Framing well-being in a college campus setting.

This investigatory study sought to explore the range and variation of well-being initiatives on a select cross-section of college campuses across the United States and in Canada. This whitepaper seeks to highlight innovative practices that may inspire institutions to consider new ways of promoting well-being for both students and employees. In this whitepaper, we report findings from 10 participating higher education institutions across three major categories: student-serving programs, employee-serving programs, and hybrid programs. The qualitative data collected from key stakeholder interviews and focus groups were analyzed for trends between and across institutions. Importantly, the results of this study are intended to be hypothesis-generating as opposed to hypothesis-testing. In an effort to describe the state of the field with respect to both common and innovative practices the findings have generated additional questions for further research. Several themes emerged from this study: (1) Campuses have not adopted a universally-accepted definition of well-being; (2) While many institutions are using iterations of the wellness wheel and its various dimensions (e.g. physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, financial) to guide their efforts, there is not a dominant model for structuring or measuring well-being initiatives on campus; (3) There appears to be a systematic shift from use of the term "wellness" to "well-being"; (4) While many institutions are still utilizing traditional health education practices, there appears to be a movement toward more systemic, environmental approaches to well- being, including structural, organizational, and financial strategies, in addition to a range of policy initiatives; (5) There is a range of engagement in well-being initiatives, with significant variance based on institutional philosophy; and (6) Many institutions are designing well-being initiatives that address health disparities-particularly among underrepresented or marginalized populations.

The culture of high-risk alcohol use among club and intramural athletes.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the drinking patterns of club and intramural college athletes and compare their alcohol consumption, perceived norms around the excessive use of alcohol, experience of negative consequences, and employment of protective strategies with those of campus varsity athletes. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 442 undergraduate students attending a private, suburban institution in the Northeast participated in the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment-II Web survey in spring 2011. Thirty-five students identified themselves as varsity athletes, 76 identified as club sport athletes, and 196 students identified themselves as intramural athletes. METHODS: Survey responses were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The Pearson's correlation coefficient and test for independence were applied to identify significant relationships between athlete status and identified variables related to alcohol use. RESULTS: Results indicated that there were significant correlations between athlete status and all variables, to varying degrees. CONCLUSIONS: These findings have implications for campus health promotion professionals and athletics program coordinators seeking to address high-risk alcohol use among college athletes.