Beginning earlier this year, Rowan University introduced and established the Center for Well-being.
The center comes from the collaborative work of the Rowan University Thrive Community, the University Well-being Committee, and the Wellness Strategic Task Force, which began their work together six years ago in 2018.
The mission of the center is to aid the university’s overall goals of creating and fostering a community full of diversity and inclusivity so that all students have the opportunity to succeed on campus. The way the center does this is by focusing on the six elements Rowan Thrive identified as dimensions of wellness for the campus community, those dimensions being physical, social, purpose, community, emotional, and financial.
Kha’ Sadler, PsyD is the associate provost for wellness and inclusivity. Due to this position, she is a founding member of the center’s team.
“We as administrators, we as campus partners and constituents, really recognize that…for well-being to be sustainable and to create a culture of wellness, these were key ingredients to our university of the future. By bringing explicit attention and having a staple within our university that centers holistic well-being… there are ways in which we can help students with everyday life problems that are a part of their development, and that we can provide them with skills,” said Sadler.
In order to aid students in achieving their goals and staying healthy in all aspects of life, the center has a number of programs that they hope to be as accessible as possible.
Using the two major university programs of Rowan Cares and Rowan Thrive to aid in their work with students, the center uses a variety of strategies to reach students.
Rowan Cares is responsible for meeting with students who have had a Cares report issued by a fellow student worried about their well-being. In addition, those involved with the programs will host tabling in common areas and at events, as well as holding Instagram Lives to get students more comfortable with the questions that will be asked in person at tabling events or in response to a report.
They also do community outreach once a month. The next event will be held on Nov. 5 titled “Your Breast Matter” which aims to discuss health disparities affecting women of color. Rowan Thrive’s programs include a number of ways for students to connect with one another in a safe environment. One of their upcoming events is the substance-free tailgate planned for Nov. 2.
They also hold in-person group meetings twice a week, as well as holding events where they encourage students to do things like making cootie catchers centered around kindness or confidence to leave around campus for others to find. This would mean creating fortune tellers out of paper that would have positive, feel-good messages on each of the folds.
Chrissy Feil, M.Ed is the director of well-being and resiliency. She is involved with much of the programming for the center.
“You can come and just watch. You can come and, kind of like, pretend that you’re on your phone or studying and listen if you want to, or you can come and, like, answer questions and participate. So it’s just kind of, we’re trying to meet folks where they are and let people either, you know, dip their toes or dive right in,” said Feil.
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