The Student Wellness Advisory Council is offering students the opportunity to become wellness leaders for others on campus. This organization is interested in undergraduate and graduate students to join them on their journey to design a supportive environment for students.
To join this committee, students must complete an application by Sept. 4. To ensure fairness in the application process, several undergraduate and graduate representatives will assess the forms to create a diverse student body. Once submitted, the leadership team will notify the chosen students.
This council is based on the viewpoints of UT students and provides opportunities to collaborate with other schools and programs. More partnerships help members obtain a wider view of student well-being and achievement.
This organization also cooperates with the UT System Student Success team.
Jessi Gold, the chief wellness officer for the UT System, took advantage of this program and successfully developed her own platform. Gold is also an associate professor in the department of psychiatry, where she works with patients one-on-one. She became an expert on student wellness after studying at the University of Pennsylvania, Yale School of Medicine and Stanford’s department of psychiatry.
As a chief wellness officer, Gold identifies opportunities by utilizing her broad perspective on the work across the system. Her goal is to dismantle barriers and promote collaboration. As a college student, Gold dealt with the challenges of mental health.
Instead of getting the help she needed, she said her mental health issues were ignored as she was told that she was not “sick enough.” Gold spoke on how this reaction from health experts inspired her.
“That statement basically lit a fire under me to do better, and I have been trying to be a soft landing for patients and a person who is focused on systems change ever since,” Gold said.
This new council goes beyond the monthly meetings for initiatives that students will participate in. Once admitted, members will have the chance to manage their social media, complete wellness projects and participate in the wellness summit.
The wellness summit takes place in the summertime, where affiliates of this organization can talk about their experiences.
“There will be room for everything from advising on systemwide wellness efforts and ideas to helping create health communications and outreach,” Gold said.
One of the council’s priorities is to strengthen the Vol community. When a student joins, they establish a sense of social unity that prioritizes them to thrive in a safe way. This ignites the idea that Vols take care of each other by increasing interaction.
“It can take a worry or challenge on your campus and directly lead to conversations that will hopefully promote change,” Gold said.
As Gold empowers the idea of student wellness, Leigh Morales, the director of student success for the UT System, spoke about what student success means to her.
“Student success is multi-faceted and factors in many areas of a student’s development — academic progress, social engagement, financial stability and wellness, to name a few of these key areas,” Morales said.
The core ideas of student wellness and success work coherently for this council. As students succeed academically, they also fulfill their wellness goals.
“As this council relates to student success, we believe that by students engaging in conversations about systemwide wellness, we will be better able to advocate for them, develop initiatives that support them and remove barriers to their overall success,” Morales said.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Jessi Gold’s name.
