Wellness Initiatives Fund

Academic Year 2022-2023 Annual Report

During the past academic year, in addition to the funding for ProtoCall, our 24/7 urgent support line, 19 proposals received from students, staff, and faculty were awarded Wellness Initiative Funds, for a total of $5,900. Those who received funding were extremely grateful for the opportunity to implement important projects in support of student wellness. We continue to see more and more students and campus colleagues access this vital resource.

An overview of the year’s activity can be found below.

ProtoCall 24/7 Support Line

Launched in August 2020 in collaboration with the JED Campus team, this service provides students with the ability to reach a crisis clinician for urgent counseling needs any time of the day from any location, 365 days/year. We continue to heavily promote this resource to students, faculty, and staff via email, social media, campus signage, and outreach/training to faculty, staff, and student leader groups. During AY22-23, the Support Line received approximately 139 calls from Stonehill students. One trend that has continued is that more males accessed the Support Line as compared to females, which we believe helps to remove some barriers for men seeking counseling. This resource has already been utilized by some incoming first-year students during new student orientation, which speaks to the importance of this critical service.

You're Not Alone: Living with Loss Peer Support Group

We continued to provide the book We Get It: Voices of Grieving College Students and Young Adults to students participating in the peer grief support group established in 2019. A collaboration between Counseling Services and Campus Ministry, this group offers targeted outreach to students who have recently lost friends and relatives as a way to connect and share their personal stories of loss and how they were experiencing the grief process. Students are also provided with several printed resources and personal contact information for peers who have also lost someone close to them and are available for additional support.

Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life

This past fall, a trial First-Year Experience course section was taught by Kevin Piskadlo, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs/Dean of Students, and Evan Turgeon ‘24. Utilizing a book of the same name and based upon a popular course at Stanford, the class helped readers organize themselves through design thinking. The text, like the course, utilizes a series of exercises (journaling, meditation, etc.) throughout its 11 chapters to provide students with a sense of structure in their lives, as well as creative and thought-provoking exercises that allow the opportunity to reflect and determine what they should do with their future. Through these purposefully managed wellness practices, students left the class with a road map and plan on how to accomplish their goals – a great way to start their journey at Stonehill.

Mind Spa Wellness Pop-Up Tables

Throughout the fall semester, the Graduate Interns in Counseling Services offered several mental health and wellness pop-up tables to promote self-care among our students. Each event offered a small craft or activity to engage students and connect them to a variety of mental health topics.
Additionally, information about Counseling Services, meditations, resources, and psychoeducation was made available to students. Themes included stress management, personality exploration, gratitude, self-understanding, building connections, food/mind fuel connection during finals, self-care, sleep hygiene, and summer break mental health.

Meditation Practices Guest Speaker

Associate Professor of Communication Monique Myers, Ph.D. invited Gurdeep Bhogal to campus to speak to two of her classes about various meditation practices from both Eastern and Western traditions. These practices included mindfulness and breathing techniques to reduce stress (daily, as well as stress-specific times, for example, midterm/final exams).

Following the lecture, students were assigned to employ the practices and techniques over one week and to write a journal reflection to assess how beneficial it was for them. Some quotes from this experience were:

“Gurdeep Bhogal was a very interesting speaker who made me think about how I think day-to-day. My favorite point she brought up was ‘by becoming present we alleviate suffering.’ My favorite quote she mentions is, ‘you can’t give with an empty cup’ and that ‘we need to fill our cup before we can help others.’”
“I felt comfortable going into the meditation and incredibly relaxed afterward. I’ve been trying to be mindful of my mental clarity. I want to be more active in setting time aside to meditate. I hope I can see Gurdeep in one of my classes again.”
“Gurdeep was amazing. She taught us great meditation skills that actually have been great in helping me. I have been using the skills she taught. They have made a positive influence in my life.”
“Gurdeep was very interesting, and she helped me learn about various deep breathing techniques. I used these later that evening before bed.”
“Gurdeep was able to provide me with a moment of peace within the chaos of a busy week and day. On top of that, she taught me how to encounter such peace on a daily basis: that such a capability is always within me.”

Happiness & Communication Class

Several students from Dr. Myers’ Happiness & Communication class proposed various events that were approved to receive Wellness Initiatives Grants.

Kindness Rocks – Students painted rocks with images and sayings centered around happiness, well-being, and positivity. The decorated rocks were then placed around campus to brighten community members’ daily life, as well as donated to children in long-term hospital care.
Giving Back to the Community – Students purchased pumpkins from a local farm to donate to residents at two homeless shelters with the hope of bringing happiness to the community during the fall/Halloween season.
Blissful Blossoms – During mid-terms, students spread some joy on campus by passing out flowers to their peers, staff, and faculty members in between classes hoping to brighten their days. Flowers were delivered around campus to employees at Gigi's, students and faculty in Meehan School of Business, Shields Science Center, and Duffy Academic Center, and to others who were walking outside. Students and faculty seemed to really enjoy the gesture and walked away with smiles on their faces. The leftover flowers were placed on cars so that folks had a nice surprise when they left work. Recipients were quoted as saying "Thank you! This was the highlight of my day!" and "You just made my day!"

Oktoberfest: Drinking Safety

Proposed by Resident Assistants (RAs) in a first-year residence hall, the RAs noted some risk-taking behavior of their residents and wished to enhance education in this area. This program not only educated residents on the risks of underage drinking, but also promoted safety, built community, and strengthened trust among Campus Police, Residence Life, and the residents.

