At Rutgers University at New Brunswick, staff are taking health education one step further, offering a new minor in holistic wellness to support students’ personal well-being as well as to provide practical skills so they can share well-being principles in their workplaces.
The minor, developed by ScarletWell, the university’s well-being division, is open to any student on campus. It is designed to empower a new generation of workers who demonstrate wellness in all dimensions of their lives.
What’s the need: One of the key features of the holistic wellness minor is that it expands education beyond personal well-being into teaching and creating a culture of wellness, said ScarletWell director Peggy Swarbrick. Included in the learning outcomes are an understanding of policies that foster wellness, wellness communication and program development.
“These skills will make Rutgers students more attractive for jobs, regardless of their career or discipline of focus, because they will be able to work with leadership to improve sense of community and belonging and overall health of the workforce,” ScarletWell leaders wrote in the minor proposal to administrators.
Burnout is a frequent concern among American workers and can be a threat to both student and worker retention. One survey published earlier this year found that 66 percent of American employees say they’re experiencing some sort of burnout; young adults (ages 18 to 24) were even more likely to say they’re burned out (81 percent).
Providing wellness education is one way to support student success and give workers the tools they need to be impactful in their roles, Swarbrick noted.
In addition, wellness as an industry has grown, meaning more sectors—including schools and police departments—are looking to hire individuals with a focus on organizational wellness, said chief wellness officer Josh Langberg. More employers are also seeking individuals with a background in wellness.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows wellness-focused jobs are expected to grow at a faster pace over the next decade than the current 5 percent average for all workers.
What’s involved: Any student in any major at Rutgers’s New Brunswick campus can enroll in the 18-credit minor. Students complete three core courses that provide a foundational understanding of well-being as well as a range of skills and strategies courses, which focus on practical applications of wellness, including exercise, journaling or other self-regulation methods.
ScarletWell staff helped develop the program, but the minor is housed in the school of environmental and biological sciences. Students complete courses from a variety of disciplines including the arts, nutrition, sociology and horticulture.
This is the first academic program at Rutgers to have “wellness” in the title. It’s distinct from the offerings of other institutions in the state because of its holistic focus, Langberg noted.
What’s next: The minor was approved in spring 2025 and soft launched this fall with the course Wellness Learning Community, which enrolled a range of students across disciplines at Rutgers. The course teaches students the eight dimensions of wellness—physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, emotional, financial, environmental and occupational wellness—developed by Swarbrick, as well as how to reflect on their own definitions of wellness and how to apply what they’ve learned to their future occupations.
Students were also introduced to various resources on campus including Harvest, an on-campus dining option that focuses on sustainability, economic responsibility and reducing food waste.
Initial feedback from students indicated they valued the course content and wished they had taken it sooner in their academic careers, said Amy Spagnolo, senior program coordinator of ScarletWell. Students also said they appreciated being in classes outside of their disciplines with peers from other majors across campus.
Swarbrick hopes to enroll between 40 and 60 students in the minor. So far, the program has grown through word of mouth.
In addition to the minor, students and staff can engage in digital badging to be credentialed as a Wellness Champion or peer support leader. Since the program launched last year, 60 staff and faculty have participated in the peer-support program.
Do you have a wellness intervention that might help others promote student success? Tell us about it.
Florida State University is home to over 50 fraternity and sorority chapters, with total Greek membership over 6,800—about 23 percent of the undergraduate population. Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) students are generally representative of the student population’s demographics, but they’re more likely to persist, graduate and land a job after graduation compared to their peers.
A new center on campus seeks to ensure that Greek organizations promote holistic student development, in part by partnering with student leaders and providing for-credit leadership classes.
What’s the need: Past grievances with FSL organizations on campus prompted the development of the center to prevent hazing and other harmful practices often associated with Greek life. In 2017, FSU banned all fraternities and sororities following the death of a fraternity pledge. The ban was lifted in 2018 with provisions.
“The challenge we had was to solve [misconduct] as almost a student success issue, and [we] try to focus on how do we help our students be way more successful, focusing in on their leadership and their wellness and holistic student experience,” said Freddy Juarez, FSU’s director of strategic initiatives and fraternity and sorority life.
Now, to maintain good standing, Greek organizations must meet a variety of standards, including that members fulfill mandatory volunteer hours and sustain minimum GPAs. The university also maintains a publicly available scorecard on campus chapters to provide transparency into FSL activities, including philanthropic efforts and past disciplinary charges.
The Center for Fraternity and Sorority Organizational Wellness launched in fall 2024 as an extension of these efforts, with the goal of identifying best practices in the field.
“What are those markers that we can identify early on so that we can intervene with the right intervention that will stop them from going down that path of not being a ‘well’ organization?” Juarez said. “We’re trying to figure out what are all these components and pieces as we start to bring on national research agendas.”
FSL students are also embedded throughout campus as tour guides, student government members and orientation leaders, so providing them with leadership training has far-reaching effects on the campus culture, Juarez said.
How it works: The center engages FSL organizations in a variety of ways. Juarez and Brittany Devies, director of the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Wellness, meet with chapter leaders regularly to discuss governance, risk management, recruitment and new member education, among other topics.
“We’re doing training and helping them navigate these complex issues, because these students are managing multimillion-dollar budgets and facilities that cost multimillion dollars. Our largest chapter is 320 members; that is a lot to manage,” Juarez said.
The center also houses a 12-credit leadership studies certificate exclusively for FSL members in the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, which is taught by FSL staff members.
The courses focus on leadership contexts broadly but also provide developmental opportunities for students interested in being leaders in their Greek organization. Some of the courses also fulfill general elective and graduation requirements, aiding in degree completion.
Approximately 50 students are currently enrolled in the certificate program; next semester they hope to increase that number to 200, Devies said. “Our students are seeing the direct impacts of that on career readiness,” Devies said, referencing another goal of the center.
Staff also consult other institutions on the lessons they learned from revamping FSL requirements over the past few years, including the importance of data collection and how to partner with chapter leaders.
What’s next: FSU doesn’t have one definition of organizational wellness, Juarez said, but the university is conducting research on positive outcomes from FSL organizations to understand how they can aid in students’ career outcomes, graduation and persistence rates.
“We believe that our organizations could be vehicles that are instrumental in student success,” Juarez said. “We’re seeing that with early numbers if you compare our fraternity and sorority students to our non–fraternity or sorority students.”
Positive career outcomes for members have become a top priority at FSU, so establishing stronger partnerships with the campus career center is a growing focus. FSL added a new staff member specifically to liaise with career services.
