STUDENT COUNCIL. Safety and Wellness Committee WHITE PAPER REPORT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

Transcription

1 STUDENT COUNCIL Safety and Wellness Committee WHITE PAPER REPORT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA

2 Safety and Wellness Committee Purpose: The Safety and Wellness Committee is a group of committed members who focus on promoting and strengthening safety and wellness in the University community. While several committee members are involved in many groups around grounds that advocate safety and wellness initiatives, the majority of our members are not; they actively seek to improve and disseminate information about student safety resources and to improve the resources available to students. Co-Chairs George Knaysi: George Knaysi is a third year majoring in cognitive science. In addition to leading the Safety & Wellness committee, George is the president of Active Minds, a student mental-health advocacy organization. He also enjoys writing a weekly opinion column for The Cavalier Daily. George looks forward to promoting student safety and wellness through Student Council. Please feel free to contact him with questions or concerns! gak2rc@virginia.edu, College 15 Rachel Murphy: I m majoring in Government with a minor in Spanish and a certificate candidate for UVa s TESOL Program and I m excited to make the Safety & Wellness committee an accessible resource for collaboration of health-related CIOs. Outside of StudCo I teach Sunday School at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, act as the House Manager for Kappa Delta Sorority and spend too much time talking about my cat. rpm4cu@virginia.edu, College 16

3 Current Members: Members are selected after a thorough application process that is open to all students at the University of Virginia. The Committee reviews applications and conducts interviews to select committee members each year. Committee members represent a diverse set of backgrounds at UVa. These varying perspectives are important for the initiatives of the committee, for the provide representation of the wants and needs of the Student Body. These are the members of the Academic Affairs Committee*: Michael Lingelbach Natasha Koduri Laura Biver Danielle Ager Kerry Sawyer Alex Pinkleton Seun Orikogbo *We will be adding a few more members after Fall Interviews Major Past Initiatives: Safety and Wellness Forum A forum hosted each semester that brings together student leaders from all of U.Va.'s safety- and wellness-related CIOs. The goal is to encourage inter-cio collaboration and awareness so they may better pool resources and address shared goals. Each CIO gives a 5-minute presentation about their organization. This is followed by small group discussions moderated by members of the S&W Committee. You can find more information about our Spring 2014 event here! SAFE Day Our Safety Awareness Food Extravaganza (SAFE) Day is an annual event aimed at introducing first years to safety- and wellness-related organizations on Grounds and in the greater Charlottesville area. Panel of Professors: An Interdisciplinary Discussion of Student Mental Health Mental well-being is a complex topic, influenced by biological, social, and cultural factors. What does it mean to be mentally ill or well? What unique challenges (and opportunities) do college students face in this area? How do U.Va. students deal with issues of mental health? This event brought together UVa professors, administrators, and other specialists to address these questions. Members included Tim Davis (Director of

4 CAPS), Carrie Douglass (Anthropology), Robert Emery (Psychology), Adriana Vito (Associate Dean of Students), and Dr. Pamela Ross (ER physician). Audience members were encouraged to bring their own questions for the Q&A portion of the event. You can view the local news coverage of the event here! Wellness Week An annual event of wellness related activities put on each year. Each day of the week sponsors a different activity. Events include free yoga, bike safety training, mini cardio exercises with the Red Cross, and free AFC workout classes. We include a raffle for students who completed events from each day. The winner gets a free ipad Mini, the second prize winner receives a $50 gift card to Bodo s, and the third prize winner receives a $25 gift card to Starbucks. Win a Free ipad Mini Want to win a free ipad Mini? Go to any (or all) of the following events during Wellness Week sponsored by Student Council! Each event you go to will enter you into a raffle for a grand prize of an ipad Mini. Second prize is a $50 gift card to Bodo's and third prize is a $25 gift card to Starbucks. Mindfulness Monday Free Cardio + Strength Bootcamp class in AFC 4 with Jane (11-12 pm) Take Care Tuesday Bike safety Jeopardy! event in the Amphitheater as part of the Earth Week fair Mini health fair w/ tables from Peer Health Educators, Student Council, and promotion for testing for STIs outside of Newcomb Wellness Wednesday FREE Pilates Class in AFC 1 with Lindsay (2-3pm) ADAPT FOA (giving away free tickets/parking passes to Foxfields) in Newcomb Ballroom from 6-7 and another from 7:30-8:30 Throwback Thursday American Red Cross mini-cardio challenges with jump ropes for 60 seconds and healthy snack prize of granola cookies (2-4:30 on the lawn)/free Frisbees! Foxfield Friday Sunscreen handing out with safety tips on the South Lawn area w/ ADAPT Bystander Intervention Presentation by StepUp at 3pm in Newcomb Ballroom Major Initiatives: World AIDS Day: The Safety and Wellness committee is excited to partner with UVa Buildings and Grounds to join other notable buildings across the globe in raising awareness about HIV/AIDS on World AIDS Day this December first. We are working closely with University administrators to light Alderman Library red in an effort to get the student body talking about HIV/AIDS and encourage them to get tested. Walgreens Pharmacy has recently partnered with the Virginia Department of Health to offer free HIV testing. Our committee is planning on advertising that opportunity to the student body in conjunction with the building lighting.

5 Global Health Week: Mental Health Day: This year the Safety and Wellness committee is working with the Center for Global Health Student Advisory Board on their Global Health Week initiative in September. Our main role will be photographing and talking to student body members about what mental health means to them. These responses will be formatted as the mental health awareness version of we are all UVA that will be shared through various social media platforms to get conversations started around Grounds about mental health issues and services provided here in Charlottesville. The Sexual Misconduct Awareness, Recovery, and Tangible change (SMART) Resolution: Our committee will be working closely with University administrators, Student Council s Executive Board, UVA Sexual Assault Coalition and other University student groups to address issues of concern relating to the University s Sexual Misconduct policies and procedures.