The University Wellness Center at Sewanee

So Good afternoon everyone, we're gonna go ahead and get started in just another minute or so. I'll just give folks so a little bit more time to to join us. And then we'll we'll dive in.

I think we'll just go ahead and get started. My name is Nicole Noffsinger Fraser. I'm a licensed psychologist and I'm the executive director of the University Wellness Center here at Suwannee, and we're going to be talking today about the mini approaches to Wellness and well being on campus for our students.

Sarah Randall, who's my colleague who is the director of the University Wellness Commons, which is our new building that will be opening very soon, will be joining us shortly.

So I'll start with our work and Wellness promotion and outreach that is part of the mission of the University Wellness Center. Ann, again of the new Wellness Commons, which Sarah will talk about in more detail in just a little bit.

So we're very fortunate in our work here to have some exciting partnerships with some organizations outside of saloni that are really helping us and consulting with us about the best ways in which we can support the well being of all of our students. So we partner with an organization called Jed campus, which I'll talk about in more detail in just a little bit. We also have a grant from Sam's, uh, that's focused on cultivating student flourishing and well being.

And then Swanee is also one of 16 schools across the country. That's part of the equity in mental health framework pilot program, which is focused on supporting the well being and mental health needs of students of color.

So just a little bit of highlights from each of these areas. As I mentioned, the same, so grant is focused on student flourishing. So the ways in which students can feel well, the ways in which students can engage in behaviors and practices that really cultivate their sense of satisfaction there. Since the meaning and purpose their sense of character and virtue in their physical and mental well being, and so through the Swanee Flourish Project.

We have a number of events that happen across campus all year. Uh, we have a student leadership team that's engaged in that work of supporting student flourishing and well being. An it's a wide gamut of programs and I'll have a slide in just a second that gives you a sense of what some of those offerings are. I'm going to switch now to the GED campus slides that you guys can see in a little bit more detail what our partnership with that group helps us accomplish. So Jed Campus were in.

Our second or no. Actually, we're entering our third year of our relationship with them. And again, there are national organization that partners with hundreds of universities across the country to make sure that again, we're doing everything possible to create an infrastructure of Wellness for our students. And so, as you can see from the the wheel here, there's a specific. Are there specific areas of focus in which these are all related to a strategic strategic plan for well being that we have adopted?

We've got a team of about 30 administrators, faculty members, and students have been working on that strategic plan again in order to cultivate healthy campus environment where every student can strive thrive rather and flourish.

Jed campus also has some great resources for high school students and so this would be something I would encourage you all to check out particularly as you rap up your senior year and that program is called set to go and it's got a suite of tools that you can use again just to prepare yourself for this next transition so those tools touch on just basic life skills social emotional skills mental health and substance abuse.

Literacy again just navigating that transition to college.

So if you're curious about how Suwannee students are doing in terms of their well being annually, we survey our students using the healthy mind study, which is a national tool that again, many universities across the country used and were able to compare the data that we collect from Suwannee students to some of the national markers. And so the good news is that so many students are actually doing quite well in terms of positive mental health, so they're actually flourishing higher than the.

National average and again you know our goal is to continue working in terms of the outreach in the programming that we do to move that number up even higher.

So we define flourishing here at Swanee. I'm using a model that Tyler Vanderweele at Harvard developed. So all of the programming that we do in terms of outreach, prevention and even the treatment intervention that we do in the centre focuses on these six domains. So how to cultivate happiness in life satisfaction out of Foster mental and physical health? How to develop meaning and purpose? How to develop character? Invert to how to sustain social close social relationships and sense of belonging.

And then finally, how to strive for financial stability?

And said, these are some of the programs that we've offered over the last couple of years. I think on this slide, the one that tends to be the most popular that Sarah tends to lead is our goat yoga program and we tend to offer a goat yoga around those stressful times in the semester so often at midterms. At final exams. It's unfortunate that were not able to offer it this semester for obvious reasons with COVID-19, but this tends to be a beautiful time on our campus where everything is in bloom.

