With the new year, many students have made resolutions to enhance their lives through healthier habits. UR has many professionals available to assist. Campus health and wellness programs cater to students’ overall needs, with healthcare practitioners, dietitians, personal trainers, mental health professionals, and the chaplaincy working closely together to address a student’s mental, physical, and spiritual concerns.

“UR is unique in its approach to wellness,” said registered dietitian Madeline Nathe. “Even thinking about the physical space of the Well-Being Center, where we have my office, student health and counseling and psychological services, as well as a salt therapy room, meditation and yoga space, and the recreation center, shows the thought process of UR leadership when thinking about the students’ wellness resources.”

Nathe works one-to-one with students to develop healthy eating habits, initially emphasizing the importance of making small changes. She collaborates with Dining Services to design nutritious meals and teaches cooking classes at the Demonstration Kitchen. This spring, she plans to host sushi-making classes, a tasting event with local coffee roaster Afterglow Coffee, and the annual Valentine’s Day chocolate testing in February.

“Classes are small, and students come with friends and end up having a pleasant 45-minute break where they can relax, cook or bake, and chat with their friends or with me and my student employees,” Nathe said. “It’s a fun reprieve from studying that students might not think about as a wellness resource, but it definitely is.”

The Weinstein Center for Recreation is another part of the Well-Being Center’s holistic approach that focuses on fitness. The Center recently received a gold-level award from the Exercise Is Medicine program, a U.S.-based health initiative coordinated by the American College of Sports Medicine that encourages physical activity as an integral part of disease prevention and treatment.

Weinstein Center fitness and facilities manager Sarah Sheppard Lee helps students devise an exercise plan and can track body composition to monitor results. Students can receive free personal training, participate in fitness classes, or use cardiovascular equipment, free weights, basketball and volleyball courts, squash courts, an indoor swimming pool, and an indoor track.

“Getting your heart pumping and moving your body can increase your hormone levels,” Lee said. “Endorphins and serotonin, in particular, are known to improve our feelings of well-being and happiness.” She said exercise may accompany mental health counseling for some students.

All students are required to take Wellness 100 in their first year and two additional wellness courses before graduation.

“The hardest part of starting an exercise routine is stepping your foot in the building,” Lee said. “We’re breaking down that barrier by holding wellness classes in the gym.”

University Chaplain Craig Kocher’s office is also integral to holistic health on campus.

“I’m proud to work at a place that values wellness in multiple forms. Spirituality is central to holistic wellness because it encourages the quest for meaning, purpose, connection, and transcendence, which are fundamental to living a whole and fulfilling life,” Kocher said. 

“In the chaplaincy, we strive to help students and others cultivate a life of wellbeing and wholeness, drawing from the wisdom of the world’s religious traditions.”

As the semester begins, the chaplaincy communities focus programming on themes of renewal. Kocher said that students often resolve to be more active in their faith in the new year.

“The new year offers an opportunity to reflect on who we are, who we want to be, and how we might close the distance between the two,” Kocher said.