How CampusWell elevates Ashland University’s wellness programs

Over the years, it’s become increasingly crucial for academic institutions to prioritize the mental health and wellness of their students. Doing so can help ensure success across the different areas of a student’s life, as well as increase engagement at school and improve student retention. For Ashland University, this is certainly the case: Through their dedicated Recreation and Wellness team, they create wellness programs for their students and train peer educators to promote healthy lifestyles within the university’s community. 

CampusWell provided a promising next step forward when the university found itself motivated to build upon these foundations. “CampusWell was the perfect piece to continue strong wellness education and increase it more for the students,” says Janel Molnar, director of Recreation and Wellness at Ashland University. “Our wellness program was doing well, but CampusWell stepped us up a notch.” 

CampusWell’s content helps support existing programs 

With over 1,000 evidence-based wellness articles and videos in its library, CampusWell is well-equipped to provide a multitude of resources for every topic and occasion Ashland’s Recreation and Wellness team deems helpful for its students. “There is a constant flow of relevant and relatable topics to our college students with whatever they have going on in their life,” says Molnar. “When there is a program running and we want to focus more attention on a specific aspect of wellness, the first place we look for it is CampusWell. We refer students to these articles because we know they are good quality articles.” 

The content, as well as the engagement reports, are much appreciated by the faculty, as they are able to identify what topics resonate most with their students. The data from the engagement reports informs the faculty on the kinds of topics they can speak about with the students, which helps increase engagement and often provides a starting point for meaningful discussion. 

CampusWell’s promotional tools make it easier for Ashland to share wellness resources 

Molnar enthusiastically lists all the ways in which Ashland reaches its student body through CampusWell’s diverse methods of content delivery: “Through the weekly emails to students, and monthly emails to faculty and staff…we also create custom posts whenever we have new programs or information, and repost articles when we feel it’s relevant.” 

The team has also set up a bulletin board in their recreational center solely dedicated to CampusWell materials, where they print out and post monthly flyers to draw more attention to specific topics. Other methods of promotion include digital displays across campus that showcase CampusWell’s slideshows and social media posts.

CampusWell’s content helps individuals at Ashland’s partner correctional facilities 

CampusWell provides content not just for Ashland’s student body on campus, but students in correctional institutions as well. Ashland University has partnered with state departments of corrections and local jails to provide education to student populations in these facilities. 

“These facilities do not have internet access, so we find articles relevant for them each month and download them as PDF printables that are then shared with the facilities,” says Molnar. “We are really reaching all students.”

CampusWell saves Ashland both time and money 

“CampusWell provides something we would not ever have the manpower to do. It would take another full-time position to do that,” says Molnar. Through the combined efforts of CampusWell and Ashland University, data shows that the school has an impressive 410 percent year-to-date engagement rate. This figure reflects a substantial reach past the number of students Ashland originally intended to target with their wellness outreach. “It is a program and an opportunity in education that is well worth the money and the investment,” says Molnar.