Wellbeing Dimensions & Resources
Investing in our employees
We are all multi-faceted human beings. Below are the eight interacting dimensions of employee well-being addressed by the UW-Eau Claire Employee Wellbeing Program.
You may go through a time where one dimension is challenged or neglected, and that affects the quality of life in the other dimensions. The Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Wellbeing strives to provide activities and resources that boost all your dimensions.
Sources | UW System Employee Wellbeing & Creating a Healthier Life: A step-by-step guide to wellness
"Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners."
William Shakespeare's Othello
Physical Wellbeing
A healthy body. Good physical health habits. Nutrition, exercise, and appropriate health care. These make up the physical dimension of wellness. A few ways we can get there might be choosing things that make our body feel good and trimming back the things that bring us down. We can also feel better by creating a routine that balances activity with inactivity, and that is manageable within our obligations and needs. Our body is intelligent, and learning to listen to it more deeply may be very important and empowering.
Fitness & Wellness @ UWEC
UW-Eau Claire Recreation & Sport Operations provides on-campus opportunities to employees at little-to-no cost, including weight rooms, group exercise, wellness classes, massage therapy, consultations and more!
Well Wisconsin $150 Incentive
Well Wisconsin allows you and your spouse (if enrolled in the State Group Health Insurance Program) to each earn an annual $150 incentive. To earn this incentive, you and your spouse must each complete a health assessment, health check activity, and one well-being activity.
Well Wisconsin Radio
Well Wisconsin Radio is a podcast discussing topics of health and well-being from experts from all around the State of Wisconsin.
Intellectual Wellbeing
The Intellectual Wellness Dimension involves many things that keep our brains active and our intellect expanding. In a broad sense, this dimension can involve looking at different perspectives of an issue and taking them into consideration. Through a number of activities—from learning about current events to organizing game nights in your home or community center—you can broaden your perspective and understand diverse points of view.
UW-Eau Claire EDI Professional Development
UW-Eau Claire has implemented three tiers of professional development to improve equity, diversity and inclusion on campus. This program consists of a required online training for all employees and additional professional development workshops with the opportunity to earn a certificate.
UW-Eau Claire Events Calendar
Get out there and discover events from across campus, including athletics, recreation, wellbeing, performing arts, visual arts, educational and more!
Pablo Center at the Confluence
The Pablo Center at the Confluence sits on the banks of the Chippewa River in the heart of downtown Eau Claire. This $51 million building is a state-of-the-art venue for visiting shows and provides new rehearsal, teaching, and performance space for students in the Music + Theatre Arts program at UW-Eau Claire. We look forward to our partnership with Pablo to give all students and community members the opportunity to explore award winning entertainment in a one of a kind facility that incorporates Eau Claire's beauty and history throughout.
Volume One
Volume One promotes and supports the news, culture, events, food and arts of the Chippewa Valley.
Financial Wellbeing
There are many definitions of what constitutes being financially well, but overall, the Financial Wellness Dimension involves things such as income, debt, and savings, as well as a person’s understanding of financial processes and resources. A person’s satisfaction with their current financial situation and future prospects also comes into play.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides you and members of your household with confidential resources to address personal/work-related concerns, assist with legal/financial situations or help with work-life balance. Access to EAP services is employer-paid. You do not need to be enrolled in the State Group Health Insurance Program to use the EAP services.
UW System Spending & Savings Accounts
UW System employees may contribute to Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) and/or a Health Savings Account (HSA).
With a FSA, plan to spend the money set aside. With an HSA, you may spend or save the money. Another key difference is the FSA contains a “use it or lose it” rule, which does not apply to the HSA. Review the Comparison – HSA vs FSA (available in the Forms & Resources section below) for other key differences.
Wisconsin Strong Program
The Wisconsin Strong Program is designed to empower employees to build financial security and achieve financial wellness at any age.
It’s important to maximize your Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) benefits, as well as take a holistic approach to your finances. Wisconsin Strong partners connect you and your family to free financial wellness education, resources, and tools.
Explore. Learn at your own pace. Take action.
Financial Education from Royal Credit Union
Royal Credit Union's promotes financial education for youth and adults in our communities, provides resources to help everyone reach a state of financial wellness, and teaches everyone about security and fraud.
ETF Webinars & Events
The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) offers a variety of educational resources for members to easily learn about and manage their benefits.
State of Wisconsin Investment Board Podcasts
The SWIB Podcast provides members of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) and interested listeners with timely information about the investments that help fund the state's pension system. Learn how SWIB is working to generate returns over the long-term to help ensure the WRS remains strong and capable of paying promised benefits long into the future. The SWIB Podcast will feature discussions about market challenges and how SWIB is relying on more robust and complex investment strategies to keep the WRS positioned for long-term success.
Environmental Wellbeing
The Environmental Wellness Dimension involves being able to be safe and feel safe. This can include:
- Accessing clean air, food, and water;
- Preserving the areas where we live, learn, and work;
- Occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that support our well-being; and
- Promoting learning, contemplation, and relaxation in natural places and spaces.