FSL is also creating a six-week study abroad experience for students in the leadership certificate program based in Florence, Italy, to help them apply leadership principles beyond the campus environment, Devies said.
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Like many elements of a college student’s life, sports and physical activities are tied to trends.
In the early 2000s, young adults led the way in out-of-the-box fitness fads, including Zumba dance fitness and Quidditch—now called quadball. Nowadays, college students are more drawn to Pilates, hot yoga and rock climbing, but lately one trend dominates all: pickleball.
The Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) found that pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, with the number of players growing 233 percent in three years; every age group has seen increased participation. Young adults (ages 25–35) now make up the largest share of participants at 2.3 million players, according to SFIA.
Behind the trend: Mark Chang, an associate professor at SUNY Brockport, is currently researching young people’s interest in pickleball. Chang’s initial screening survey of students from SUNY Brockport found multiple factors motivate participation.
“They want to master some kind of skill, they want to win some kind of game and they want to be connected and engage socially,” Chang said.
One of the reasons pickleball is so popular is because it’s relatively easy to engage in, featuring a smaller court than tennis, low-budget equipment and simple rules. Pickleball is most often played in doubles and doesn’t require high levels of exertion, making it a social and low-intensity sport.
Students who have experience playing tennis, racquetball or similar sports are also more likely to play because of the similarities, Chang said.
Social media may play a role in driving student participation because it gives them a connection point with other peers online, Chang said, but students more commonly cited goals like maintaining health, learning something new and having fun with friends.
Funding fun: As demand grows, colleges are building pickleball courts to accommodate student preferences and encourage them to be physically active. The University of the Pacific was the first college to open a pickleball and padel complex in 2024.
Alabama spent $1.6 million to put in 10 new pickleball courts at the tennis facility, which the vice president of student life Steven Hood told AL.com was in response to recreation trends.
“These courts appeal to a broad demographic, even some of our students who may not be as familiar with fitness and recreation,” Hood said. “It’s a great opportunity to connect and engage students promoting physical activity.”
Nationally, the number of pickleball courts has also exploded, growing 55 percent year-over-year in 2024. As of this year, the USA Pickleball court location database identifies 15,910 courts.
Most campuses with pickleball courts provide racquets and balls at no cost to students, faculty or staff through recreation offices.
Survey Says
A 2023 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse found 57 percent of college students want to work on getting more exercise and 43 percent want to spend more time outside.
When asked how their campus could improve, 23 percent of students said their campus wellness facilities or wellness class offerings could be better. By comparison, 27 percent said their college wellness facilities were satisfactory and 26 percent said fitness class offerings were also done well.
Promoting student success: Pickleball offers several opportunities for student well-being on campus. Pickleball club membership unites students of similar interests, providing a space for physical activity and community belonging and connection.
USA Pickleball lists 212 collegiate pickleball clubs across the country, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks to Colby College in Maine and Florida’s University of Miami, and almost every state in between. As of 2024, the University of Florida had over 400 members in its pickleball club, up from 200 in 2022. Cornell University launched a student pickleball club in 2024, which has 200 pickleballers participating each week.
Students can also profit financially from their involvement in pickleball. After winning the collegiate pickleball championship, the University of Virginia’s pickleball club evolved into a five-person student-run business to manage name, image and likeness deals. Students at Utah Tech University can also receive scholarships for competing in pickleball tournaments or holding a leadership position in the club.
Additionally, pickleball spaces have driven student interest in recreational facilities at some institutions. Whittier College had its inaugural intramural pickleball season this past fall, adding to the college’s four other intramural sports, as well as a staff-versus-student kickball game. Columbus State University leaders hope involvement in pickleball translates to student participation in intramural sports leagues or tournaments.
The image of the suffering artist is a cliché that faculty and staff who work with students in the performing and visual arts are trying to dispel. They believe that creative inspiration doesn’t have to come at the expense of health and well-being.
“You definitely have to be able to connect on some level to that artistry. But that doesn’t mean necessarily that you have to suffer mental health issues to be able to access this,” said Frank M. Diaz, professor in the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
A growing awareness of young people’s mental health and the challenges depression and anxiety pose to student retention and college completion has inspired services for students of underrepresented minority backgrounds, student athletes and other populations on campuses.
More performing arts programs have also begun embracing education on emotional and physical well-being to equip students to succeed in college and beyond.
Under pressure: Performing arts students, like many college attendees, face academic pressures—as well as financial responsibilities to pay for college—that can put them under immense stress. A 2024 survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found that just under half of respondents indicated their top stressor while enrolled was balancing academics with personal, family or financial responsibilities.
Performers also juggle rehearsals, whether individual training or as part of an ensemble, that can require several hours of work outside of regularly scheduled classes. Musicians are often in practice rooms for hours each day, causing them to deprioritize their well-being.
“Some of them practice for six hours,” Diaz said. “That does not include their academic courses, their music courses, their ensembles that they’re in, their lessons and their studio classes. While you pile all that on, it’s a lot.”
Young people in general are more open to talking about mental health compared to previous generations, but performing arts students often feel cultural pressures to maintain certain appearances.
“There’s a lot of stigma around the arts and mental health,” Diaz said. “Music students—we also have ballet here—don’t like to admit that they have issues. It’s seen as a weakness, so it’s been traditionally not talked about in our field.”
Additionally, the performing arts can put pressure on students’ physical health if they’re not trained or properly supported. A research study of music schools in Switzerland and the U.K. found music students had lower levels of physical and psychological health compared to the general population.
This unique combination of factors has pushed some colleges and universities to invest in specialized resources dedicated to students studying music.
Institutional change: Members of the National Association of Schools of Music, the accrediting body for most music programs, are required to provide music students with information about physical and mental health. Most institutions meet this requirement through a dedicated webpage where students can browse campus and external services. If you ask James Brody, director of the Musicians’ Wellness Program (MWP) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, College of Music, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Brody and his colleagues have been engaging in this work informally for over a decade. In 2020 the university rolled out an embedded counseling program, which provided the College of Music with a dedicated mental health clinician, Matthew Tomatz, to lead outreach and deliver services to music students. Tomatz, a former musician himself, receives referrals from faculty and staff to meet with students and provides regular group therapy for student musicians to engage with peers and talk about their struggles.
MWP was officially established in 2021, providing physical and social wellness education to learners across CU Boulder’s school of music to prevent and recover from injuries for long-term thriving.
