Promising Practices: Wellness Wednesdays

Submitted by Carrie Egnosak, Pennsylvania State University (Behrend) and Dane Zdunowski, Temple University

Background/Introduction

Although it’s not a new topic, having worked remotely for a year, during a pandemic, wellness and self-care have become an important focus for both ourselves and those we advise. NACADA was ahead of the curve in this area. In 2018 work began on forming what is now the  Well-Being and Advisor Retention (WBAR) Advising Community. This community keeps both students and advisors in mind as they seek to educate and help others avoid burnout and become overwhelmed by stress. 

As part of its structure, the WBAR created regional liaison positions to ensure that wellness was integrated into the 10 different NACADA regions through events, conferences, and other means. Since we are both passionate about helping our students and advising colleagues, we quickly volunteered to help in Region 2.

Promising Practice: Wellness Wednesdays

It began with a hashtag: #R2WellnessWednesday. We wanted to share with Region 2 via social media the great resources that we have accumulated over the years, along with those from the Well-Being and Advisor Retention committee. Thus, the Wellness Wednesday's idea was created. As most of the social media traffic for Region 2 currently flows through Facebook, we decided to use that group as the social media platform for this promising practice.

Since we work at different universities, Microsoft Teams is used to  communicate. Through Teams, we’re able to chat and edit a central document which lists all the topics to cover for each of the weekly postings. Here are some of the topics that have been covered:

●        Sharing the Greater Good Science Center’s Happiness Calendars

●        A day at home self-care tips

●        Avoiding burnout

●        Mindful eating activities

As mentioned, these topics were derived from our previous experiences, the Well-Being and Advisor Retention (WBAR) Advising Community, and the resource document that had been curated by WBAR community members. That curated resource document can be found below in the resource section of this blog post. Many of the topics for the Wellness Wednesday posts were selected from the section that focuses on advisor self-care and well-being. 

Through likes, shares and comments, we’ve found that the weekly Wellness Wednesday posts have been well received by those who follow the Region 2 Facebook group. There has also been a representative from the Canadian Advising Community who reshares the Region 2 post with their Advising Community. If you’re looking for an easy way to get a similar practice started, consider sharing the Wellness Wednesday posts with your group as well!

Another good starting point could be with the monthly Happiness Calendars. They were first shared with the WBAR Facebook group last year, and since then, have been shared with the Temple CPH advising group. These monthly calendars are day-by-day guides to wellbeing and have covered topics like compassion, kindness, awe, peace, love, and healing. No matter what you start with, the important thing is to find what will resonate with the group you want to reach. Not sure what that is? Just ask them!

Practical Considerations

The great thing about this practice is it can be easily implemented at your institution! For example, Temple University’s CPH advising team has a wellness committee. The committee creates weekly Wellness Wednesday posts for the college Instagram account (temple_cph) with a focus on student well-being. Penn State’s Academic and Career Planning Center has a similar practice. Carrie created both an Adventures in Mindfulness and an Adventures in Happiness Facebook group where she would share helpful articles and activities once a week. These were based on the book How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness by Dr. Jan Chozen Bays and Carrie’s work in the Science of Happiness course through U.C. Berkley’s Greater Good Science Center (there’s a course starting in August if you’re interested, see the Resources section for a link).

If you’re thinking about implementing a wellness-focused practice like Wellness Wednesdays, here are some things to consider:

●        Who is your audience- students, faculty, staff, etc.?

●        What is the best way to communicate with your audience?

o   Do you have access to a social media platform to share the information?

o   If not, what other creative ways can you share the information (like Microsoft Sway, newsletter, learning management system)?

●        How often do you want to share content- weekly, monthly, etc.?

●        Should there be one point of contact or a group/committee for sharing the information?

●        What topics do you want to focus on?

Sharing the weekly Region 2 social media posts or the monthly Happiness Calendars, and creating a wellness committee or social media group are just a few examples of wellness-focused activities. Don’t be afraid to try new things. We also recently began hosting monthly Happy Hour Coloring events for the region. This has been a wonderful way for advisors to virtually come together and color while chatting and relaxing. Why? Because it’s fun and scientifically proven to be good for you!

So, start brainstorming! What are some wellness-focused activities your school and/or advising unit is or can be doing? Do you have ideas of what else we should try within Region 2? Please feel free to contact us! Carrie can be reached at cae136@psu.edu and Dane at dpz@temple.edu.  

Resources

●   Google sheet with wellness resources for both students and advisors from the Well-Being and Advisor Retention Advising Community: 

      https://nacada.ksu.edu/Community/Advising-Communities/Well-Being-and-Advisor-Retention/resources.aspx

●   The Greater Good Science Center and Happiness Calendars: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/your_happiness_calendar_for_april_2021

●   The Greater Good Science Center, Science of Happiness course:  https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/what_we_do/event/the_science_of_happiness

●   How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness:  

      https://www.amazon.com/How-Train-Wild-Elephant-Mindfulness/dp/1590308174

Bios 

Carrie Egnosak

Carrie began her career in higher education as both a Career Services Coordinator and Academic Adviser at Penn State Shenango over 15 years ago. She currently serves as a Division of Undergraduate Studies Adviser in the Academic and Career Planning Center at Penn State Behrend. In her current role, she works with exploratory and engineering students, teaches a first-year seminar and is one of two advisors responsible for the University’s faculty advisor training and development program. Egnosak’s focus on well-being and self-care initiatives includes: creating a first-year seminar curriculum of which 50% is focused on mindfulness/meditation; being a part of the Penn State Student Flourishing Network, and teaching  a course on the Art and Science of Human Flourishing. She also earned a Science of Happiness Certificate from U.C. Berkley. Egnosak currently serves on NACADA’s Region 2 Steering Committee as the Western Pennsylvania Liaison and is a founding member of the Well-Being & Advisor Retention Advising Community.

Dane Zdunowski

Dane currently works in the College of Public Health (CPH) at Temple University where he advises students in the Health Professions major. He has been in higher education for over 13 years, starting his career in financial aid and moving into academic advising for six years. As part of the CPH advising team, Zdunowski is involved with the Professional Development and Transfer Task Force committees. He serves on NACADA’s Advisor Training & Development Advising Community’s Steering Committee and as the Region 2 Liaison for the Well-Being & Advisor Retention Advising Community.