First-Gen Week Wellness Promotion

Hosted by the Director of Health Services and the Advocates for a Brighter Stonehill (ABS) leaders, first-generation students gathered for fellowship, games, and conversation around general health and wellness and how to access resources when needed.

Field Day with House of Possibilities and Best Buddies

As a final project for healthcare disabilities in Professor Danielle Waldron’s HCA 170 Disability Course, students sponsored an event to promote exercise and inclusivity among those in the disabled community. Members of the Stonehill community were invited to join guests from Best Buddies and the House of Possibilities in various activities consisting of basketball, an egg relay race, and parachute games. Refreshments were provided at the conclusion of the event.

De-Stress for Finals/Mental Health Toolkit Giveaway

As part of the College’s Winter Wonderland week, Student Engagement and Counseling Services offered a tabling event to provide mental health toolkits to students, which included information on Stonehill's Counseling Services, fidget toys, tea/hot cocoa mix, stress balls, mindfulness activities like crosswords and sudoku, and putty. Feedback from this De-Stress Grab and Go was very positive. Students were especially excited about the fidgets and Play-Doh, with many of them saying things like “This will be great when I’m taking my tests!” or “I haven’t seen Play-Doh in so long. Makes me feel like a kid again.” Students expressed much appreciation for these items, and the event gave them some small tools to manage some of their anxiety during finals and promoted resources like self-help apps and Counseling Services.

Office of Intercultural Affairs (OIA) Study Break

As a winter study break activity, students gathered to make gingerbread houses, as many stated they had never done this before. Approximately 30 students attended the event, and the feedback was very positive with students commenting:

"Thank you so much for this study break! It was fun!"

"We really appreciate this event happening, this is my first time making a gingerbread house!"

Fresh Check Day

Fresh Check Day, our annual, large-scale mental health awareness fair was held in the spring semester. Many student organizations along with multiple campus offices/departments (Athletics, Campus Ministry, Campus Police, Counseling Services, Health Services, Health & Wellness, and Sodexo Dietitian) participated by hosting interactive booths on wellness topics including anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention; substance abuse; counseling and mental health check-ins; stress relief and relaxation; sexual assault prevention; nutrition; and more. Once again, we hosted a mobile farm visit pet therapy service (a traditional student favorite), which brought baby farm animals to campus. The event drew an estimated 250 attendees, and the survey feedback received from students was very positive, with multiple students noting that it was a great way to help decrease the stigma of mental health and communicate information regarding wellness resources.

You Don’t Have to be Sad

The College’s Assistant Director of MacPháidín Library for Public Services submitted a proposal to purchase items for the “Library of Things” to support efforts to reduce seasonal affective disorders (SAD) among students through the freely accessible loan of light therapy lamps and foam rollers. The 10,000 lux lamps mimic sunshine (minus the UV rays) and are proven to be mood stabilizers in a darkening winter world. The rollers aid in deep tissue muscle massage with trigger point release effects. The purchase, cataloging, and loan availability of both lights and rollers will be completed in time for the change in clocks in the fall semester.

Wellness Week Fireside Chats

In response to a request by students, the Coordinator of Health and Wellness Promotion hosted two Fireside Chats during Wellness Week in March titled “Athletes and Identity” and “Navigating Mental Health Through a Queer Lens.” Both of these programs were highly attended and garnered positive student feedback.

Teal April – Sexual Assault Awareness Month

One of our Resident Assistants organized a program within the residence hall to promote Sexual Assault Awareness in April. The program consisted of arts and crafts; food and treats; and goodie bags for residents, which consisted of awareness bracelets, ribbons, stickers, whistles, and informational sheets.

NEC Money Wars and Take Back The Night

The Student-Athlete Advisory Council participated in the NEC's Money Wars in partnership with Take Back the Night, an organization with a goal to end all forms of sexual violence uniting people from every background, belief, and culture to take a visible and vocal stand. Informational goodie bags that contained a sticker, bracelet, and an information card that describes the strings' colors, the solidarity they're representing, and resources for sexual violence were distributed to attendees. All donations received were directed to Penelope's Place, a local emergency domestic violence shelter.

Student-Athlete Mental Health: The Reality, Relevance, and Resources

Sponsored by Hope Happens Here, guest speaker, Jennifer Mayette, a 2018 Stonehill alumni offered a talk focused on athletics and mental health. Jen studied neuroscience at Stonehill and was captain of the softball team and is now currently in the process of receiving her doctorate in clinical psychology at Antioch University. She has conducted extensive research on the relationship between athletics and mental health and has experience working in an anxiety research center, neuropsychology departments, OCD Institutions, and multiple other professional environments related to clinical experience. This program is aimed at giving student-athletes tools on how to overcome and manage mental health battles, as well as to create a safe space for student-athletes to feel and express their realities related to mental health struggles.

Take Back the Night “Midnight” Breakfast

Along with our Coordinator of Health and Wellness Promotion, the president of our student club, Take Back the Night, hosted a Midnight Breakfast to raise awareness around combatting sexual violence, creating a supportive campus, and showing support for sexual violence survivors. Over 50 students were in attendance for this informative program and enjoyed a late-semester breakfast buffet.

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The College is truly grateful for the generosity of those who are assisting us in our efforts to support the overall health and wellbeing of our students, which remains our top priority.

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