Wellness Committee

In the spring of 2019, the B&F Wellness Committee was formed, chaired by Kelly Des Roches, Chief of Staff for SVP & CFO, with committee members representing all areas throughout the unit.

With the support of the university’s robust wellness resources within the Office of the Chief Wellness Officer, the committee’s early accomplishments included providing stand-up desks to all B&F staff who wanted one, increasing communications of wellness activities and the reaffirmation of support from senior leadership.

The committee’s continued efforts in amplifying wellness resources were featured in the 2021 Wellness Innovator Spotlight, which highlighted many of B&F’s wellness initiatives, including:

  • Dedicated wellness topics at the unit’s monthly town halls featuring resources such as “Just Breathe” demonstrations, EAP (Employee Assistance Program) and Health Athlete presentations.
  • A B&F unit-specific Virgin Pulse challenge, titled “Stress Reduction Healthy Habit Challenge.”

MINDFUL COMMUNICATION AND CONNECTION LUNCH & LEARN SERIES

B&F Wellness Lunch and Learn logoPositive, healthy relationships with others are a cornerstone of our health and well-being. In this two-part Educational Program, you’ll discover why communication and connection matters and how to use mindful attitudes and practices to connect more positively with those around you.

 

Part One: Mindful Communication and Connection with Self

This session starts with the basics of how our nervous system works to help us manage stress and build resilience as a foundation for positive interactions with others. Explore ways of listening and speaking to yourself with more curiosity, compassion, and conscious awareness. You can view the webinar or download the presentation with links to helpful resources.

Part Two: Mindful Communication and Connection with Others

Mindful communication means we listen and speak to others in ways that foster understanding, psychological safety, and positive connection. In this session, you’ll learn the basics about how to build skillfulness in compassionate communication. Ideas about how to bring more positivity into the workplace, and why this is important, will be shared and discussed. You can view the webinar or download the presentation with links to helpful resources.

 

B&F Wellness Goals

The B&F Wellness Committee goals for fiscal year 2023 will center on three areas of focus to improve the overall well-being of our staff, which include mental health, physical activity and healthy nutrition.

Fiscal Year 2024 Wellness Goals

The B&F Wellness Committee goals for FY 24 will center on two areas of focus to improve the overall well-being of our staff. Our collective efforts, activities and communications will focus on these two areas:

  1. Mental Health & Well-being
  2. Physical Activity

Additionally, senior leaders and managers should support wellness initiatives in their units and be actively engaged in promoting and role-modeling health and wellness.

Improve Mental Health & Wellbeing - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff and their overall mental health and wellbeing.

Objectives:        

  • Emphasize tips and tools for reducing stress and anxiety and maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
  • Help staff stay connected with co-workers, whether they are remote or hybrid.
  • Encourage use of university programming including EAP services & YP4H benefits.

FY24 Projects in support of Goal 1

  • Hold quarterly lunch and learns with a focus on mental health & wellbeing topics.
  • Provide mental health first aid training for management (optional).
  • Coordinate Wellness events to build a sense of community.
  • Create a Virgin Pulse Challenge specific to B&F and encourage competition among B&F units.
  • Make CPR training available for staff (attendance optional).
  • Initiate Pen Pal program- Connecting B&F staff from different units and writing to each other or going to lunch.

 

Increase Physical Activity - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff increasing their daily physical activity.

Objectives:

  • Provide communications and resources focused on encouraging staff to be more active and to exercise each week.
  • Promote standard of moderate exercise for a minimum of 150 minutes a week.

FY24 Projects in support of Goal 2

  • Encourage movement at the beginning of unit team meetings.
  • Hold a B&F Field Day indoors at the RPAC.
  • Expand use of treadmill desks and explore piloting other equipment (i.e., bike desk).
  • Encourage participation in the Annual University Dodgeball event in mid-December.

Fiscal Year 2023 Wellness Goals & Accomplishments

Improve Mental Health & Wellbeing - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff and their overall mental health and well-being.

