A visitor to the information desk at Wilder Main this semester has so far been greeted by, among other things, a sign which reads: “The Wellness Center is CLOSED for the semester. Subject to occasional hours indicated by this sign suddenly saying ‘Wellness Center now open’. If you would like a cold care kit Wilder Desk may have some, ask.” But don’t panic! According to Lori Flood, Health Promotion Coordinator for the Wellness Center, the Wellness Center isn’t going anywhere but up.
“We are attempting to have regular office hours, every day from 1–5 p.m., staffed by students,” Flood said. “We are also in the process of ‘vision planning’ — what we want the Wellness Center to look like in five, 10 years. We have a board of campus and community members, students and staff, who are helping us define objectives and clarify roles,” she said.
The Wellness Center — which is a part of Student Health — was founded in 1999 following Student Senate and campus suggestions for improved health relations and alternative health services. “Overall, our mission is to serve as a point of entry for students attempting to locate programs and services on- and off-campus on a broad range of college health issues,” Flood said. “In addition, we provide programs such as massage, HIV testing, peer educators, classes and free cold care kits.”
Paid and volunteer students do much of the heavy lifting for the Wellness Center, staffing office hours, HIV testing and special interest work. According to Flood, the current uncertainty over hours is due to the fact that student workers and volunteers are just arriving back on campus and figuring out their schedules. “We’d like to increase our efforts to provide information and support to the greater campus community on issues of alcohol and other drugs as well as work more collaboratively on topics such as sexual assault,” she said. “We have two positions available right now for students who want to assist with the Alcohol/Other Drug awareness efforts. We need students who want to find reasonable interventions for support, awareness, and prevention related to abuses of drugs and alcohol.”
The Wellness Center also collaborates on student groups for events and projects like National Condom Day (Feb. 14), World AIDS Day and Body Image Awareness Month. In addition, the Wellness Center is expanding the workshops it offers, with the first three of the semester next weekend — “Activation of the Innate Immune System by Acute Stress” on Friday, Feb. 15 at Craig Lecture Hall in the New Science Center from 12:15-1:15 p.m.. On Saturday, Feb. 16, there is “Set up an Herbal Medicine Chest in your Home,” from 2-3 p.m. and “How to Eat Organically” from 4-5:30 p.m., both in Wilder 112.