Susan Chen and Tina Craven from the School of Medicine’s Office of Graduate Education were some of the first to join the Wellness Champions initiative in August 2019.
Since becoming Wellness Champions, Susan and Tina have formed a wellness committee in the Office of Graduate Education and launched several wellness initiatives that promote a culture of health within the department. These initiatives focused on the physical, mental, and social aspects of well-being for faculty, staff and graduate students. Susan and Tina have also centralized UNC health and wellness resources and disseminated this information to those in their department.
To promote physical health, the Office of Graduate Education (OGE) continues to participate in the biannual Miles for Wellness Challenges, a team-based activity initiative by and for the state employees. In the fall of 2020, the OGE reached a total of 5,611,369 steps (2,806 miles)!
Additional events focused on mental health and social wellness, included self-care bingo, mindfulness, and journaling and reflection sessions. Even amidst the COVID-19, the OGE has been successful in keeping employees engaged socially through their Slack channel. Through Slack, the OGE shared uplifting quotes, pictures of their pets, plants, family members, and favorite recipes. A wellness listserv and social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram were created to share Total WellBeing Wellness Wednesday webinars, UNC wellness resources, and other wellness events.
Thank you, Susan and Tina, for leading wellness initiatives at the School of Medicine’s Office of Graduate Education.