Health Promotion and Wellness Services strives to support student learning and academic success through evidence-based and theory-driven health promotion and prevention services. We serve as health and wellness advocates for the Auburn Family and strive to foster a campus atmosphere that helps cultivate and support healthy lifestyle choices. We work in collaboration with our diverse campus population to create positive transformational health opportunities.
NINE DIMENSIONS OF WELLNESS
Physical Wellness
A physically well person actively makes healthy decisions on a daily basis. They eat a nutritionally balanced diet, try to get an adequate amount of sleep and visits the doctor on a routine basis. They make a habit of exercising three to five times per week, has the ability to identify their personal needs and is aware of their body’s limitations. They maintain positive interpersonal relationships and make healthy sexual decisions that are consistent with their personal values and beliefs.
Emotional Wellness
An emotionally well person successfully expresses and manages an entire range of feelings. These feelings may include anger, doubt, hope, joy, as well as many others. An emotionally well person maintains a high self-esteem, positive body-image, and knows how to regulate their feelings. They know where to seek support and help regarding their mental health, not limited to seeking counseling service.
Intellectual Wellness
An intellectually well person engages in lifelong learning. They seek knowledge and activities that further develop their critical thinking and global awareness. They engage in activities associate with the arts, philosophy, and reasoning.
Spiritual Wellness
A spiritually well person has identified a core set of beliefs, which guide their decision making, and other faith based endeavors. While firm in their spiritual beliefs, they understand others may have a distinctly different guiding set of principles. They recognize the relationship between spirituality and identity in all individuals.
Social Wellness
A socially well person builds healthy relationships based on interdependence, trust, and respect. A socially well person is aware of the feelings of others. They develop a network of friends and co-workers who share in common purpose, who provide support and validation.
Environment Wellness
An environmentally well person appreciates the external cues and stimuli that an environment can provide. They recognize the limits to controlling an environment and seek to understand the role an individual plays in the environment.
Occupational Wellness
An occupationally well person enjoys the pursuit of a career they believe to be fulfilling on a variety of levels. This person finds satisfaction an enrichment in work, while always in pursuit of opportunities to reach their professional goals.
Financial Wellness
A financially well person is fully aware of their current financial state. They set long and short-term goals regarding finances that will allow them to reach their personal goals and achieve self-defined financial success.
Cultural Wellness
A culturally well person is aware of their own cultural background, as well as the diversity and richness present in other cultural backgrounds. Cultural wellness implies understanding, awareness and intrinsic respect for aspects of diversity. A culturally well person acknowledges and accepts the impact of these aspects of diversity on sexual orientation, religion, gender, racial and ethnic backgrounds, age groups, and disabilities.
STRATEGIC PLAN 2018-2023
Vision
To be a nationally recognized leader, advocate, and resource in student health and wellness, “United in our commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all served.”
Guiding Values
- Positivity
- Student Success
- Adaptability
- Advocacy
- Inclusivity
Levels of Community Included in our Goals
INDIVIDUAL
Through Awareness and skill-building events and social marketing.
PEER GROUPS
Through challenging social norms and affecting behavior.
ENVIRONMENT
Through advocacy and challenging social structures, law and policy.
Goal 1
Maintain, create, and implement evidence-based programs and services that promote positive change in students’ health and wellness knowledge, skills and behaviors
- Prioritize prevention-focused initiatives across the social-ecological framework for greater population level impact
- Address intersections and determinants of key health issues, as indicated by data, including but not limited to relationships and sexual wellness safety and violence, alcohol and other drug use, mental health, nutrition and sleep
- Implement student-centered initiatives to provide high impact opportunities for learning and to promote student leadership
Goal 2
Develop and implement an assessment and evaluation strategy to ensure data gathered are useful, comprehensive and coordinated
- Identify outcome measures for key health behaviors to measure long-term and culture change
- Gather and obtain qualitative and quantitative information about campus as a whole, as well as specific populations to determine need and identify information gaps
- Use relevant literature and bench marking to determine effective engagement and learning strategies
Goal 3
Increase collaborative opportunities with campus and community partners to expand reach and foster a greater culture of wellness across the Auburn Community
- Increase understanding of public health prevention approaches among campus and community partners
- Partner with other entities to increase and expand the reach of HPWS programs and services to better reach underrepresented and undeserved populations
- Advocate for and implement recommendations from campus health and wellness related task forces/ working groups/ committees
- Assess and advocate for equitable access to health and wellness programs and services on campus
- Maintain and advocate for federal, state, local compliance related measures associated with health and wellness topics
Goal 4
Increase promotion of health and wellness resources and messaging of support services as a normal part of students’ college experiences
- Develop communication strategy to effectively and efficiently promote HPWS resources
- Coordinate and increase visibility of healthy messages, including, but not limited to social norms and educational campaigns
- Utilize a variety of channels to ensure greatest reach of programs and messages
- Utilize best practice message testing and evaluation strategies to understand campaign effectiveness
Goal 5
Ensure sustainability of HPWS initiatives to continue serving the Auburn University community
- In conjunction with the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, develop a strategy for fundraising that will under grid certain HPWS initiatives
- Work to develop and evolve current programs and services to be effective and efficient with only essential human and financial resources
- Continue to advocate for space, staff, and other resources that sustain and build capacity for HPWS
- Continue to be fiscally responsible and prudent with all funding components
Goal 6
Increase/ Improve HPWS team functioning and culture to complete work in the most efficient and productive way
- Increase staff development and training to continue providing high quality research based services
- Offer cross-training opportunities for HPWS and Student Affairs staff to increase understanding of holistic wellness issues and capacity for effective program delivery
- Ensure all staff are adequately trained to provide culturally competent and inclusive programs and services
- Continue cultivating a team of caring, highly trained, multidisciplinary professionals who work together for the grater well-being of the campus
MEET OUR STAFF
Vacant
Director
Karen Wright
Assistant Director
Scott Richardson
Interim Director
Chase Chaplin
Coordinator of Outreach and Peer Education
Morgan McGrady
Coordinator of Nutrition Services, Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist
Vacant
Coordinator of Healthy Relationships
DaNavian Spratling
Administrative Support
Tony Agyin-Birikorang
Graduate Assistant for Nutrition Services RDN, LD
Brandon Schermitzler
Graduate Assistant - Alcohol and Other Drugs Prevention Specialist
Harley Stenzel
Volunteer - Alcohol and Other Drugs Prevention
