USU awarded healthy campus medal
Last May the Utah Department of Health awarded the USU Student Health and Wellness Center with the 2008 Healthy Campus Gold Medal Award as part of the “Healthier You Legacy Awards,” which started in 2002.
“As a campus community, we are all working together for health and wellness,” said Ryan Barfuss, prevention specialist at the Wellness Center.
The center has implemented a variety of programs to promote the health of employees and students. The programs range from the “Be Well” Program, where a dietitian works with the eateries on campus, giving students healthier options for lunch, as well as programs for breast cancer awareness and alcohol awareness. The center also promotes smoke-free environments on campus. The dietitians also work with students and employees to answer any nutritional questions they may have.
“Most programs are geared for USU employees’ health, but that then translates down to the students,” Barfuss said.
Barfuss said the Student Health and Wellness Center is trying to “diminish stereotypes by making walking, biking, eating right, and other healthy activities the standard on campus,” so as to remove the stigma of being a health nut and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The Wellness Center also teaches balance in life through focusing on providing services for students in five specific areas – physical, social, emotional, financial and spiritual – as well as emphasizing safety on campus and raising awareness of health-related issues.
Barfuss said it is through student volunteers, such as the peer health educators who are there to answer any questions, and other organizations on campus like the service clubs, that the programs are able to spread throughout the student body and have a greater effect on campus. Barfuss said there has been a great student response on campus to these programs.
“Nationwide, USU is a very safe school,” Barfuss said, and by receiving this award, it “gives USU recognition that may help pull in prospective students looking for a healthy and safe place to study.”
Barfuss said the Wellness Center is striving to achieve the Platinum Award, which is the highest recognition in the “Healthier You Legacy Awards” for this coming school year. The award specifically recognizes the efforts of college campuses and other community organizations, of increasing opportunities for their members to participate in health-enhancing activities such as healthy behaviors and safety. To learn more about the “Healthier You Legacy Awards” visit health.utah.gov/ahy.
Upcoming events put on by the Student Health and Wellness Center are Breast Cancer Awareness Day on Oct. 3 in the TSC, and Alcohol Awareness Week, Oct. 13-17.
Although the Student Health and Wellness Center was awarded the Healthy Campus award, it has been through the cooperation of multiple organizations on campus that the programs implemented have been successful in achieving this recognition, Barfuss said.
For more information, visit the Web site at www.usu.edu/swc/nutrition.
–heather.c.griffiths@aggiemail.usu.edu