The University of Wyoming’s Wellness Center recently received a NASPA Student Affairs Professional in Higher Education Excellence gold award in athletics, recreation and physical fitness categories for innovating and promoting physical, emotional, mental and financial well-being.
“I think part of why we won the award was because [of] when half acre was renovated and expanded,” Assistant Director of the Wellness Program, Lena Newlin said. “It was expanded to be more than a gym. So, we are doing more than just a physical fitness program. We are addressing health and wellness at multiple levels [such as] emotional, social wellness, financial wellness and those are unique to campus recreational departments across the country.”
To be considered for the NASPA award, the UW Wellness Center went through the application process, along with submitting a proposal.
“In the proposal, we had to explain what we do, what our program is, we have to explain how it meets the goals of the student affairs professional organization, how we support students, how we support student development,” Newlin said.
This NASPA award is the second award that the UW Wellness Center has received. Last year, it received the American College Personnel Association award. This is a national award from a different professional organization for an outstanding, emerging wellness program.
“We continue to do the work that we have been doing and so receiving the award doesn’t change any of that other than it helps bring some attention to the programs that we offer so we continue to do the good work that we have been doing and it’s nice to get some recognition for that,” Newlin said.
Many of the Wellness Center programs include stress management, mindfulness workshops, the body project, puppy play day, kitty cuddle time and cooking classes.
“I think it’s nice to see that culturally we’re starting to develop an awareness of wellness as a holistic concept, not just going to work out for physical nutrition or physical health, which is what a lot of people think of, so knowing that we are not the only people who understand the value of that approach to wellness is reassuring,” UW Student Intern at the Wellness Center Tabitha Thein said.
The UW Wellness Center is divided into several student sub-committees and each focuses on a particular program. All the events are facilitated by the students and relate to mental health, sexual health, nutrition or physical activity.
“We each have different roles in the wellness center and it wasn’t just one of us who made the difference, but all of us working together as a team,” Wellness Center Assistant and Outreach Coordinator, Sarah Luzinski said. “So, I think it just helped our group dynamics and made us wanna work even harder too. It was more encouraging for our staff and to know that all our hard work is paying off.”
Newlin will be representing UW at the NASPA Annual Conference for its 100th anniversary in Philadelphia from March 3 to 7.