UW-Eau Claire Office of Sustainability
The Administrative Office of Sustainability provides resources for all students, staff, and faculty to practice and preserve the campus environment and reduce the overall harmful impact on the environment through partnership with the community. They hope to eliminate this harmful impact by reducing UW-Eau Claire’s carbon emissions. UW-Eau Claire has successfully implemented strategies surrounding efficient energy use, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and educating students, staff and faculty on sustainable transportation alternatives.
UW-Eau Claire Risk Management, Safety & Sustainability
The Department of Risk Management, Safety and Sustainability works to identify areas of risk and potential liability, develop risk response strategies to mitigate loss and maximize opportunities, and provide resources to preserve the campus environment and reduce our overall harmful impact on the environment. Our vision is to promote a culture of risk awareness by involving all University stakeholders in the day-to-day management of risks.
SafeWalk / SafeRide
To promote a safe and secure campus environment, the UW-Eau Claire Police Department, in partnership with Housing and Residence Life, is offering a walking and riding safety escort program for all UW-Eau Claire students, faculty and staff.
The SafeRide / SafeWalk program was developed by students for all Blugolds. The program is staffed with students, who are known as Campus Safety Officers (CSO). They are identifiable by their CSO yellow traffic vests.
City of Eau Claire Recreation
The City of Eau Claire Recreation Division provides a diverse selection of programs, services and facilities for the citizens of Eau Claire that focus on healthy lifestyles, social equity and collaboration within the community.
Spiritual Wellbeing
The Spiritual Wellness Dimension is a broad concept that represents one’s personal beliefs and values and involves having meaning, purpose, and a sense of balance and peace. It includes:
- Recognizing our search for meaning and purpose in human existence; and
- Developing an appreciation for life and the natural forces that exist in the universe.
What Role Do Religion and Spirituality Play In Mental Health?
Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they practice some type of religion, while approximately 20 percent, mostly younger people, say they do not, according to a 2012 Pew Research Center study. Whether a person is religious, spiritual or neither, the major influence religion has on American culture will be emphasized over the coming days with religious observances of Passover and Easter.
Kenneth I. Pargament, PhD, is a leading expert in the psychology of religion and spirituality. Known for his scholarly work and his scientific analyses of religion’s role in mental health, he served as editor-in-chief of the “APA Handbook of Psychology, Religion and Spirituality” published in January 2013. He has written two books: “The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice” (1997) and “Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred” (2007). He is a clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at Bowling Green State University and distinguished scholar at the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center.
APA recently asked Pargament the following questions about the psychology of religion and spirituality.
Meditation
Meditation is a type of mind-body medicine. It has been practiced for thousands of years. During meditation, you develop intentional focus and minimize random thoughts about the past or future.
Meditation may offer many benefits, such as helping with:
- Concentration
- Relaxation
- Inner peace
- Stress reduction
- Fatigue
- Emotional well-being
Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies
These are the big questions. The questions that get to the root of it all. What is reality? What is humanity’s place in the universe? What role does religion play in human experience? Philosophy and religious studies aims at investigating these questions and so much more.
Accommodation of Student Religious Beliefs
Wisconsin Administrative Code UWS 22: Accommodation of Religious Beliefs ensures that all institutions of the University of Wisconsin System have in place appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the reasonable accommodation of students' sincerely held religious beliefs, and for appeals related to these matters.
Occupational Wellbeing
The Occupational Wellness Dimension involves participating in activities that provide meaning and purpose and reflect personal values, interests, and beliefs, including employment.
Professional Development Portal
Several departments across campus offer professional development for faculty and staff. We encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities. Check out the links below for more information regarding workshops currently being offered across campus.
UW-Eau Claire Continuing Education
UW-Eau Claire Continuing Education is dedicated to supporting people seeking education to improve their lives by providing innovative programing in a variety of areas. Utilizing resources from UW-Eau Claire and UW System they develop their programing through collaboration with communities and professionals working in their fields. All their programs are designed with inclusivity in mind and are focused on providing the best educational value.
UW-Eau Claire Job Postings
Growing at UW-Eau Claire and looking for the next step? Explore job opportunities across all our campuses, divisions and departments.
Emotional Wellbeing
The Emotional Wellness Dimension involves the ability to express feelings, adjust to emotional challenges, cope with life’s stressors, and enjoy life. It includes knowing our strengths as well as what we want to get better at, and living and working on our own but letting others help us from time to time.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides you and members of your household with confidential resources to address personal/work-related concerns, assist with legal/financial situations or help with work-life balance. Access to EAP services is employer-paid. You do not need to be enrolled in the State Group Health Insurance Program to use the EAP services.
UW System Family Changes Benefits
When you have a family change, contact the Office of Human Resources (humanresources@uwec.edu) as soon as possible to find out what benefits changes you may make. Most benefit plans have a 30-day window that allows you to make changes to your benefits.
When you gain a family member (for example: marriage, birth, or adoption), you can typically add the family member to your plans within 30 days of adding the individual to your family. When you lose a family member (for example: divorce or death), you must take action to remove the family member from your benefits. Removal does not occur automatically.
Thank A Blugold
Whether you are a student who would like to thank a professor, a supervisor who would like to recognize one of your employees, or you have a coworker who just made your day, this is a quick and easy way for you to let them know they are appreciated. After submitting your message, the recipient will receive a card via email. A copy of the message will be sent to you as well.