And so we have got yoga outside and one of our parks. And it's just a really fun event that students love coming to when we send out the sign up spots go like that. So we had to add more and more sessions and so is something that is a partnership with our University farm. So we've got some pygmy goats that are just their main role and purpose is goat yoga. And so it again one of our signature programs. We also partner with active minds, which is a national organization.

Focused on mental health and well being. And so we have students involved in that and we have a pure health education program. We also have a regular speaker series called the Wellness colloquium, so we bring in speakers from our campus and from elsewhere to address a wide variety of topics. So anything from we had a few years ago. A board certified sleep psychologist, you talked about healthy sleep patterns. We've had nutritionist come in, we've had.

Body image experts. It's really run the gamut into. That's also a popular series and this again as there is about to talk about the Wellness Commons. This work will continue to grow and evolve as we move into an even larger space.

So I'll let you take it, Sarah.

Hi everyone, my name is Sarah Ann. I am the director of the Wellness Commons which is a brand new facility here at the domain that is set to open this summer. So it is a construction where we merge this beautiful old building. I think from 1906 and then we added on so we have even more space so I'll talk a little bit about what will actually be in the physical space.

And then we can talk more about some fun things that will have going on in the fitness center an in the entire building.

So the buildings located right in the center of campus. It's a great location and on the upper level we will have the fitness center and some locker rooms and all the things that you think of so will have brand new equipment. Will have two classrooms to do, exercise classes and Wellness Seminars.

They'll be a bookstore, alittle tiny bookstore upstairs as well, and then they'll be in a lobby for people to connect and hang out while they're waiting for a fitness class to start or waiting for a friend to go over to Mcclurg have lunch. The lower level will have the Wellness Center, so University Health Services and caps will be there and then Swanee outing program, which is a really popular program on campus where you can go and.

Hi can go on these wild trips out West and canoe and do all this amazing stuff and then our Wellness outreach will be down in the lower level as well. So it's a great unique opportunity for all of these aspects of Wellness to be housed under one roof and we're really, really, really lucky that we have the opportunity to grow our Wellness with us.

OK, so another major part of my role is overseeing the programming and the operations of the fitness center so.

We will have a cardio floor with all lots of machines. Anything you could want will have a strength floor with free weights with functional strength room to move and do battle ropes and slam ball targets and things like that.

Up in our smaller Wellness classroom, we're going to have indoor cycling and then we'll have a classroom that's a little bit bigger that has a wood flooring for cardio, for strength for all different types of fun. Classes were really hoping we're really striving to set up this comfortable.

Kind of fun and exciting environment for exercise so that if you maybe haven't been apart of a gym before or you're just knew to physical activity and exercising that this can be a great place to come to know some people, get to know your fitness instructors and connect an relieve some stress and tension and also stay healthy.

Uhm, you guys all know. I'm sure you're seeing it, especially currently, but exercise is really a vital part of kind of keeping your spirits up, improving your mood, helping with your attention, and focus when you are doing online classes. So that's what we're all going to strive together towards with our exercise at Swanee fit well.

In terms of programming, so this is a brand new program. We've never had fitness classes on our campus before, so we're going to start out with cycling a strength class called group power.

Who's gonna start off with a nice schedule and then based on the feedback we get from you and our students will expand the schedule will grow it and take it where you want the classes to go we're also going to be offering workshops whether it be on how to use certain equipment or how to do certain moves or just basic fitness information?

As small group training and then we're hoping as we grow as a program that we can start offering personal training in health coaching so this is just a great place for you to come try some of these things out and then if you finding that this is resonating with you that you really are enjoying it you can come be apart of our swanee football team so you can either work in the program as a fitness desk assistant or as a student manager in the building so you would patrol the whole building and make sure everything is.

Safe.

If you're really into it you could decide that you want to become a fitness instructor so our goal is to have the majority of our classes led by students so right now we have a PE course on campus and I think there's about 8 or 9 students currently taking it and there's there working hard their training and their studying to take a national certification exam to become a certified fitness instructor and then they will leave classes when they're back in the fall?