Approximately 160 students participate in MWP offerings each year, and more than 130 music students accessed counseling and psychiatric services in the 2022–23 academic year, according to a university press release.
The Office of Wellness and Arts Health Initiative (OWAHI) at the Jacobs School of Music was established in 2023 as a way to increase student access to supports. The school is home to 1,600 students, making it one of the largest music schools in the U.S. The size can make music students more isolated from the larger campus community of Indiana University, because “everything [within the music school] is in one place and our students never go out and venture into this Big Ten campus that we have,” Diaz said.
Instead of making students seek out resources, the school centralized offerings into the OWAHI, creating a one-stop shop for a variety of support services that are student-centered and student-led.
Social wellness: One of the undertones of performing arts programs is competition; students fought hard to win a spot at an accredited music program, which can create feelings of rivalry and isolation from their peers.
Jacobs School of Music students enjoy a holiday party thrown by the Office of Wellness and Arts Health Initiatives in partnership with the Jacobs School’s Health and Wellness Committee.
Wendi Chitwood/Indiana University
To combat this narrative, Diaz created events centered on relationships. “Our data basically indicates that people are seeking community. They don’t know how to find it; they don’t know how to build good relationships. They know they want them. So, to me, that’s the basis of everything we do.”
OWAHI offers drop-in office hours for students to get snacks, talk with their peers and engage in destressing activities, including mindfulness training, massage, games and yoga. In addition, the office partners with the School of Social Work to provide student-led wellness coaching, which both connects learners with peers and gives social work students needed supervised practicum hours.
Jacobs students participate in a meditation session provided by the Office of Wellness and Arts Health Initiatives.
Jacobs School of Music/Indiana University
OWAHI offered about 70 coaching sessions in 2023–24 and an estimated 300 sessions during this academic year, which Diaz attributes to increased engagement on campus, student-led marketing and positive partnerships. Students who participate in services are also demographically representative of the school’s population, and Diaz has been pleased to see high participation rates among male students (41 percent of participants), given perceived barriers to engagement in mental health supports for men.
At New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, acting professor Victor Verhaeghe noted that his students tended to arrive with fewer socio-emotional skills, making it harder for them to engage. Verhaeghe has started using class time to lead meditation and shared affirmations, allowing students to become more vulnerable and connected to each other, as well as create self-love.
“I say, ‘Let’s start with sharing who you are; let’s open up to discussion,’” Verhaeghe said. “Some people are not ready to share, but I’ll share my story … It’s all about rewiring, it’s about changing the programming. As an artist, vulnerability is essential. You have to be able to tap into that.”
Physical wellness: Injuries among college students often come from late-night recklessness, sports, accidents or overwork. Less common is the physical strain improper musical technique can have on musicians.
“People don’t understand that musicians get injured, and the injury rate is high—as high as 80 percent of college students,” Brody of CU Boulder said.
Brody offers one-on-one consultations and lessons with students to help them recover from injury, misuse, anxiety or physical tension, helping them connect music and the body to ensure they can continue playing for many years. “I am continually amazed at how anatomically illiterate most musicians are,” he said.
Professor James Brody, director of the Musicians Wellness Program, instructs a student musician on clarinet.
University of Colorado, Boulder
He’s passionate about physical wellness education for musicians, and admits he sometimes has to pull back from overloading students with anatomy lessons.
“Some people say, ‘No pain, no gain,’” Brody added. “I say, ‘No pain, no pain.’ It really shouldn’t hurt.”
CU Boulder music students can also receive free hearing tests, a common practice for music schools to ward against noise-induced hearing loss.
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro offers two elective courses within the school of music that connect physical health to performance, encouraging students to move strategically and reduce tension.
In the future, Brody would love to see donor support for more resources to support musician well-being, including specially designed hearing protection and vocal health support from a laryngologist.
Occupational wellness: College students in general are anxious about their careers—71 percent of students say they feel at least somewhat stressed thinking about life after college—but the performing arts has always been an especially challenging field. Recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that only about 20 percent of students with a fine arts degree actually work in arts, design, entertainment or media occupations.
“Every single student is terrified right upon getting out because of the complete unpredictable nature of this business,” Verhaeghe said.
Brody noted student musicians’ anxiety levels are high regarding their future plans, particularly due to a shrinking number of symphony orchestras and full-time opportunities. “Still, folks line up to do it,” he said. “We don’t have any lack of talent and motivation.”
In class, Verhaeghe talks about the challenging elements of being an actor, from not having work to playing demanding roles with long hours. “I think it’s important that we talk about the next phase,” he said. “I believe this is a calling to do this work, and not everybody’s called … if you really want to have a craft, then you will invest.”
Performing arts students also often live with the tension of trying to balance passion and work. Many people consider art to be a healing or soothing experience, allowing them to engage in mindfulness or relaxation. “The evidence is pretty clear that musicians and artists in general are the exception to the, ‘I do art and I feel good’ thing, like, we don’t experience that because it’s vocational,” Diaz said.
There’s one exception to this work, Diaz noted: when art becomes a service. At IU, students can participate in performances at senior centers through the Senior Outreach Program.
“Instead of going as ‘I’m going to perform this awesome thing with you,’ [it’s] ‘I’m going to connect with you, I’m going to go learn your name and learn what you like and perform for you at these senior community centers,’” Diaz said.
Faculty members agreed there’s a need to encourage students not to burn out or overexert themselves for the sake of their art, because it’s not sustainable in the long term and reduces their career potential.
“The culture is gradually changing because it has to,” Brody said. “If it doesn’t, it’s like feeding people into a wood chipper.”
A wellness vending machine helps increase access to reproductive health products at College of the Redwoods.
ADragan/iStock/Getty Images Plus
According to a May 2024 Student Voice survey, roughly one in five community college students (19 percent) believe their institution should invest in wellness facilities or services to promote well-being. A recent pilot program across the state of California seeks to remove barriers to accessing health supplies for community college students.
The Wellness Vending Machine Pilot Program, a state-funded program established by Assembly Bill 2482, which passed in 2022, aims to make preventative care products more accessible to college students. The program provides funding for 18 colleges to address students’ physical health and overall academic success in a unique, lower-cost way: through vending machines that dispense everything from Band-Aids to birth control.
For some institutions, like College of the Redwoods, the vending machine is the primary source of personal care products on campus.
Community colleges in particular are often underresourced and limited in their ability to provide students with wraparound support services. A 2024 survey by the Richmond Federal Reserve of 80 community colleges in the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and most of West Virginia found that only 3.8 percent of responding institutions offered on-site health services during the 2022–23 academic year. The greatest obstacle to offering such resources is funding.
