After months of discussion about a wellness educator position, interviews have commenced. This position will serve as the case manager for the CARE team and will promote wellness education on campus. Melanie Caba, Health and Wellness Committee Chair, Ken Nilsen, Dean of Students, and Lucas Gallo, President of the Student Government Association, conducted first round phone interviews last Friday.
The position approval has faced a lot of challenges. “Much like many projects within the SGA, the biggest difficulty was proving that students actually wanted and needed this position to be added to our campus,” explained Gallo. The SGA utilized a student survey to gauge interest in health and wellness programming. The results were enough to establish a convincing argument that mental and physical health are important to the community. Beyond showing a need for the wellness educator, the position needed approval from administration and funding.
Sara Klein, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, commented, “obstacles…are common to any new position.” The SGA and other committed students were advantageous in helping both Klein and the Student Affairs team in portraying the importance of such a role. Once the students demonstrated their desire for a wellness educator, unilateral support from administration was shown. “It was a great example of how administrators and students can work together to make positive change on our campus,” said Klein. The SGA Cabinet, Melanie Caba, Ken Nilsen, and Sara Klein, with the advisory support of Chris Shemanski, were mainly involved with the process.
Work from both the Office of Undergraduate Student Life and the SGA was instrumental in the approval of the position. Gallo commended Caba’s work and how she was able to bring student health to the forefront. Gallo believes that his cabinet was pivotal in the process, since they brought the issue all the way to President Farvardin, and “they were able to bring a personal and emotional perspective into why we need someone like this at Stevens.”
The new educator will serve as the chair of the CARE team. They will be in charge of facilitating the follow-up process to ensure that every report receives full attention. Most of the time, the chair will delegate the follow-up to the most appropriate CARE team member, or deal with it personally.
Ken Nilsen has historically been heavily involved with CARE follow-ups, and will still be involved by supervising the position. Nilsen will still interact with students when necessary and will train the new person and assist them with understanding Stevens’ student body. Even though Nilsen has a strong connection to the student body, he can’t deal with every student concern since he is only one person. This new position allows for a full-time person to be able to fully concentrate on and put more time into CARE concerns. The position “will greatly enhance our response and broaden the number of students we can support, and the level of support we can provide to each student,” commented Klein.
A wellness educator is very common at other universities. Student Life and the SGA merely worked on tailoring the position to the Stevens community. Aside from being the newest member of the CARE team, this person will be doing outreach for offices such as health services and the CAPS center. “We want this new person to help change the stigma around mental and physical health on our campus,” explained Gallo.
Overall, the reaction to the position seems to be positive. Gallo commented, “it is about time we give the health of our students the attention it needs.” Thrilled with the progress of the position, Klein stated, “I feel strongly that this role is needed and will be a fantastic addition to our team in Student Affairs. This position will provide much needed support and training for students.”
Caba, Nilsen, and Gallo conducted the first round interviews and have narrowed down the list of candidates. The preferred candidates will be invited for an on-campus interview during the first week of October. The on-campus interviews will involve both students and staff. As of right now, the position is looking to be filled by the end of October.
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