So lots of ways to get involved and we would be thrilled to have you be a part of our brand new program that were excited to grow and expand.

Alright, Nicole.

So exciting.

Yeah.

Can't wait for it to open.

Yeah.

So some other room, uhm, some other things to look forward to is again we have this much larger space we will be working towards opening a biofeedback clinic. And if you're not familiar with biofeedback, it's essentially a tool that can help you learn to control your physiological reactions to stress in real time so you get some readout about particular physiological.

Markers that again allow you to sort of practice how to calm yourself in moments of stress.

Actually, in the fall, launching a new class that will be a pilot for a University wide curricular Wellness requirement. So in the fall you can register to take a foundations of well-being course. It's actually going to be offered in the PE Department, so it will be a one hour credit, but that class really will be rooted in the science of well being, and so you'll do some.

Reading about happiness and well being. But you'll also learn some very specific tools and skills for how to foster flourishing.

I'm going to be offering some many courses that will be sort of a shorter adapted version of that course in the PE Department. Will have some actually a good bit of drop-in workshops around a variety of different Wellness topics will be working with Sarah again to think about the intersection of well being and movement and physical well being. We're going to be expanding. We have a pure health education program currently. I'm also In addition to being a psychologist and also a Wellness coach, and I teach in the Psychology Department.

And I teach a course in the foundations of counseling psychology and Wellness coaching, and so as a result of that course, we've got a core group of students right now who are being trained to be pure Wellness coaches. So that program was set to launch this spring. Unfortunately, another another side effect of COVID-19 that will be put off until the fall, but you will have an opportunity as a first year student to get involved in that program without having to take the full course in the Psych Department.

So in the fall, also be offering a workshop for students who want to become trained as pure Wellness coaches.

So I'm going to switch gears a little bit and talk about counseling and psychological services that again acerra pointed out are located in the Wellness Center, which will be down on the 2nd floor of the Wellness Commons.

So we offer a variety of free services in caps. Uh, we offer individual and group therapy. As I mentioned previously, we offer skills workshops. I'll talk in more detail about crisis services. We also offer some limited medication management, case management and then if you need a specialized type of service we can help with that referral coordination.

These are some of the common presenting concerns that we see in caps, and these are very similar to what other University counseling centers see, so most commonly are anxiety disorders followed by mood disorders. We see students who are recovering from trauma. We also see students who come in for help managing academic difficulties. We often see students who come in who really just want to learn more about who they are and navigate some transitions in terms of their identity.

Or maybe even want to work on career related issues. We see disordered eating, body image, social anxiety really again the whole spectrum of presenting concerns and the staff and caps are well trained to manage really any issue or concern. Again, in an outpatient level that a student might bring in.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time here because you will get this information at orientation as a student, but it's pretty easy to set up an appointment with cabs. You can do that over the phone via email or once you're a student at Suwannee, you get access to your patient portal, your electronic record, and so there's a way within that. That portal 2 also request an appointment.

Um?

As I mentioned, we offer a wide variety of groups, so we have some groups that are more processed in nature, so there's not a structure or particular topic or focus area. We offer groups that are focused on recovery from a variety of issues. We offer groups related to social anxiety, body image, disordered eating, and those groups will often change semester to semester depending on.

The needs of students. So we really try to tailor it to what students are asking for.

As I mentioned, we do have some limited medication management. We have a psychiatrist who is in our office one day per week. This past year it has been on Fridays and so students are able to be seen by doctor Fisher's or psychiatrist. We also offer medication management and health service, which I'll talk about in just a minute.

And we do have two pharmacies lokoli they are in Mont Eagle which is about 6 miles down the road.

So in terms of after hours crisis services, we do have a 24/7 campus crisis line. That line is a partnership with an organization called protocol which partners with a number of universities across the country to offer crisis services. So anytime you call that line, you immediately get connected to a licensed counselor, social worker or psychologist who can provide some short-term crisis focus work. We also advertise a number of national lines which you can see.

Listed here as other good resources for support after hours.