Katrina Hanson, manager of retention, basic needs and well-being for the College of the Redwoods community college district in Central California, applied for the vending machine grant in July 2023 to address a service gap on the main campus in Eureka.
The College of the Redwoods closed its Eureka student health center in spring 2023, shifting from having a part-time nurse to instead offering tele–mental health services through TimelyCare. It also purchased three wellness vending machines: two for Eureka and one for one of its other two campuses, on the Hoopa Indian reservation.
“It’s not a complete substitute for in-person care,” Hanson said. “But it is more equitable for our students on our Hoopa [Klamath-Trinity Instructional City] and Crescent City [Del Norte Education Center] campuses, as well as all of our online students.”
How it works: The college set up the three wellness vending machines in August 2023, placing one in Eureka’s library and the other in a residence hall, as well as one on the Hoopa campus. The grant requires participating colleges to place vending machines in a central location that students can access at any time.
The requirements also outline the products that should be sold, including condoms, dental dams, menstrual cups, lubricants, tampons, menstrual pads, pregnancy tests and emergency contraception pills. College staff identify and supply the machines with other popular or needed supplies.
Eureka’s wellness vending machine is located in the library, which has the most hours of availability for students, allowing them to access it when they need various health supplies.
Katrina Hanson/College of the Redwoods
For example, when Eureka’s health center closed, Hanson asked which services were most popular. She learned that pregnancy tests and urinary tract infection tests were most commonly used, so she now ensures that the campus vending machines has those supplies available.
Other popular items are Band-Aids, which are free in the machine, and Benadryl, which is discounted.
The machines themselves are rented from a company that also handles snack machines around campus, so the college does not have to deal with maintenance or money collection. Grant funding will cover the machines for the five years of the pilot, but supplies are budgeted by the institution.
“We are trying to get it to be at least somewhat self-sustaining by trying out different items,” Hanson said. “The sexual health and menstrual health supplies are free or discounted, per our grant agreement. The other items we can offer at regular price to try to make some money to keep the project going.”
Survey Says
Inside Higher Ed’s Student Voice survey of college students found that about two-thirds of respondents (n=5,025) rated the variety and quality of campus health and wellness offerings as good or average; about 5 percent indicated they had poor resources. Numbers were similar for respondents at two- and four-year institutions.
Two birds, one machine: In addition to offering tailored health products for students, the vending machines also work as a resource hub, displaying informational posters in English and Spanish to equip learners with important information.
Poster content includes what to know about emergency contraception, how to use the opioid overdose–reversing drug Narcan/naloxone, sexual wellness education and how to provide feedback to the college about using the machine.
Rightsizing: Since setting up the machines, college staff have noticed that two machines (the one on the reservation campus and the one in the Eureka dorm) weren’t being used often, or students were only buying certain supplies. In the residence hall, for example, students only really wanted condoms. So campus leaders elected to downsize and just keep the one machine in the library, offering free supplies in other places instead.
This academic year, the most purchased items have been condoms, menstrual cups, fentanyl tests, Narcan, tampons and acetaminophen. Students also frequently purchase deodorant, energy gels, LiquidIV, lip balm, ibuprofen, pregnancy tests and cough drops.
So far, the machines haven’t been profitable, but staff pull supplies from the Basic Needs Center or local partners to keep costs low and continue to vary their offerings.
The college is planning to reopen its student health center following construction, so the vending machines will support students in the meantime, Hanson said.
Do you have a wellness intervention that might help others promote student success? Tell us about it.
Entering the workforce can be a daunting experience for recent college graduates. A May 2024 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found 68.9 percent of current students are at least somewhat stressed when they think about and prepare for their life after graduation.
Working in a career that resonates with their interests is also a goal for students: Two-thirds of young people globally say they want their job to be meaningful and make them happier than they were last year. Of respondents’ top three work ambitions, young people in the U.S. identified financial stability (65 percent) and achieving work-life balance (52 percent) as priorities.
To help students engage in career wellness, a group of students from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona—supported by advisers from Cal Poly Pomona—created Tune In to Strive Out, which encourages students to channel their inner potential for future success and collective well-being.
The program, housed at the Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions (CCWT) at Madison, includes student resources and facilitator training. The initiative launched in spring 2022 and has supported over 150 students to date.
Survey Says
A survey of young people in the workforce (ages 27 to 35) found about one in four respondents strongly agree their employer has policies or structures in place to support work-life balance.
How it works: The Tune in to Strive Out Career Wellness Program guides students through practices that build their self-efficacy and understanding of their wellness. The goal is to bridge theory and practice in ways that are applicable and flexible to various circumstances students may be in.
The intervention can be offered as a stand-alone program or integrated into existing courses.
Tune in to Strive Out includes five modules, rooted in the radical healing framework, which focus on students’ development of values, career goals, resiliency and senses of hope and community. The program includes a supplemental tool kit of resources for students to explore as well.
“The program addresses unique challenges individuals face by emphasizing the importance of community and cultural strengths in healing and strategies to foster radical hope to persist in the face of barriers,” said Mindi Thompson, executive director of CCWT.
To guide practitioners on delivering the intervention, the center provides a three-hour facilitator training, which costs $30 per person and fulfills continuing education hours for National Career Development Association credentials.
Once training is completed, a facilitator receives access to a portal containing the detailed facilitation manual, a student workbook and presentation slides.
The impact: Seventeen students from three different postsecondary institutions participated in a pilot study, which has since been scaled to involve more than 150 student participants and 90 professionals who completed the facilitator training to deliver the program.
In the future, CCWT hopes to further scale and reach practitioners with the resources so they can better support student success.
Do you have a career-focused intervention that might help others promote student success? Tell us about it.
Co-Authored By Aaliyah Lee-Raji, Amadis Canizales, Amaiya Peterson, Andrew Stillwell, Anessa Mayorga, Aniyah Campbell, A’niyah Leather, Anna Fleeman, Brookelyn Vivas, Cassandra Mathieu, Christian Bennett, Clio Chatelain, Daniel Abernethy, Fatoumata Sow, India Davis, Isabella Maiello, Jazmine Collins, Jennifer Sanchez-Martinez, Joseph Stauffer, Karlee Howard, Kaylee Japak, Keanell Tonny, Kristian Isom, Leonardo Pisa, Mackenzie Lemus, Maddox Wreski, Madelyn Beasley, and Saverio Consolazio
In higher education, one of the greatest challenges is getting students not only engaged in learning but also excited about research. An equally pressing issue is navigating the increasing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the teaching and learning space. This semester, I aimed to tackle both by teaching a psychology of wellness class that integrated the principles of positive psychology with the use of AI tools. During the two-week module on positive psychology, I wanted students to experience research and writing as positive and engaging activities. I floated the idea of co-authoring an article on student wellness from their perspective, incorporating the responsible use of AI, fostering a passion for research, and ensuring that the process was enjoyable.
