July

Join the Employee Wellness Committee

New group will offer opportunities to be well, share your interests and build new connections.

By Lindsey Coulter

July 25, 2018

Fitting intentional health-and-wellness breaks into an already-busy workday can be difficult. The newly formed Employee Wellness Committee is here to help faculty and staff meet their fitness and wellness goals — but it needs you.

Spearheaded by Director of Campus Recreation Diane Yee, the committee is actively seeking new members and ideas for events and activities. Love shooting hoops? Rally your colleagues for a weekly pickup game. Is healthy eating your goal? Lunchtime potlucks might be a great way to stay on track.

The committee is also exploring bike-to-work groups, a campus 5K, walking clubs and creating an MSU Denver cookbook full of healthy options; but according to Yee, even regular screen breaks, setting mindfulness reminders or practicing desk yoga can have significant benefits.

“You don’t need to get sweaty to get a good physical or mental workout in,” she said.

Improving mental health and physical well-being are the committee’s primary goals, but building community across departments and buildings is just as important. The group aims to facilitate new connections while being as inclusive as possible. Ideally, activities will accommodate a variety of interests, schedules and abilities.

“Everyone can have an interest in wellness,” Yee said. “We tell students all the time that, regardless of their major, everyone can recreate. That goes for staff and faculty as well.”

The committee will focus on activities and opportunities for wellness while allowing members to take charge of passion projects. Emails and message boards will help keep meetings to a minimum.

“We want to be mindful of people’s schedules and workloads,” Yee said. “It will be a work-at-your-own-pace environment.”

Those interested in joining the Employee Wellness Committee can email Yee at dyee1@msudenver.edu. Please use the subject line “Employee Wellness.”

Check out this RED article to find more ways to stay fit and healthy on the job.