Talking Stick - March/April 2018 - 26

RES LIFE

"The Health and Well-Being LLC at Oregon State
University in Corvallis has an advisory board
served by the resident director, college advisors,
faculty, and the academic success center."

PHOTO COURTESY OF OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

in a way that makes sense, so that one
layer feeds into the next. An example
is focusing on social wellness at the
beginning of the semester to encourage collaboration and support and then
focusing on emotional wellness later in
the semester.
Marigold Hudock, a student
development specialist at Texas A&M
University in College Station, explains
that THRIVE, the wellness LLC on
her campus, is guided by four objectives, as defined on the LLC's website:
"develop essential life skills, achieve
a balanced lifestyle, foster general
health, and begin a life of purpose and
engagement." Residents participate
in a semester-long Wellness Warrior
Challenge that is guided by the Seven
Dimensions of Wellness and features
programming such as community
dinners and an outdoor adventure trip.
Other research and theories identified
by faculty partners may ultimately define the learning outcomes of an LLC,
but these dimensions can also inform
initial planning and brainstorming
stages. For example, the Stages of
Change Theory, which details the
stages people go through when trying
to adopt new habits, is utilized by the
Wellness LLC at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
Lydia Hitchcock, assistant director of
wellness, explains that the goal is to

TALKING STICK

support residents in thinking about
how their wellness and behaviors are
tied to their academic success and
healthy living.
The Wellness LLC at East Carolina
involves a collaboration between Campus Living and Campus Recreation
and Wellness. These sorts of strategic
partnerships are key to the success of
health and wellness living-learning
programs. Many LLCs find that collaboration with and buy-in from their
campus counseling center, recreation
center, financial aid office, career center, wellness and health promotion center, and faculty help to create engaging
and relevant programming in line with
their own goals. As one example, the
Health and Well-Being LLC at Oregon
State University in Corvallis has an
advisory board served by the resident
director, college advisors, faculty, and
the academic success center, while the
University of Vermont in Burlington
and University of Pittsburgh hold
weekly or monthly meetings with
stakeholders for planning and coordination purposes.
Faculty engagement is also vital for
success. Interacting directly with faculty via an LLC provides high-quality
and frequent opportunities for student
engagement. Thanks in large part to
faculty efforts, Northern Illinois Uni-

versity in DeKalb launched its Sport,
Recreation, and Wellness LLC for the
2017-18 academic year with great success. According to Leanne Kulchawik,
assistant director of fitness and wellness, one of their biggest achievements
was filling the entire floor dedicated
to this community. In collaboration
with the RecWell department, this LLC
offers opportunities to participate in
intramural sports, outdoor adventure
activities, and teambuilding workshops. At St. Catherine, the Healthy
Living Community has forged a strong
partnership with the Public Health Department and university staff. Faculty
work directly with RAs and incorporate their passion for research and
community work into the LLC, which
also benefits from a relationship with
sisters from St. Catherine's associated
church who help lead meditations for
their residents.
Sometimes, the partnership
extends to almost all facets of the
campus. The unique campus-wide collaboration that is part of the Wellness
Environment (WE) at the University
of Vermont supports a residential
program that "incentivizes college
students to build healthy brains and
healthy bodies," according to WE's
website. Championed by Jim Hudziak,
a renowned UVM faculty member in
child psychiatry and pediatrics and

Talking Stick - March/April 2018

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