Here is how the project unfolded:
Day 1: Setting the Stage for Collaborative Writing
The project began by gauging student interest in co-authoring an article on student wellness. I asked those who wanted front-facing credit and authorship acknowledgment to text me their consent and indicate if they would be comfortable with their photo(s) being included. Importantly, students had the option to opt-out at any time if they felt uncomfortable with the direction of the article. I was fortunate because a large majority of the students showed a genuine interest in this assignment.
To kick off the project, I used ChatGPT to generate an outline based on positive psychology as aligned with the textbook chapters and student-led ideas and topics. The students were then divided into groups, where each group received a dedicated workspace in our learning management system, D2L. Each group selected a predetermined subtopic to focus on, and I tasked them with using ChatGPT to generate 20 ideas on that subtopic. From those 20 ideas, the groups narrowed it down to three, which they discussed in detail, considering both research-based and personal experiences. Each group member took notes to guide the next stage of the project.
Day 2: Mind Mapping and Cross-Pollination of Ideas
On the second day, students were given poster paper and markers to create mind maps of their ideas and help gain clarity on their discussions from the previous day. Each group placed their chosen topic at the center of the mind map and organized the associated ideas around it. The mind mapping exercise allowed students to visually connect their thoughts and discussions from day one.
One member from each group was nominated to circulate among the other groups, engaging in discussions about each team’s subsection of the article. This not only gave students a broader perspective on how their topics related to the overarching theme of student wellness but also facilitated the flow of information between teams. After gathering input from other teams, the group representative brought the new insights back to their original group, enhancing their understanding of their own topic and how it fit into the larger article. To ensure continuity, students took photos of their mind maps, which would later serve as guides for the writing process.
Day 3: Writing and Research Alignment
On the third day, each group was tasked with creating a document that contained a minimum of five references, with each group member responsible for contributing at least one reference. The document consisted of chunks of article drafts accompanied by their respective references. Students were asked to align these references with the ideas discussed during the earlier sessions and integrate them into their mind maps. Next, students took 15 minutes individually within a shared Google doc to write about their subsection, drawing from their mind maps and class discussions. This individual writing time allowed students to consolidate their thoughts and begin crafting their portion of the collaborative article.
Day 4: Ethical Use of AI in the Writing Process
The fourth day focused on ethical AI usage. We began with a discussion on how students had been using AI tools like ChatGPT and how they envisioned using any type of AI tools in the creation of this article. Together, we created an AI disclosure statement, agreeing on how AI would be used during the editing phase.
We explored specific AI prompts that could enhance their writing, including:
“Rephrase for clarity.”
“Organize this paragraph for the introduction, summary, or conclusion.”
“Give me a starting sentence for this paragraph.”
These prompts were designed to guide students in using AI as a tool to enhance clarity and organization rather than relying on it to write the content.
Day 5: Final Writing and Cohesive Editing
On the final day, students returned to their group documents and spent 15 minutes revising their sections. Afterward, they worked together to co-edit the document without the use of AI, striving to make the article more cohesive and polished. Finally, we revisited the agreed-upon AI prompts, and students were given the option to use AI only when they felt it was necessary for tasks like rephrasing sentences or organizing paragraphs.
The project culminated in a completed article on student wellness, co-authored by students and enhanced by responsible AI usage. The collaborative process not only demystified research and writing but also empowered students to see these activities as positive, engaging, and enjoyable experiences.
Takeaways From This Teaching Experience
The AI writing project was a valuable learning experience for the students, as it incorporated individual and collaborative learning elements alongside technology-based approaches. Reflecting on this experience, I have identified several key takeaways to carry forward into the new semester of teaching and learning.
The Importance of Throwback Learning Experience: Something Familiar Traditional tools like markers and poster boards remain essential in fostering cohesion, socialization, and competence-building. These activities encouraged students to engage in discussions and create visual representations of their ideas, which helped build their confidence and reinforce the collaborative process.
Starting With Original Ideas Matters Students benefited from discussing their ideas within the context of originality before integrating AI-generated content. Generative AI poses a potential threat to originality, emphasizing the need for human thought, discussion, and creativity to provide a benchmark for comparing the quality and intentionality of AI contributions.
Clear Parameters and Prompts Are Essential Defining the role of AI in the writing process was critical for success. Many students initially viewed AI as a tool for producing entire works. By discussing the parameters beforehand, it became clear that AI was to be used to supplement and enhance cohesion rather than replace the creative process.
The Importance of Prompt Development Students gained a growing understanding of the importance of crafting effective prompts for AI. Recognizing how prompts influence AI outputs is a crucial skill that was previously underdeveloped in many students. Moving forward, this skill will be vital as they navigate the intersection of human creativity and AI assistance.
Final Thoughts
Developing effective AI prompts is a pivotal skill that empowers students to use AI intentionally and meaningfully in their learning. A well-crafted prompt acts as the foundation for generating accurate, relevant, and cohesive responses, highlighting the importance of clarity, specificity, and purpose in the initial instructions given to the AI. By understanding how to formulate prompts, students can better harness the potential of AI to support their ideas, enhance their creativity, and improve the quality of their work without relying on AI to replace their original contributions.
This skill also encourages critical thinking, as students must evaluate the type of input needed to achieve a desired outcome, troubleshoot issues in responses, and refine their prompts for better results. Moreover, it aligns with the broader need for digital literacy in education, preparing students to interact responsibly and effectively with technology in academic, professional, and personal contexts.
Lastly, incorporating intentional AI use into teaching strategies ensures that students not only learn how to use these tools but also understand their limitations and ethical considerations. By balancing traditional methods, which foster originality and human connection, with innovative technologies like AI, educators can create a holistic learning environment that values both creativity and technological fluency. This balance will be crucial as AI continues to play an increasingly integral role in education and beyond.
Dr. Courtney Plotts’ students in class.A snapshot of the students’ work.
Special Note of Pride: I would like to note that this group of students worked on this project during class and completed this while two natural disasters accrued, power outages, remote and in person learning and did a great job considering the circumstances. I am so proud of each of them! We originally had bigger visions for the project but due to weather we had to make some changes to the plan!
