Exploring and initiating a well-being model for East Tennessee State University

Michelle Byrd

Associate Vice President and Dean of Students, East Tennessee State University

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of EAB.

Increasing student success is critical to the mission of the East Tennessee State University (ETSU). In the Student Life and Enrollment division, we are constantly exploring how to support students throughout their college experience to graduation. As with the majority of higher education institutions, ETSU has seen a dramatic increase in students who need additional support services to be able to be successful. Foremost of these services is the provision of mental healthcare. However, we recognize that mental health is only one facet of overall student wellness and community well-being.

In the post-pandemic era, universities must reinvent themselves to meet the changing needs of students. Many institutions are becoming aware that “student mental health and well-being are interconnected with academic success and persistence to graduation,” according to Megan Kennedy, Director of the Resilience Lab at the University of Washington. In order to best support students, universities must begin to approach student wellness in a holistic manner.

Educating and supporting students with the dimensions of wellness in mind is proving to be a successful approach for many institutions. Developing programs and initiatives to support community well-being, alongside reviewing how we communicate with students through emails, procedures, and policies is powerful. Amending these efforts can support a sense of belonging and mattering, and they encourage students to view their own personal wellness in a comprehensive manner. However, the efforts should not end there. The academic curriculum is a powerful tool to support a well-being model and can also tie into the dimensions of wellness through a thoughtful curriculum in FYE courses and beyond.

In thinking about an approach to assessing and planning a well-being initiative for East Tennessee State University, several key elements arose as specific steps. First, it is necessary for us to understand and determine what is currently happening on campus that is supporting community well-being. Second, it is important for us to partner and collaborate to support viable current efforts and to envision and realize efforts that we can develop in the future. Third, working across divisional and departmental lines is the only way to ensure that the community of care we strive to create will emerge.

I have outlined a three-year and three-step plan focused on community assessment, growing partnerships, and developing tangible (and data-driven/evidence-based) efforts. For the Student Life and Enrollment area, identifying a key leader to steward these efforts is necessary. If we successfully prioritize and accomplish work in this area, I foresee the potential for additional role development on an executive level as a goal.

Key contributors to the current work have been my colleagues in Student Life and Enrollment, including Dr. Alison Davis, and information garnered through the ETSU EAB Moonshot initiative and the EAB Student Mental Health and Well-Being Collaborative. We have also been very fortunate to have Dr. Bernadette Melnyk, Vice President for Health Promotion and Chief Wellness Officer at The Ohio State University, visit our campus to discuss her own work around wellness and well-being.