Well-being at WMU

Well-being Collective

The Well-being Collective is a multi-disciplinary team of students, faculty, staff and alumni charged to lead transformational change with the WMU community to be a Health Promoting University. Mobilizing this team is the next step for WMU in honoring our institutional commitment made in 2023 when we adopted the Okanagan International Charter (https://wmich.edu/well-being/okanagan-charter).

The mission of the WMU Well-being Collective is to: 

  • Activate university-wide implementation of the Okanagan Charter framework (https://www.healthpromotingcampuses.org/okanagan-charter) ensuring WMU honors our commitment to being a health promoting university for the well-being of people, places, and planet.
  • Lead systemic collective action to achieve the student and employee well-being goal, objectives, and metrics written in the WMU Strategic Plan 2022-2032. (https://wmich.edu/strategic/future)
  • Develop a university-wide scorecard and process to measure and improve equitable well-being for WMU students and employees. 
  • Report progress and recommendations to the President’s Cabinet.

The WMU Well-being Collective was officially charged by President Montgomery on November 7, 2024, on the one-year anniversary of WMU becoming the 21st campus in the United States to formally adopt the Okanagan Charter and join the US Health Promoting Campuses Network (http://ushpcn.org/network/ ).

Well-being Collective Co-Chairs and WMU Liaisons to the US Health Promoting Campuses Network: 

Lillian Upton Smith, DrPH, MPH
Dean, College of Health and Human Services
Academic Affairs

Cari Robertson, MS, MCHES®
Director, Health Promotion and Education
Student Affairs

Backbone Organization: 
Office of Health Promotion and Education
Student Affairs

The Co-Chairs have started developing a structure, timeline, and coalition building strategies for the Well-being Collective. They will mobilize a steering committee by the end of 2024 and invite campus-wide representatives to join the Well-being Collective in Spring 2025. 

For more information or to get involved with the Well-being Collective, please contact the Office of Health Promotion and Education at @email.