Freshman College Students’ Advice to Peers for Health & Wellness in 2025
The new year always comes with the possibility of change and growth. As students, much of our growth focus is academics and learning-based. Being academically successful isn’t an easy task. Student wellbeing is an important factor in the learning process (Frazier & Doyle-Fosco, 2024). And for most of us, throwing ourselves into our studies and homework can come with negative side effects like burnout, stress, and decreased mood and motivation. But being successful doesn’t have to come at the risk of your mental health. In our view, academic success means more than good grades and knowledge. Although you may have gone through something last year, or are still going through it now, it doesn’t have to affect you in a negative way. There is so much more that goes into being successful. Success requires dedication, consistency, self-care, and a positive mindset. But for many of us a positive mind set is hard to come by.
The Collective Obstacle
The average age of our class is 19.7 years of age. We have lived with social media all of our lives. A lot of voices have imparted information. Some good, some not so good. The negativity that is readily accessible on social media can lead to negative self-talk. “Negative self-talk refers to your inner voice making critical, negative, or punishing comments. These are the pessimistic, mean-spirited, or unfairly critical thoughts that go through your head when you are making judgements about yourself” (Scott, 2023). Negative self-talk can be detrimental to your psychological well-being. It can really bring you down after you do it for too long. Negative self-talk can also induce stress, depression, and relationship problems. How you can start to believe the negative self-talk: you can start to believe negative self-talk after a while of you doing it. The more you start to tell yourself you can’t do something, the more you’ll start to believe it.
The effects of positive self-talk are the opposite of negative self-talk. It will improve your mental health, can reduce stress, lessen depression, and improve relationships. This not only impacts academics, but other aspects of life. To minimize negative self-talk, you can catch your inner critic when it’s happening and change your thinking to think more positive thoughts, remember that thoughts are not facts, contain your negativity, shift your perspective, think like a friend, or other trusted advisors.
Two Positive Ideas to Embrace in 2025
Two ideas to embrace in the new year that can jumpstart your positivity are evaluating how you think about failure and the control of your future. Failure is an inevitable part of life, but it is through our setbacks that we find opportunities for growth and success. How we respond to failure matters more than the failure itself, and cultivating a mindset of optimism is key to overcoming challenges (Hilppö & Stevens, 2020). Optimism, combined with grit—the perseverance and passion to achieve long-term goals—forms the foundation for a positive and resilient lifestyle. Together, these qualities enable us to turn obstacles into stepping stones and approach life’s difficulties with determination and hope. Think of failures as learning opportunities. Think about the knowledge you gain from hindsight when thinking about failure.
Additionally, understanding the distinction between what we can and cannot control is crucial for maintaining positivity and health (Pourhoseinzadeh, Gheibizadeh,& Moradikalboland, Cheraghian, 2017). Accepting that not everything is within our power allows us to shift our focus to areas where we can make a difference and grow from the experience. Remaining positive during challenging situations and remembering the aspects we can influence help us navigate adversity with a constructive mindset. It’s also important to respect that some factors are beyond our control and may happen for reasons we do not yet understand. By seeking to understand why certain things are outside our control, we can cultivate acceptance and use these moments as opportunities for reflection and personal growth.
The Importance of Health Communication in 2025
Healthy communication is critical to positive personal growth. Asking open-ended questions is important when engaging in meaningful communication because it ensures that there are no assumptions being made. One researcher found that assumptions “lead to consistent and unnecessary community failures” (Macrae, 2018, p.5). Additionally, healthy communication can build true connections among people and better understanding. Also, avoiding assumptions is a way to stay present in the moment allowing you to determine if there is genuine interest in the conversation. Most importantly, health aspects of communication like listening, reflecting, and pausing encourage new thinking and can develop new ideas just about anything.
In addition to healthy communication, think about sharing more of your experiences with peers. Starting from a place of curiosity and health, inquire about someone’s well-being. You can start with a simple phrase like “Are you ok?” Or be ready and willing to share your own personal experience when the time is right. Not only can this help someone else but sharing your story can also help you process what you have been through. Sharing and listening to each other’s experiences can show understanding and help you feel more willing to share now and in the future. Understanding and being present is a power combination for communication.
Lastly, remember that relationships are complex. Whether parental, academic, or personal, everyone has their relationships challenges. One tactic to strengthen relationships is humor. Remember to laugh and enjoy life and the people around you. Most people forget about light heartedness and humor, and how humor can help strengthen and resolve issues within a relationship. Humor can improve the quality of relationships by reducing the stress, tension, and anxiety of the people within the relationship. This effect can only occur if humor is used respectfully in relationships. When used right, humor also can create a more comfortable relationship with less anxiety and sadness for those in it. It’s ok to laugh—even in challenging times.
Summary
A positive mindset is the root of achieving any goal you put your mind to. As a collective voice, we hope the information we shared is valuable information. Our goal was to share meaningful information for your new year and new journey in 2025. As students, we fully understand the importance of mental health, especially because all of us experienced covid at some of the most challenging times of our lives. We hope this information helps you in the new year as much as it helped us learn and grow. Remember to stay happy, healthy, and safe in the new year and think positive!
Dr. Courtney Plotts is a Dynamic Keynote Speaker, Author, and Professor. Dr. Plotts is the National Chair of the Council For At-Risk Student Education and Professional Standards, the country’s only organization that provides standards for working with marginalized and nontraditional students in Kindergarten to College. Her role as National Chair includes training, consulting, and research. Her subject matter expertise has been used in a variety of book publications. Most recently “Small Teaching Online” By Flower Darby with James M. Lang published in June 2019. Dr. Plotts was recognized in 2017 by the California State Legislature for a bold commitment to change in education. She is currently in talks with higher education institutions to launch an institute that focuses on diversity and best practices in online teaching spaces to launch in 2021.
References
Frazier, T., & Doyle Fosco, S. L. (2024). Nurturing positive mental health and wellbeing in educational settings – the PRICES model. Frontiers in public health, 11, 1287532. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.12875
Hilppö, J., & Stevens, R. (2020). “Failure is just another try”: Re-framing failure in school through the FUSE studio approach. International Journal of Educational Research, 99, 101494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.101494
Macrae, C. (2018). When no news is bad news: Communication failures and the hidden assumptions that threaten safety. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 111(1), 5–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076817738503
Pourhoseinzadeh, M., Gheibizadeh, M., & Moradikalboland, M., Cheraghian, B. (2017). The Relationship between Health Locus of Control and Health Behaviors in Emergency Medicine Personnel. International journal of community based nursing and midwifery, 5(4), 397–407.
