & Strategic Partnerships for NIRSA
Estela Rivero, AVP, Student Affairs at University at Albany
Tom Roberts, Assistant Vice President Recreation and Wellness at University of Richmond
Malika Roman Isler, Director of Wellbeing at Wake Forest University
Frank Ross, Vice President for Student Affairs at Butler University
Sue Wasiolek, Assistant Vice President, Dean of Students at Duke University
Pam Watts, Executive Director for NIRSA
Pat Whitely, Vice President of Student Affairs at University of Miami

In addition to encouraging dialogue, the intent of the forum is to strategize about how to best align our campus partnerships and resources to successfully integrate holistic wellbeing into our campuses’ cultures. Based on the strategies developed at the summit, NASPA and NIRSA will develop content and resources to assist our members in this work.