HealthEU is a broad-based effort to connect students, faculty and staff with necessary resources to support their wellness and well-being.
With a new academic year, Elon University has launched HealthEU, a comprehensive effort to support the health and well-being of students, faculty and staff.
HealthEU provides access to resources, educational tools and support for all members of the university community while cultivating personal wellness values they can rely on even after leaving the university. The effort includes a robust website at www.elon.edu/healtheu that will continue to be updated with new resources and help connect students, faculty and staff with health and wellness opportunities.
“Personal and community health and well-being are increasingly important to all members of the university community, and Elon can be a leader in ensuring people have what they need to be safe, healthy and fulfilled,” said Vice President for Student Life Jon Dooley. “HealthEU is designed to connect students, faculty and staff with the broad range of resources that Elon has now and will continue to build out in the coming years. It’s a comprehensive effort that will foster education, relationships and engagement.”
HealthEU is rooted in Elon’s Boldy Elon 10-year strategic plan, which was launched in spring 2020. Included within the plan’s Thrive theme, the HealthEU initiative was developed with the goal of Elon serving as a national model for programs, research and dialogues promoting resilience, belonging and all aspects of lifelong personal wellness.
The initial work that would lead to the launch of HealthEU predates the launch of Boldly Elon. Elon initiated a renewed focus on health and well-being starting with the Presidential Task Force on Social Climate and Out-of-Class Engagement and continuing with the Student Wellness and Well-Being Work Group and the JED Campus project.
Those efforts are reflected in the six dimensions of HealthEU that address the well-being of the entire person. The six dimensions are:
- Community Well-Being
- Emotional Well-Being
- Financial Well-Being
- Physical Well-Being
- Purpose Well-Being
- Social Well-Being
HealthEU advances the “Act-Belong-Commit” framework that promotes positive physical and mental health and which the university adopted in 2019. The ABC model urges people to be active, search for a sense of belonging and commit to a cause in order to promote happiness and good mental health.
A model that is “For You, For Us, For Our Community,” HealthEU includes a visual identity to help students, faculty and staff recognize ways to tap into its resources. Central to that identity is a lotus flower, which in many cultures is a symbol of resilience. The roots of the lotus are below water, with its stem rising through the mud to bloom just above the water’s surface.
The new HealthEU website is a convenient tool to connect with the variety of offerings that fall underneath the HealthEU umbrella. Each dimension has its own searchable database of various initiatives, events and educational resources that can assist students, faculty and staff in advancing their health and well-being in that area.
The website also includes the latest news and updates around health and well-being at the university as well as a list of upcoming HealthEU events.
Also new this year is the extension and expansion of the university’s partnership with TimelyCare, a service for students that provides support from anywhere in the United States, 7 days per week, 365 days a year. Students offered overwhelmingly positive feedback to a pilot offering of TimelyCare during the 2021-22 academic year, with more than 1,000 Elon students accessing services.
New services offered this year are scheduled counseling, health coaching, group sessions and access to psychiatry services. These services are offered in addition to existing in-person services offered with no user fees through the university’s Counseling Services and Student Health Services. Students can learn more about TimelyCare and create a free account here.
The HealthEU initiative will continue to grow in the coming years as Elon achieves more of the goals outlined in the Thrive theme of Boldly Elon. The university is moving forward with planning for expanded community wellness, recreation and health center in the heart of campus that will likely include the construction of a new facility.
Supporting the HeathEU effort are members of the Council on Wellness and Well-Being:
- Ginette Archinal, medical director of student health services and university physician
- Ann Bullock, dean of the Dr. Jo Watts Williams Schhool of Education, professor of education and director of teacher education
- Stacie Dooley, assistant dean of career and student development, Elon Law
- Marcus Elliott, director of the Odyssey Program
- Jenny Gonzalez, interior designer
- Anita Hodnett, director of counseling services
- Kathy Harrison, faculty/staff health and wellness clinic manager
- René Jackson, associate director of career services for graduate school programs and director of PACE program
- Caroline Ketcham, professor of exercise science
- Susan Kirkland, associate vice president for finance and administration
- Danielle Lake, director of design thinking and associate professor
- Larry Mellinger, director of campus recreation and wellness
- Paul Miller, associate provost for academic excellence and operations and professor of exercise science
- Sylvia Muñoz, assistant dean of students and director of the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity Education
- Melissa Murfin, associate professor, research coordinator and director of curriculum and instruction for the physician assistant studies program, director of education strategies for the School of Health Sciences
- Roselee Papandrea Taylor, associate director of university communications for admissions communications
- Jana Lynn Patterson, associate vice president for student life, dean of students and assistant professor
- Brandy Propst, director of Elon 1010 and assistant director of academic advising
- Kelli Shuman, associate vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer
- Jeff Stein, vice president for strategic initiatives and assistant professor of English
- Amanda Tapler, senior lecturer in public health studies
- Joshua Tillotson, captain, Campus Safety and Police
- Paul Tongsri, director of student care and outreach
- Charlotte Williams, associate director of campus recreation and wellness for student wellness
- Kathy Ziga, interim director of academic advising