I often ignore my well-being—mind, body and spirit—while advancing my academic career. As a woman of color academic, balancing work and life feels very hard. My personal and professional lives are tangled, pulling at me in tiring ways. Relaxing seems wrong, and resting feels like a luxury.
I get so caught up in meetings and deadlines that on a typical day I often skip lunch. I forget to drink water and don’t even step outside for fresh air. My self-care plan has been “out of sight, out of mind.”
Now, in my 40s, I see the toll this has taken. I struggle with muscle spasms, neck pain, mental health issues and deep exhaustion. The hardest part? My six-year-old daughter says, “Mom works a lot.”
Enter Slow Living: A Revolutionary Recalibration
The slow living movement, rooted in the slow food movement, promotes a lifestyle centered on mindfulness, sustainability and quality over quantity. It encourages us to slow down and make intentional choices in a world that often values speed and productivity. This philosophy emphasizes the importance of relationships, well-being and balance.
For women of color in academia, slow living practices provide a means to counteract the intense pressures of teaching, administration, funding and publication. These pressures are heightened by systemic challenges such as microaggressions, tokenism, code-switching and the obligation to mentor students from similar backgrounds. This leads to cultural taxation and the demands of invisible labor, resulting in increased stress and burnout. The slow living approach promotes self-care and helps us reconnect with what truly matters, enhancing resilience and mental well-being.
The Invisible Burdens Women of Color Carry
Women of color in academia often face unique challenges that remain invisible to many of their peers. For example, the overwhelming burden of service work, particularly mentoring students of color, frequently contributes to feelings of isolation and burnout. While mentorship is vital and rewarding, it takes a significant toll, contributing to a sense of alienation, invisible labor and racial battle fatigue. The emotional and intellectual labor involved often detracts from time that could otherwise be spent on research, teaching or personal pursuits. Addressing these issues requires a deeper understanding of systemic obstacles and intentional efforts to foster equitable academic environments.
Furthermore, women of color academics often encounter challenges related to tokenism within predominantly white academic settings. Their roles can be perceived as symbolic, which leads to the expectation that they represent entire racial or ethnic communities. Faculty of color are frequently called upon to address student concerns regarding racism or to spearhead diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, a burden not equally shared by their white colleagues.
Moreover, microaggressions—subtle yet harmful discriminatory behaviors—can create an environment in which faculty of color feel compelled to continually validate their competence. These experiences highlight the need for systemic change to cultivate a more inclusive atmosphere where women of color faculty can thrive and contribute their invaluable perspectives.
The Slow Living Solution
The principles of slow living offer women of color academics a robust way to reclaim their time and energy, enabling them to focus on their well-being, passions and purpose. Embracing slow living practices may aid us in navigating the often overwhelming demands of academic life with greater intention and balance, which may amplify self-agency.
Mindfulness practices such as morning meditation or walking in nature can provide essential moments of peace. Setting boundaries, saying “no” to additional commitments and taking mental health days are other strategies that allow academics to preserve their energy. Intentional time management helps reduce stress and ensures alignment with personal values, creating a more fulfilling academic experience. Institutional support for mindful practices can be crucial in promoting the well-being and retention of women of color faculty by creating environments that prioritize self-care, work-life balance and mental health.
Slow living enhances career satisfaction by aligning daily tasks with long-term goals. Reflecting on work can help identify opportunities that bring purpose and joy, like prioritizing collaborative projects that match personal values. A model that reflects this intentional approach is transformational leadership in academia. This model focuses on leaders encouraging collaboration, promoting shared goals and emphasizing personal growth and well-being. Women of color faculty may use this model to engage in work that is aligned with their values and supported by institutional leadership, promoting meaningful collaboration and decreasing the likelihood of feeling disconnected or burned out.
Incorporating slow living into academia can inspire a ripple effect across departments and institutions. Women of color faculty prioritizing well-being and balance set a powerful example for colleagues and students. These shifts can foster a culture that values mental health and personal fulfillment as much as professional achievement. Over time, tailored slow-living principles could encourage academic institutions to reimagine success metrics, emphasizing sustainability, collaboration and community impact.
From Individual Change to Institutional Transformation
Slow living can’t flourish in a vacuum. For women of color faculty to thrive, institutions must provide meaningful support. Structural changes can transform individual efforts into a sustainable culture shift—and, honestly, wouldn’t academia be better off for it?
Institutions can enhance the well-being and retention of women of color faculty through several structural changes. Implementing flexible work policies, such as remote teaching and flexible hours, helps faculty manage their professional and personal lives. A holistic approach to tenure and promotion that values work-life balance, teaching quality, mentorship and community impact fosters inclusivity. Mentorship programs and employee affinity groups provide essential support and collaboration. Additionally, dedicated mental health resources help mitigate burnout. Programs like the Advancing Faculty Diversity initiative at the University of California celebrate (and fund) faculty DEI contributions. Finally, incentivizing collaborative work can shift success metrics to prioritize impactful contributions, benefiting faculty and institutions.
A Paradigm Shift Worth Embracing
After years of pushing myself to the limit, I realized it was time for a change. While moving to a peaceful countryside cottage wasn’t possible, I discovered that small daily habits could transform my busy life. I started by walking: Each morning, I would take a 10-minute walk through my neighborhood, paying attention to the rhythm of my steps and allowing myself to immerse in the present moment fully. I also began typing slower, breathing mindfully and speaking intentionally. These simple changes introduced mindfulness, making me feel less frantic about productivity and helping me prioritize quality family time.
Embracing slow living in my professional life has been a game-changer. It’s helped me focus on well-being and redefine success as living better rather than just doing more. As academics, we should celebrate lifelong learning and incorporate slow living into our lives. After all, if we’re too busy to care for ourselves, what are we truly working for?
So here’s my challenge to you, dear reader: Take a deep breath. Walk a little slower. Break away from the chime of an email sitting in your inbox. Speak with intention. Let’s rewrite the script that tells us we must hustle to the point of harm. Our careers, families and, most importantly, we are worth it.
Kenyatta Y. Dawson is a program director and faculty member at Texas Woman’s University. She specializes in diversity, equity, inclusion, student success and professional development in higher education. Her research focuses on mentoring adult learners, career satisfaction and equity-driven leadership. Grateful to Texas Woman’s University’s Women’s Thought Leadership Program for advancing underrepresented voices, Dawson embraces the Write to Change the World mission for inclusivity and social impact.
