Student Staff Wellness: Ensuring Wellness is Priority #1 - Brandon Smith and Ian Crookshank

Student Staff Wellness: Ensuring Wellness is Priority #1
by Brandon Smith and Ian Crookshank

What is more important for an individual?: wellness, academic performance or role expectations? The fall of 2014 saw a rise in a-typical, high level incidents, which impacted student staff. Combined with feedback expressed in individual meetings between students and the Director, a clear need for a wellness program was established. Now a full year after launching the program, we will provide data, insights and discussion on how we are prioritizing wellness and shifting organizational culture in Housing and Residence Life.

1. Welcome to #ACPA16 in Montreal, we are glad you are here! Bienvenue à #ACPA16 à Montréal, nous sommes heureux que vous soyez là ! Consider: #ACPA16 provides an opportunity to discus global concepts in higher, post-secondary, and tertiary education. Please remember that not everyone in the room is from the same country nor works within the same system of higher or tertiary education. We invite you to use language that welcomes all participants to the conversation. Engage: Tweet what you learn using #ACPA16 Reflect: How will you actualize what you learn in this session? Please silence your phone.

2. Student Staff Wellness Ensuring Wellness is Priority #1

3. Brandon Smith, Residence Life & Education Coordinator Ian Crookshank, Director, Housing and Residence Life

4. Agenda Outcomes/Takeaways Why Wellness? 4 Priorities The Pilot Results What's Next

5. Session Outcomes Importance of wellness culture to staff and department Need for support of student staff and leader well-being. Take it back

6. Why Wellness? 1 on 1 chats with Director Incident Management Staff Incidents & Impacts Expansion in response

7. Change before you have to - Jack Welch cc: V. Sharma - https://www.flickr.com/photos/34011797@N04

8. Recent Headlines

9. Student Staff Everything Else You Academics Staff

10. How did we do it? Pilot Assessment Recruitment 2015 August Training Expanded Program Assessment

11. Assessment Methods Responses to the assessment tool One on One Meetings Feedback from Focus Groups and Team Leads

12. Over the past 4 weeks how often did you feel …Happy

13. Self Reported Stressors 1415 Q3 33% 5% 39% 11% 11% 1516 Q3 0% 8% 42% 42% 8% *** Live in Staff Only

14. Low Trends Means in the Following: External/Societal Impacts Existential Challenges Balancing Responsibilities 1516 – Q2 : lowest mean scores ATB

15. High Trends Means in the Following: Community and Relationships Interest in Life Enjoyment of the role Decline in financial stress

16. Themes Student Staff are generally happy in their role Challenging and Rewarding Team is more open with their needs Most recent survey had greatest variation in responses Qualitative responses

17. Implications

18. What's next? Targeted programming by staff group Incorporation into our summer programming Peer led wellness

19. Take Away In small groups: Is this an evident or emerging issue on your campus? What do you feel would need to be prioritized? What would you need to do to create change in the priority areas? Champions, Buy-in Needed, Audience

20. There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things – Niccolo Machiavelli

21. Thank you and Merci Evaluate : Please complete your session evaluation using the CrowdCompass Commit : What do you commit to doing as a result of participating in this session? Tweet your commitment using # ACPA16 Follow along with us at # RyersonSA and ryersonstudentaffairs.com