We Are the Champions, My Friends
This yoga class, held at the Kline Center, is only one of the many fitness classes and informational sessions presented throughout the academic year. Photo by Carl Socolow '77.
Dickinson named Workplace Wellness Champion
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
Dickinson was named the 2015 Workplace Wellness Champion of
the Year by Partnership for Better Health, a Pennsylvania nonprofit that
recognizes organizations and individuals working to improve health at the
organizational, individual and community levels. The award is the latest in a
string of accolades designating Dickinson as a healthy place to live, learn and
work.
“We are delighted to receive this recognition,” says Jeanette Diamond, health and wellness coordinator, who accepted the award during a June 8 ceremony on campus.
The Wellness Champion award is based on the strength of Dickinson’s comprehensive, incentive-based wellness programming, which aims to help employees maintain physical, nutritional, intellectual, emotional and financial health. Offerings include on-campus personal- and professional-development classes and lectures; exercise and meditation sessions; nutritional, weight-loss and smoking-cessation programs; and free and low-cost (and/or reimbursable) preventive-health screenings as well as campuswide runs and walks, an annual Benefits & Wellness Fair and Spring Into Fitness week.
Dickinson employees and students enjoy fresh organic produce from the College Farm; kosher, vegan and gluten-free dining options; and a seasonal-fruit stand stocked by local produce. They reap the benefits of free access to indoor and outdoor athletics facilities, including tennis courts, a running track, a pool and a newly expanded fitness center. Dickinson’s on-site dietician additionally presents mindful eating and nutrition sessions to employees throughout the year.
The campus also features a bicycle repair shop, run by students and staff, and two bicycle-loan programs that encourage one and all to take advantage of an easily walkable/bikeable campus and town, as well as the region’s many hiking and biking trails.
Together, these initiatives create a collegewide, multipronged approach to promoting personal and environmental health among campus community members, says Diamond, who notes that this culture of wellness includes collaborative programming for both students and employees.
Partnership for Better Health is only one of the outside organizations that has taken notice. Most recently, Dickinson was designated as an American Heart Association Platinum Fit-Friendly Worksite and received the League of American Bicyclists’ silver Bicycle Friendly University designation award during the 2014-15 academic year.
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Published July 2, 2015