Instead of canceling class sessions, professors with conflicts at Old Dominion University may now schedule guest lectures on substance use, stress management, nutrition, safe sex and sleep.
xavierarnau/E+/Getty Images
“Hello faculty! Are you attending a conference, going on vacation, taking a sick day or want to take a break from your usual lecture? Consider having staff from the Recreation and Wellness Health Promotion team come in and lead an engaging and educational presentation during your class time!”
So reads a circulating announcement from Old Dominion University’s Rec Well staff, inviting professors to consider their guest-lecturer services when conflicts with teaching schedules arise.
What it is: Health educator Steven Gunzelman says that the new service—called “Don’t Cancel That Class!”—is also available to conflict-free professors who simply see value in connecting their students with key health information they might not otherwise get.
“One of our strategic cornerstones is health and well-being, so we really wanted to develop something that would go into the classrooms and meet with students in that kind of setting, where we can talk about these kinds of things that they might not learn other ways, like feeling stress or sleep issues,” he explains. “Students are here to, of course, get their academics. But in order to be able to graduate and get those life skills, they need health and well-being. It’s a big component of [student success], as well.”
ODU follows the collective impact approach to well-being, meaning that no single department or office on campus owns this responsibility, or—to put it another way—that everyone owns this responsibility. Rec Well, for its part, offers programs throughout campus on a wide variety of topics. But the “Don’t Cancel That Class!” initiative allows professors to pick a guest talk from the following list of five, starting with one concerning the use of alcohol and other drugs:
AOD & Me: Safety With Substances
Burn Bright, Not Out: Strategies for Managing Stress
Food for Thought: Nutrition 101
Play It Safe: The Lowdown on Safe Sex
Zzz’s for a Better You: A Sleep Hygiene Journey
The why and how: Gunzelman says the list is informed, in part, by the top four health campus health concerns, based on internal data gleaned from the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment: stress, anxiety, depression and sleep.
This tracks with Inside Higher Ed’s own Student Voice survey series, which in 2024 found that nearly all students said stress was impacting their ability to focus, learn and perform well academically, either a great deal (43 percent) or some (42 percent), and fewer than half (42 percent) rated their mental health as excellent or good. And in another 2023 Student Voice survey that asked about sleep, 60 percent of respondents said getting more of it was a top health goal.
ODU professors interested in scheduling a guest lecture can fill out this form. Gunzelman says the first to schedule a guest lecture was a professor of engineering, who wanted students to learn more about managing stress. He expects this to be a particularly popular topic.
While the current “Don’t Cancel That Class” staff is small, Gunzelman’s hope is that it will be able to accommodate as many requests as possible and possibly expand topic options with time. As for measuring impact, Gunzelman initially plans to solicit feedback from students about the usefulness of the information shared and how likely it is to influence their behavior going forward.
The student feedback will also help staff members refine their approach.
“Can we add in more engagement, or can we add in more topics that are more geared toward students?” he says, for example. Gunzelman also suggests that professors encourage student participation, “whether it be surprise, whether it be a plan, whether it’s built into the syllabus for credit, or if they want to be part of it and are still in the room with us.”
Don’t cancel that class: ODU is one of a growing number of institutions to offer a Don’t Cancel That Class–style initiative. The University of Minnesota at Morris, for example, offers one that includes workshops on professional development and academic skills such as time management, financial literacy and résumé building.
Programs of that nature highlight the connection between academics and other pillars of student success, such as health and wellness. But the general practice of finding alternatives to canceling course sessions, especially multiple course sessions, is also considered a best practice in faculty work. The English department at the University of Louisville, for example, suggests rescheduling sessions (including via synchronous online sessions), asking a faculty colleague to fill in or assigning students an independent learning exercise or asynchronous lesson.
Does your institution have a different kind of don’t-cancel-that-class initiative? Tell us about it.
Whether it was logging overtime behind laptops before work-from-home boundaries were put in place or turning to mobile phones and tablets for entertainment during lockdowns, many of us recognized the uptick in screen time during the height of the pandemic. Our eyes likely noticed the uptick too by feeling increasingly strained.
March is Workplace Eye Wellness month, so we’re highlighting some tips from Prevent Blindness to help keep screen time in check and lessen eye strain at work and at home.
Screen time: Try to decrease the amount of time spent in front of screens and/or take frequent breaks to give your eyes a rest.
Use the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take a 20-second break and look at something 20 feet away.
Filters: Screen filters are available for smart phones, tablets and computer screens. They decrease the amount of blue light given off from these devices that could reach the retina in the eyes.
Anti-reflective lenses: Anti-reflective lenses reduce glare and increase contrast and also block blue light from the sun and digital devices.
Intraocular lens (IOL): After cataract surgery, the cloudy lens will be replaced with an intraocular lens (IOL). The lens naturally protects the eye from almost all ultraviolet light and some blue light. There are types of IOLs that can protect the eye and retina from blue light.
Visit Prevent Blindness for more information and resources on eye and vision health.
HR Perspective
From the human resources perspective, HR practitioners can help employees who are experiencing vision loss or low vision. Employees experiencing a decrease in vision may have difficulty completing paperwork, reading standard-size print, discerning regular or colored font on computer screens, or locating the cursor, all of which impact productivity at work.
In the Disability in the Workplace toolkit in CUPA-HR’s Knowledge Center, Mississippi State University’s HR guide offers plenty of creative low-tech and high-tech accommodations for employees with low vision:
Low-tech accommodations:
Place tactile dots on controls on equipment, such as the telephone, a copier, the microwave in the breakroom, etc. so that an individual who is blind or visually impaired can determine which buttons perform different functions.
Place a braille sticker on an employee’s mail slot to identify it.
Increase or decrease lighting in an office or cubicle to increase visibility or reduce glare.
Cover a window to reduce glare.
Provide extra floor space in a cubicle to accommodate a guide dog.
High-tech accommodations:
Implement screen reading or screen magnification software to allow an employee who is blind or has low vision to complete computer tasks.
Provide a larger monitor or dual monitors to allow an individual with low vision greater access to visual information.
Implement a braille display paired with the computer or an iPad or used independently to allow vision-impaired employees to take notes and recall information.
Provide a video magnifier to increase the size of print and enhance the contrast of printed materials.
Provide optical character recognition hardware or software to capture print information and translate it to audio output.
To read the full guide and explore other disability inclusion examples from higher ed, visit the Disability in the Workplace toolkit (CUPA-HR members only resource).
