Recap of Alma College Wellness Program Components
Alma College has been active with the Gratiot County Chamber of Commerce Wellness Matters-Gratiot Initiative from a county perspective as well as taken a number of initiatives on campus to further the wellness of faculty and staff. Elements implemented on the campus include the following:
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Added wellness components to our health plans in 2003.
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Actively participating in the Wellness Matters-Gratiot wellness initiative.
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Instituted a policy formally approving a 15-minute extension of the lunch hour for faculty and staff who may wish to exercise during their lunch.
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Instituted summer competitions for four-person faculty and staff teams in miles logged in biking, minutes logged in walking and miles logged in running.
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Held two community-building summer barbeques with a promotional give away drawing in each of them. The menu in both barbeques had a wellness component.
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Created a separate Web site for the Alma College wellness initiative.
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Handed out Alma College/Wellness Matters-Gratiot t-shirts to participants in the February 2006 wellness screening.
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Partnered with Sodexo to offer healthier food choices in the Joe’s dining area.
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Created and distributed workout routines for individuals at various levels of fitness needs and goals at the Stone Recreation Center front desk.
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Created two walking routes on campus to encourage walking as part of the wellness initiative.
In addition to the above activities, the following events took place as a result of the College's participation in Wellness Matters:
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First pilot site for the Wellness Matters-Gratiot workplace wellness screenings.
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Winners of the summer competitions each received a gift card from MC Sports. Prizes were distributed by President Tracy, and winners recognized publicly, at the kick-off Fall Conference gathering at the beginning of the 2006-07 academic year.
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From the aggregated data received from the University of Michigan processing of the wellness screening and risk assessment questionnaires completed by 65 faculty and staff participants in February 2006, a specific matrix has been established for improving employee wellness.
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As part of the February 2006 wellness screening two-day event, health- and wellness-related literature from the hospital, American Cancer Society, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan were distributed to employees.
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After employees received the results of their health risk assessment and wellness screenings, both group and one-on-one follow-up sessions were held on campus with Dr. Gregg Stefanek as a way to leverage the results and help people take advantage of the recommendations coming out of the report findings.
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While it has been true for many years, Alma College provides free membership to its faculty and staff to the Stone Recreation Center and the Hogan Center.
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Orientation sessions for using the Stone Recreation Center fitness equipment were held for faculty and staff.
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Wellness screenings for faculty and staff took place Oct. 18 and 19, 2006, at the Stone Recreation Center.
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Wellness screenings for faculty and staff took place Jan. 31, 2008, with free pedometers given to the participants.
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A "Stepping Up for Spring" walking/running competition in May 2008 exceeded a campus goal of 10 million steps.
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Campus teams lost a total of 336 pounds during the Winter 2009 "Weight Loss Challenge," and 336 pounds of food was donated to the food bank at the Alma United Methodist Church.
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A summer 2009 wellness challenge saw 50 members of the campus community achieve 15, 637, 828 steps. The winning 4-person team tallied more than 1.8 million steps during the 4-week program.
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The summer 2009 initiative featured weekly lunchtime walks to various community destinations, including the local Farmer's Market.
