Dear Campus Community,
Recruitment continues as we seek new members to join the newly-formed Wellness Leadership Council (WLC). We continue to seek interested students, faculty and staff, passionate about making an impact in helping reimagine the way wellness is supported at Ithaca College. Diverse representation from across the college is absolutely vital to successfully realize the ambitious vision and mission of this process and we want to hear from you!
Deadline to apply to join the WLC is Wednesday, December 15. Please complete the Wellness Leadership Council Interest Form to submit your application.
The WLC has identified three separate work groups that will organize this process and consolidate where you can make an impact. Learn more about these work groups and some initial benchmarks the WLC hopes to achieve as we move forward through the Spring 2022 semester and beyond.
Communication Workgroup Goals
- Development of a centralized Health and Wellness website
- Establish a content calendar and develop distribution strategy for health and wellness resource highlights
- Develop recruitment communications to participate on the WLC for the next academic year
- Develop a communication plan to keep the campus community informed of WLC updates and progress
Curricula Workgroup Goals (Integrating Health & Wellness into Academic Curriculum)
- Create canned classroom presentations and/or assignments
- Create a platform for faculty to easily access and utilize these assets
- Build connections with faculty to share this new resource
Wellness Wheel Workgroup (Identification of Health & Wellbeing Resources)
- Self-study of already available health and wellness resources
- Identify gaps in services and/or resources and make recommendations to adopt new wellness services and tools
- Promote a mental health phone application that would be helpful for students, staff and faculty
- Develop and adopt a calendar that highlights the various dimensions of wellness and features these dimensions by monthly focus
Interested individuals looking to participate as active members of the WLC can expect a time commitment of 3-5 hours per week. This time commitment may include regular workgroup meetings and/or active time spent working on various goals and initiatives.
We hope to hear from you!
Sincerely,
The Wellness Leadership Council Co-Chairs
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About the Wellness Leadership Council
During the fall semester of 2019, Ithaca College launched a bold endeavor to rethink the way wellness initiatives were being prioritized, supported and integrated across our campus. This effort, rooted in several of the goals and initiatives outlined in the Ithaca Forever Strategic Plan, was originally spearheaded by a 13-member Wellness Action Team workgroup tasked with laying the groundwork and vision for this venture.
Through months of collaboration, rigorous self-analysis of existing wellness programs, marketplace analysis, and extensive research into wellness models that meet the vast needs of our IC community, the Wellness Action Team developed the framework for a reimagined integrated wellness model to center the needs of both students and employees of the college alike. In addition to articulating a new vision and mission, the Wellness Action Team outlined a set of guiding principles for this critical work and shared a list of recommendations, leading with the creation of a Wellness Leadership Council to steer this process.
The formation of the Wellness Leadership Council is the first phase of this strategic process. The WLC is the leadership vehicle for sharing input, providing collaborative support, and fostering inter-departmental and inter-divisional communication as we proceed with the work of reorganizing Ithaca College’s wellness model and campus-wide initiatives. Serving as the initial co-chairs for the WLC are:
- Michelle Goode, Program Director for the Center of Health Promotion
- Elizabeth Mendez, Human Resources Director, Benefits Administration
- Dan DeCaria, Assoc. Director, Student Experience Marketing and Communication (SACL)