Stress management activities like painting, chair massages, aromatherapy, mindfulness practices and more are the highlight of ChillFEST, a free, biannual event organized by the team at WELLWVU to promote student well-being in the week leading up to finals. (WVU Photo/Derek Artimez)
While students at West Virginia University spend most of their time focused on preparing for their future through academics, they also benefit from educational programming and outreach that provide tools for making good decisions as young adults.
WELLWVU is at the center of this work to empower students through a variety of wellness programs, trainings and informational materials, with a mission to deliver comprehensive wellness education to the WVU student community.
“Rather than spending our time telling students what they shouldn’t do, we provide them with knowledge and tools to help them make the healthiest choices for themselves that align with their own personal values,” WELLWVU Director Courtney Weaver said.
During the 2023-24 academic year, Weaver and her staff members made direct contact with more than 6,000 students on campus through over 160 outreach events, a number which does not include online modules that students complete on their own.
Research shows college students need two main supports in order to succeed on campus, according to Weaver. “They need to do something valuable with their time at least once a week, and they need to know that someone from the University has their backs. We always have their backs,” she said.
To accomplish that, all of the WELLWVU outreach efforts are designed to support breaking down stigmas and provide a safe space for students to access the resources they need so they can become the best versions of themselves.
WELLWVU offers alcohol and other drug education, emotional and mental wellness resources and sexual health education. Typical workshop topics include time and stress management, standard drink sizing and how to effectively communicate with professors.
Kelly Rech is a WELLWVU graduate assistant working on the office’s alcohol and other drug education programs. She was involved on campus as an undergraduate in the Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders, part of the WVU School of Medicine, and said she knew she wanted to continue her involvement when she was accepted to her Speech-Language Pathology graduate program.
“I know this subject is so important to the students on this campus,” Rech said. “And my favorite part of my job is being able to talk to so many students and connect with them. They are so engaged and talkative and excited to learn, especially once they realize we’re not here to judge anyone or their decisions. We’re just here to help.”
The Pittsburgh native keeps busy with the 21st Birthday Program, which includes sending an email to every WVU student marking the milestone with tips to celebrate safely and a survey with freebies. The survey provides WELLWVU with critical information about trends on campus that helps the team develop programming.
Rech also puts together free fentanyl testing strip kits and spearheads Narcan training on campus.
The kits are an effort the WELLWVU team is especially proud of. “As soon as those test strips became legal, we were on it and, I believe, ahead of the game in terms of university campuses offering this resource,” Weaver said.
WELLWVU also offers Bartender School, an online alcohol education program called AlcoholEDU and specialized training for alcohol intervention. All of the training modules are available to any group or organization on campus free of charge. Students can also find information on the WELLWVU website about alcohol poisoning, responsible gambling, drinking and date rape, and more.
College can be stressful and helping students manage that stress is a huge part of WELLWVU’s efforts. Madison Ligan, originally from Cleveland, is the emotional and mental wellness graduate assistant, which aligns with her academic pursuits working toward her master’s degree in counseling.
Ligan’s presentations and tabling events across campus focus on resilience and coping skills that students can actively use in their daily lives. She also works to connect students with mental health resources. Programming focuses on time management and stress management, but Ligan and the rest of the team at WELLWVU can create something specifically for the needs of a group.
Extensive information is also available on the WELLWVU website, like how to be a better roommate, the popular “ChillPack” for self-care, party smart tips, bystander intervention and more.
One of Ligan’s largest endeavors each semester is the WELLWVU ChillFEST, a free event that promotes stress management and student well-being ahead of final exams. The next ChillFEST will be held Dec. 11 at the Student Rec Center. Ligan said more than 300 people signed up to participate in previous ChillFESTs.
“The people at WELLWVU work really hard and we truly, deeply care for the students here,” Ligan said. “It is so transparent through our work and efforts, we all just want to help any way that we can.”
Wheeling native and first-year graduate student Kylie Pell, who is also working on a master’s degree in speech pathology, supports WELLWVU on sexual health education projects. She spearheads the office’s Condom Caravan — a free service for WVU students that provides safer sex supplies that can be picked up anonymously or from tabling events.
Pell said many residence hall assistants and student organizations take advantage of the services for their residents and members. Some even invite Pell into the residence halls and to their meetings throughout the semester for fun, educational sessions and informative presentations on topics like STIs and safer sex methods.
The team also keeps up with the most accurate health information available, providing online education resources about topics like consent, spectrum of risk, emergency contraception and more.
“I think oftentimes young people are resistant to hearing certain things from older folks, especially with things they might be uncomfortable talking about like sexual health,” Pell said.
“I try to make it as comfortable for people as I can in hopes that we destigmatize talking about these things. If we don’t talk about it, students can’t learn how to protect themselves.”
Overall, Weaver and her team work to normalize help-seeking and to provide an open communications approach on a peer-to-peer level, all while building a supportive community for students.
“We pride ourselves on providing student access to medically accurate information on topics they want to talk about and need to know about,” Weaver said. “We do that in person in all these ways, but we also offer education resources on our website that are accessible to students when they need them. There’s even a quick escape button on the site just in case a student needs to get off of a page quickly. I think that’s a cool function and just another way that we always have their backs.”
Find more information about WELLWVU.
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