An initiative run by the American College Health Association, Healthy Campus 2020 — which promotes health on college campuses — recently unveiled a new wellness initiative at Oakwood University in Alabama, a historically black college affiliated with the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Oakwood students will now be evaluated on a number of traditional biomedical indices, such as blood pressure and hemoglobin, as well as their "spiritual health," "mental/emotional health" and the amount of rest they are getting. The results of these evaluations will be available to them on a transcript they can track throughout their college career.
Students preparing for careers in health and medicine will be subject to more rigorous wellness training. The idea is that it will allow them to be better health educators in their future careers.
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In conjunction with the project, the university plans to establish a health and wellness action clinic on campus. It also intends to create "student activity stations" throughout the campus that encourage students on their way to class to engage in healthy activities.
Prudence Pollard, vice president of research and employee services at Oakwood University, linked the concept of wellness to the university's Christian philosophy.
"So many of our students don't understand how they have been designed — that the promise of John 10:10 applies to them," she said in a statement. "So, incorporating knowledge of who they are, they begin to understand how they have been created, and how they should be stewards of their health."
Healthy Campus 2020 has taken different forms on the 21 campuses it works with. In each instance, it sets goals for improving student, faculty and staff health in coming years.
At New York University, for instance, the affiliate program, LiveWellNYU, does not emphasize "spiritual health," but has established 10 target areas for improving student health. The top priority is alcohol, tobacco and drugs, followed by health literacy, interpersonal relationships, mental health and nutrition. Encouraging safety, physical activity, sexual health, sleep and stress reduction are other priorities.
Correction: Prudence Pollard's title has been corrected. It was originally listed as provost.
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