So switch gears here and talk about University Health Service. This is our old building which again we are going to be leaving very shortly. We're currently located out adjacent to the hospital so our move as Sarah mentioned to the Wellness Commons will bring us right into the heart of campus and make us a lot more accessible.

So University Health Service really operates the same as any primary care office, so very similar to what I'm sure you're used to right now with your family doctor. Health service does Bill insurance for appointments. It's a little bit different than caps. CAPS is a free service health service. Again, you're going to want to have your insurance information with you. We've got a wonderful person in our office, can Bradford, who manages all of our insurance billing?

And she's a great person to work with in terms of understanding more about your coverage in any limitations that you may have in any questions that you might have.

This is the current waiting room and Health Service. Again, I need to get new slides once we move, but uh, we will have a much larger waiting area in the new building.

Did mention this with caps, but the Wellness Center is open Monday through Friday 8:30 to 4:30, so same hours for Kapsan Health Service. We've got a fairly decent size staff and health service for the size of our University are two primary providers are Tanya Christian and Mindy Holloway, who are nurse practitioners? We've got a supervising physician and then it admitting physician for any issues that may come up related to the to the hospital.

So this is a typical exam room. Again, looks like you know really any primary care office that you might visit and these will look similar when we move into the into the new space, there's not a whole lot of things you can do to spice those up.

We do have a dispensary in health service, so for common medications, if you don't have a car again, I mentioned that the closest pharmacies are in Mont Eagle, but for most common medications that you need an antibiotic, we do keep those in the dispensary and so you can get those medications from from health service.

I mentioned our providers. We do partner with a large number of insurance providers. You can find that information on our website who we currently are in network with and then again can Bradford would be the person to reach out to you if you have specific questions about your coverage related to the University health service.

We do ask that once you established care with you HS that you let us know if your insurance changes, which for most students may happen over the course of four years. Again, it's helpful to keep your insurance card with you so that when you come in for an appointment you've always got that information at your fingertips to provide.

I'm gonna skip over in this one.

Again, similar to caps, if you have a very specific need in terms of a specialty referral, the Wellness Center is a great resource in terms of helping to coordinate those referrals. And again I keep mentioning Kim's name, but she's a wealth of information and she is the person who makes those referrals for Health Service. So if you already know coming into Swanee that you need a particular specialty provider like an allergist or an endocrinologist, and she would be a great person to connect with, who can get you?

In touch with those folks.

And then finally, what I would share are just a list of helpful resources and links. These are particularly particularly applicable to our current circumstances related to COVID-19, and I would also really encourage you to check out our social media to our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. Those are updated what Sarah at least daily, if not twice a day, and I don't know if you wanted to say anything about what you got going on right now on social media in terms of your chat.

Lunch is that students get check out.

Yeah we have a third week of a 4 week movement challenge so we're just having fun where we've asked different people around campus to kind of lead the challenges so this week we have an assistant football coach who's been demonstrating all the strength moves next week in assistant basketball coach will do it and then just lots of fun great tips from caps and it's a fun fun follow so go ahead and follow those.

Yeah, anything.

When you get a chance?

If you're not in love with, uhm.

Yeah.

Greater good science. That would be another resource. I would encourage you to check out. Let's the calendar that's linked over on the right side of the slide an it's, uh, organization that's really focused on positive psychology and flourishing, and it has a great set of tools and it's very relevant. The calendar is for this month, so check out those resources were happy to answer any questions that you all might have about.

Um University Wellness Center, the Wellness Commons, or just supporting student well being in general.

OK, I see Molly is asking about other yoga classes, so we will definitely have yoga on the schedule an in the fall.

So we'll have the recreational yoga at least twice a week is not a couple times more and then.

There is also yoga classes in the PE Department if you want to take it and get PE credit for it.

Any other questions?

OK, we're not seeing anymore, um, so we wanna again. Thank you for your time and attention. I think I can speak for Sarah, but we're happy to also have you reach out via email if you have questions that you want to ask specifically to either of us, we'd be more than happy to chat with you that way as well.

So thank you all so much for your time today and we hopefully look forward to meeting you on campus soon.

Thank you all.

Thanks.