Trends in Health & Wellbeing Promotion

The traditional role of a campus recreation or recreational sports department as evolved over time to incorporate wellness, beyond the physical dimension. The broadened scope of work for collegiate recreation supports institutional efforts surrounding a holistic, multidimensional approach to student wellbeing. This section will provide information on current and emerging health and wellbeing trends within the realm of collegiate recreation, as well as from an institutional perspective.

Playing a key role

Collegiate recreation departments are a key player on campus to assist with the integration of health and wellbeing within the campus culture. In NASPA’s Fall 2017 Leadership Exchange newsletter, NIRSA Executive Director Pam Watts authored the article “A New Model for Campus Health: Integrated Wellbeing into Campus Life” where she states that building a culture of health and wellbeing on a college campus is a shared responsibility that has a significant and long-term impact.

Current trends

The current health and wellbeing related trends on college campuses are about as varied as the types of institutions that exist. There are collegiate recreation department and facilities that have been named (or renamed) to incorporate wellbeing or wellness.  Additionally, department and institutions are thinking outside the box concerning health and wellbeing initiatives. Here is a sample of some of the changes and initiatives revolving around health and wellbeing.

Department and facility naming

• East Carolina University Campus Recreation & Wellness
• Oakland University Recreation and Well-Being
• South Dakota State University Wellness Center
• University of Central Florida Recreation and Wellness Center
• University of Miami Department of Wellness and Recreation

Campus initiatives

• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo – Campus Wellbeing: With the mission to cultivate a culture of health and wellbeing on campus for students, staff and faculty to live and be well, the goal is to offer education, programming and opportunities for individuals to develop their skills and abilities to achieve wellbeing.
• University of Richmond – Wellness Graduation Requirement: In keeping with the University of Richmond’s objective of fostering knowledge and personal wellness, every undergraduate at Richmond is required to complete a three-part series on wellness.
• University of Minnesota – University Wellbeing Classes: Enriching the campus experience and encouraging lifelong wellbeing, University Wellbeing Classes are offered through the Employee Wellbeing Program. As a part of the program optional assessments are offered to help participants learn about their body and how the class impacted their physical abilities.
• Wake Forest University – The Wellbeing Assessment: A tool that allows university staff to develop targeted, effective, and data-driven programming to support student wellbeing. The Wellbeing Assessment is tailored to the unique development needs and linguistic patterns of undergraduate students in early adulthood.

Emerging trends

What are emerging and future trends surrounding health and wellbeing on college campuses? To some degree that remains to be seen. A thought leadership forum on wellbeing convened by NIRSA and NSAPA met to have dialogue about promising and best practices and to explore larger strategies for impact at the professional association level. The summary of the thought leadership forum outlined foundations for future work in the following domains: personal/interpersonal, institutional/organizational, environmental/cultural, and policy.

Here is food for thought on potential emerging trends generated by the NIRSA Assembly.

• Promising practices, as opposed to best practices, for each institution to create and implement health and wellbeing initiatives based on the needs of the campus community
• Integration of health and wellbeing as a part of the campus culture
• A proactive approach in the prevention of health issues
• Identifying and eliminating the wellness gap
• Addressing the basic needs of at-risk students
• Assisting new students with a healthy transition and integration into the campus community
• Developing and promoting student pathways to health and wellbeing