Washington Workplaces Promote Wellness

Washington State University

As an institution of higher education, Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman is a hub location for wellness activities such as counseling services, a recreation center, and wellness programs provided through numerous departments. These services are generally for the well-being of the students. However, two WSU University Recreation employees, Joanne Greene, Associate Director, Programs, and Brad Stewart, Employee Well-being Coordinator, are designing a wellness program that is inclusive of faculty and staff, and that merges WSU’s diverse departmental wellness programs.

WSU is currently in the infancy phase of developing this unique wellness program that will reach both employees and students. The program is a collaborative effort of wellness programs and activities from departments across the campus. Joanne Greene and Brad Stewart, of WSU’s Pullman campus recreation center, are charged with incorporating physical fitness activities into the wellness program. In addition, they operate as connectors between all of the departments working to market a broad overarching wellness program.

They began by receiving buy-in and funding from the university and approval from the Division of Business Affairs. Then, the pair created a website which provides information to employees about all departmental wellness activities and resources. Joanne and Brad are currently working to gain employee participation through a summer walking program, website promotion, and through a fitness activity challenge during the Governor’s Health Bowl in the fall.

Their goal is to create a campus culture that emphasizes holistic well-being, which constitutes physical, emotional, social, and psychological wellness. They are making strong strides toward this goal by consolidating individual departmental wellness marketing into one overarching message of well-being.

The major challenge they have faced is accessibility and time schedules. In a survey of faculty and staff, Joanne and Brad found that WSU employees were concerned about the amount of time the wellness activities would take away from their work responsibilities, and also concern with the convenience of the activity’s location. As a result, the two developed outreach programs and now hold workshops outside of the recreation center at departmental locations. They have also paired weight training and nutrition classes with counseling and stress reduction workshops.

Finally, Joanne and Brad are working to influence the campus culture to include wellness such as extending the lunch hour by fifteen minutes to allow time for physical activity. A continuous challenge they face is maintaining the program’s momentum and elevating the importance of the holistic wellness program across the Pullman campus.

Pearls of wisdom that Joanne and Brad offer to others initiating campus-wide wellness programs is to be strategic about gaining support from faculty (especially the Faculty Senate), to ensure the program has a broad reach, and to collaborate with other departments, faculty and staff.

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