Nov. 2023 Department Debrief: Student Wellness Center
November 8, 2023
Student Wellness Center
To contact the Student Wellness Center: Email wellness@osu.edu, call (614) 292-4527 or visit their website at https://swc.osu.edu/
Department Debrief is a monthly article from the Parent and Family Relations office dedicated to helping family members and supporters better understand the services, opportunities and support offered by particular offices for students.
This month, our team met with the Student Wellness Center to discuss the various programs they offer to empower a balanced and healthy lifestyle for students, including financial and wellness coaching sessions, providing access to HIV/STI Testing and a food pantry to students facing food insecurity.
1.) If you had to provide a 30-second elevator pitch to an Ohio State family about what your office does in order to ensure Ohio State defeats Michigan in The Game, what would you say?
The Student Wellness Center is a campus resource for students that works to help and encourage students to achieve a well-balanced and healthy quality of life, Ahmed Hosni, the Assistant Director for the Student Wellness Center said.
“We have services within our office which are free and available to all Ohio State students at no cost,” Hosni said.
These services encompass a variety of student wellness aspects, spanning from Nutrition Coaching with a trained dietician to a Condom Club that offers members safe sex education and materials at a low cost.
“The Condom Club is an important resource for students to make healthy decisions,” Hosni said.
Hosni said the Student Wellness Center additionally offers a food pantry to students facing food insecurity through the Buckeye Food Alliance.
“We’re really grateful for the different partnerships that we have across campus and the community to be able to provide that service to students, so they don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from,” Hosni said.
Additionally, the Student Wellness Center provides alcohol and drug prevention services, providing access to HIV/STI Testing, the Collegiate Recovery Community for students recovering from substance misuse, a relationship education and violence prevention program and an educational workshop on civil engagement.
With several wellness services, trainings and programs provided to students free of cost, Hosni said the Student Wellness Center works to promote a well-balanced campus culture with a physically, mentally and emotionally healthy student body.
2.) What are the Ten Dimensions of Wellness and how can they be utilized by families and their students?
The Student Wellness Center utilizes a 10-dimension approach to individual and community wellness, Hosni said. These dimensions work together as an interdependent web.
“Each dimension represents a different aspect of a person’s life,” Hosni said.
The purpose of these dimensions is to encourage students to work towards a healthy lifestyle that is enriched by a variety of skillsets in different aspects of life.
“We use this model to help students understand what their strengths are and how they can utilize the areas in which they’re really strong in to support some areas they may have some opportunity to grow in,” Hosni said.
These dimensions include emotional, career, social, spiritual, physical, financial, intellectual, creative, environmental and digital wellness.
Hosni said most universities utilize a 6- or 8-dimensional model, but Ohio State uses a 10-dimensional model and continues to add more categories such as digital wellness as society continues to evolve and change.
“It’s important to us to change with the times and to make sure that we are best supporting students in the world that they’re living in,” Hosni said.
Hosni said he does not feel one dimension is more important than the others, but there is a large focus upon emotional well-being by families and their students. As a result, he said he encourages students and parents to look at the Student Wellness Center’s website or Ohio State’s Counseling and Consultation Service’s website.
3.) What services do you offer to students and families that you think are beneficial to utilize?
One of the programs Hosni said he encourages parents and students to look at is the Wellness and Financial Coaching services the Student Wellness Center provides.
Wellness Coaching allows students to meet with other Buckeyes trained in wellness education to discuss their goals and how to navigate possible barriers in accomplishing them.
Financial Coaching additionally involves meeting with a student trained in financial education. During these sessions, students can acquire knowledge on various financial principles, such as budgeting and credit cards.
Hosni said although these services are only provided to students, parents and families can contact the Student Wellness center to discuss them.
“We also had times where parents connected with us because they had questions about their student’s own well-being,” Hosni said. “We are able to answer questions and help them navigate the different resources here at Ohio State.”
Beyond their services and programs, Hosni said the Student Wellness Center also provides presentations and tabling events such as naloxone or stress management trainings.
Hosni said they additionally hold signature events throughout the year such as Sober October, Red Ribbon Week, National Recovery Month in September, Love Your Body Week in February and Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April.
During these university-wide events every year, Hosni said the Student Wellness Center works to raise awareness.
Besides their signature events, Hosni said they also host a Medication Disposal Day where they raise awareness for potential medication misuse and allow students to safely dispose of their prescription drugs they no longer need.
“That just happened to be last week, and we collected over seven pounds of medication,” Hosni said. “We’ll be back out in the spring and hoping to collect even more then.”
4.) Do you have any upcoming events or deadlines you would like to make sure parents and students are aware of?
Although the Student Wellness Center does not have any upcoming deadlines, Hosni said he hopes to emphasize to students that they are always available to them.
“If there’s anything our office can do, we’re here for them,” Hosni said.
With a variety of resources, trainings, programs and presentations, Hosni said the Student Wellness Center works to help students navigate any potential issues they may face.
“We have tons of services,” Hosni said. “I think the most important thing is that students know that all of our services are free and that our students can benefit from those services.”
Besides Hosni’s hope for student awareness of their available resources, he said it is also important to make sure the letter M is nowhere unmarked on campus come Nov. 25.
“Other than that, we just hope that students have happy, healthy holidays when they go home and that their cups are refilled by being surrounded by their loved ones,” Hosni said.
Brooke Tacsar
Student Assistant
Parent and Family Relations