Executive Summary

The Wellness Resource Center approach to wellness is holistic and multidimensional, and our mission statement emphasizes that individual wellness is embedded within an inclusive, healthy community. Our model also emphasizes that wellness is an active process in which individuals learn and make choices that move them toward achieving their full potential. Indeed, the habits of self-care, critical thinking, and community engagement that our students develop at CC will serve them long after graduation as they encounter new challenges in their worlds of work, relationships, and community.

Organizations as diverse as Gallup and the American Association of Colleges and Universities recognize that wellness is inextricably linked to success in higher education and in life. It may be obvious that illness and injury can impede learning and discovery, but it is also true that wellness, which includes resilience and confidence enables exploration, discovery, and learning. When flourishing and thriving, students are driven by a sense of purpose and connection to values, which ignite their excitement and engagement with learning opportunities. And, as students engage in a quest for knowledge and an understanding of the interconnected nature of our world, they also deepen their own complex understanding of themselves as full human beings. In the words of Donald Harward (2016), "Attending to well-being is to realize a fundamental dimension of the purpose of higher education!"

The time is right to update the Wellness Resource Center Strategic Plan. Significant progress has been made on the priorities and initiatives identified in the original WRC strategic plan created in 2014. Additionally, other campus initiatives like the JED Campus Project, Equity in Mental Health Framework Pilot, and the update to the CC Strategic Plan, which share synergies with WRC goals, have generated meaningful attention and energy. We can capitalize on this momentum by refining and clarifying our strategic initiatives, and by investing in developing capacity across campus to support student and community wellbeing.

Key Priorities for the Wellness Resource Center:

• Provide leadership, coordination, and integration of campus health and wellness initiatives.
• Assess and identify trends and priorities through community engagement, data collection, and analysis using culturally sensitive and competent strategies.
• Develop and implement high priority evidence-based strategies to reduce harm and capitalize on individual protective factors and community protective factors to help individuals reach their full potential and foster a healthy inclusive campus community.

You'll find a link to our full Strategic Plan here.