Wellness Committee

The B&F Wellness Committee goals for FY 24 will center on two areas of focus to improve the overall well-being of our staff. Our collective efforts, activities and communications will focus on these two areas:

1. Mental Health & Well-being
2. Physical Activity

Additionally, senior leaders and managers should support wellness initiatives in their units and be actively engaged in promoting and role-modeling health and wellness.

Improve Mental Health & Wellbeing - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff and their overall mental health and wellbeing.

Objectives:        

• Emphasize tips and tools for reducing stress and anxiety and maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
• Help staff stay connected with co-workers, whether they are remote or hybrid.
• Encourage use of university programming including EAP services & YP4H benefits.

FY24 Projects in support of Goal 1

• Hold quarterly lunch and learns with a focus on mental health & wellbeing topics.
• Provide mental health first aid training for management (optional).
• Coordinate Wellness events to build a sense of community.
• Create a Virgin Pulse Challenge specific to B&F and encourage competition among B&F units.
• Make CPR training available for staff (attendance optional).
• Initiate Pen Pal program- Connecting B&F staff from different units and writing to each other or going to lunch.

Increase Physical Activity - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff increasing their daily physical activity.

Objectives:

• Provide communications and resources focused on encouraging staff to be more active and to exercise each week.
• Promote standard of moderate exercise for a minimum of 150 minutes a week.

FY24 Projects in support of Goal 2

• Encourage movement at the beginning of unit team meetings.
• Hold a B&F Field Day indoors at the RPAC.
• Expand use of treadmill desks and explore piloting other equipment (i.e., bike desk).
• Encourage participation in the Annual University Dodgeball event in mid-December.

Improve Mental Health & Wellbeing - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff and their overall mental health and well-being.

• The Wellness Committee supported the B&F tailgate, an in-person social event and coordinated the toy drive during the holidays.   

Increase Physical Activity - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff increasing their daily physical activity. 

• Piloted treadmill desks in two B&F locations. Created a waiver form with assistance from Legal and Risk and are monitoring usage.

Improve Nutrition – Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff and their overall nutrition.

• Initiated quarterly Lunch and Learns specifically for B&F including a Healthy Cooking Demo, Fall into Wellness, Staying Active at Work and Home, and Work-Life Well-Being, each with 30-60 attendees. 

Members of the Wellness Committee serve as Buckeye Wellness Innovators (BWI) and coordinate wellness activities for their units, which include:

• Office of the Controller - Arranged a tour of Arboretum North in May.
• Internal Audit – Organized a couple of Wednesday walks at noon for anyone in IA (also included the Controller’s office). 
• Bursar - Organized a biometric screening for the SASB,.
• Payroll - Payroll hosts Fun Friday monthly meetings and has instituted the practice of opening the meetings with a 5–10-minute wellness time (i.e. get everyone out of their chairs and do something active to follow the recommended move your body for 5 mins every 30 mins at work guidelines).
• Office of Financial Services – Hosted a Holiday/ Winter Event in January; a Mid-Ohio Food Collective Volunteer Event in June; a Treasury and Investments Pizza Party in November; a Treasury and Investments Super Bowl Potluck in February; a Buckeye Paws Visit in March; a Wellness Walk in April; a Team Building Paper Tower Challenge in May and a Massage Event in June.
• Investments – Hold weekly staff walks during lunch.
• B&F Administration - Scheduled biometric screenings and flu shot opportunities for staff.

• Encourage B&F staff to invest in and prioritize their well-being by reemphasizing the value of preventative care. Help support our staff in prioritizing personal, holistic wellness.
• Ongoing focus on mental health resources to help B&F staff cope with any stress or anxiety that may result from returning to campus addressing topics such as persistent pandemic fears, dealing with social unrest, work/life balance issues, and generalized anxiety of the unknown.
• Focus on the Social/Emotional dimension of wellness. During the course of the pandemic and its required safety measures, there was little opportunity for broad social/emotional community networks of support—further, the pandemic exposed many to the systemic inequalities in our society. As a university community, we have an opportunity within our purview to support our staff as they address those challenges, which impact their wellbeing. A focus on social/emotional wellness can help build a sense of community under the current environment and encourage social interaction in-person and virtual.

• Increase participation and management encouragement of Virgin Pulse Health App and Your Plan for Health resources.
• Focus on mental health as a key theme this year in order to provide B&F staff with coping skills and resources for stress and anxiety.
• Coordinate B&F-specific virtual Wellness events to increase B&F-wide participation.

• Increase frequency of health and well-being communication to B&F staff.
• Improve support and flexibility from management for the health and wellbeing of staff
• Provide stand-up desks to all B&F employees who want one.