  • The Wellness Committee supported the B&F tailgate, an in-person social event and coordinated the toy drive during the holidays.   

Increase Physical Activity - Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff increasing their daily physical activity. 

  • Piloted treadmill desks in two B&F locations. Created a waiver form with assistance from Legal and Risk and are monitoring usage.

Improve Nutrition – Provide education, resources, and activities in support of staff and their overall nutrition.

  • Initiated quarterly Lunch and Learns specifically for B&F including a Healthy Cooking Demo, Fall into Wellness, Staying Active at Work and Home, and Work-Life Well-Being, each with 30-60 attendees. 

Members of the Wellness Committee serve as Buckeye Wellness Innovators (BWI) and coordinate wellness activities for their units, which include:

  • Office of the Controller - Arranged a tour of Arboretum North in May.
  • Internal Audit – Organized a couple of Wednesday walks at noon for anyone in IA (also included the Controller’s office). 
  • Bursar - Organized a biometric screening for the SASB,.
  • Payroll - Payroll hosts Fun Friday monthly meetings and has instituted the practice of opening the meetings with a 5–10-minute wellness time (i.e. get everyone out of their chairs and do something active to follow the recommended move your body for 5 mins every 30 mins at work guidelines).
  • Office of Financial Services – Hosted a Holiday/ Winter Event in January; a Mid-Ohio Food Collective Volunteer Event in June; a Treasury and Investments Pizza Party in November; a Treasury and Investments Super Bowl Potluck in February; a Buckeye Paws Visit in March; a Wellness Walk in April; a Team Building Paper Tower Challenge in May and a Massage Event in June.
  • Investments – Hold weekly staff walks during lunch.
  • B&F Administration - Scheduled biometric screenings and flu shot opportunities for staff.

Fiscal Year 2022 Wellness Goals

  • Encourage B&F staff to invest in and prioritize their well-being by reemphasizing the value of preventative care. Help support our staff in prioritizing personal, holistic wellness.
  • Ongoing focus on mental health resources to help B&F staff cope with any stress or anxiety that may result from returning to campus addressing topics such as persistent pandemic fears, dealing with social unrest, work/life balance issues, and generalized anxiety of the unknown.
  • Focus on the Social/Emotional dimension of wellness. During the course of the pandemic and its required safety measures, there was little opportunity for broad social/emotional community networks of support—further, the pandemic exposed many to the systemic inequalities in our society. As a university community, we have an opportunity within our purview to support our staff as they address those challenges, which impact their wellbeing. A focus on social/emotional wellness can help build a sense of community under the current environment and encourage social interaction in-person and virtual.

Fiscal Year 2021 Wellness Goals

  • Increase participation and management encouragement of Virgin Pulse Health App and Your Plan for Health resources.
  • Focus on mental health as a key theme this year in order to provide B&F staff with coping skills and resources for stress and anxiety.
  • Coordinate B&F-specific virtual Wellness events to increase B&F-wide participation.

Fiscal Year 2020 Wellness Goals

  • Increase frequency of health and well-being communication to B&F staff.
  • Improve support and flexibility from management for the health and wellbeing of staff
  • Provide stand-up desks to all B&F employees who want one.

 

From Lunch and Learns and tailgates to engaging health challenges and walking treadmill-desks, the members of the B&F Wellness Committee continue to promote activities that support a balanced approach to wellbeing that includes all ten dimensions of wellness.

Committee Members

Erin Barniak

Treasury Management

Karina Brown

 B&F Administration

Von Cason

 B&F Administration

Kelly Des Roches

 B&F Administration

Jan Giangardella

 Procurement Shared Service Center

Frank Grubb

Procurement Shared Service Center

Shikera Kennedy

 Stores and Receiving

Ruth McCollum

Controller

Teri Parsell

Payroll

Renee Schlade

 Investments

Katie Seay

 Controller

Mindy Swanner

 Financial Training

Erica Thompson

 Bursar

Faye Wintering

 Internal Audit

Gloria Wood

 Operations Administration

 

Contact Us

Contact the B&F Wellness Committee at busfin@osu.edu.