Northern Michigan University
IN-47: Innovation A

Northern Michigan University Celebrates One Year Anniversary of Adoption of Okanagan Charter (April 2024)

Under direction of historic charter, Northern has embedded health into multiple levels of campus

 Northern Michigan University recently recognized the one-year anniversary of adopting the Okanagan Charter, an international charter for health-promoting colleges and universities. Northern was the 17th adopter of the charter in the United States, which now boasts 29 higher education institutions, four of which are based in Michigan.

Northern Michigan University remains the only Upper Peninsula-based institution to adopt the Charter.

“Since adopting the Okanagan Charter, we have been even more deliberate in prioritizing the wellbeing of the whole person. It is critical that every student and employee at Northern receives the attentive and intentional care they need to become the best version of themselves on campus and wherever their path leads them,” said Brock Tessman, president of Northern Michigan University. “The role of higher education is about more than teaching, but about tending to the holistic development of everyone that has chosen Northern for their education or career.”

The Charter has two calls to action: Embed health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations and academic mandates; and lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.

Since adopting the Okanagan Charter, Northern has thoughtfully implemented multiple changes through the Charter’s calls to action, including:

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  Finalizing an organizational structure earlier this year with an intentional focus on wellbeing of person and wellbeing of place, with the appointments of AVPs of Campus WellBeing, Diversity & Inclusion, and Sustainability.
  

  
  


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  Developing a Multicultural Advisory Council, a Sustainability Advisory Council, and a WellBeing Advisory Council. These councils will include collaboration and input from all facets of the university and community when they formally kick off in September.
  

  
  


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  Utilizing the Healthy Minds Survey and other tools within a health equity framework to more deeply examine mental health, service utilization, sense of belonging and related issues among Northern students and employees to identify areas for improvement.
  

  
  


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  Adopting a Carbon Neutrality plan and making a commitment to reduce energy use  and carbon footprint by 2050. The plan also articulates a commitment to divest from fossil fuels and increase investments in sustainable endeavors. 

  
  


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  Hosting holistic wellbeing experiences, which integrate the environment, inclusivity and wellbeing.

  
  


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  Providing staff and students culturally responsive development opportunities to build resilience, competence, personal capacity and life enhancing skills.
  

  
  


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  Creating collaborative protocols and systems between the Health Center and Counseling and Consultations Services to increase accessibility.

  
  

“The Okanagan Charter empowers us to develop and deliver inclusive, person-centered, culturally responsive programming and events–within a health equity framework–to students, staff, and faculty that demonstrate that we know, value, see, and understand them as a people,” said Shawnrece Campbell, Ph.D., assistant vice president of diversity & inclusion.

WellBeing Center and CARE Team

Additionally, in August 2023, Northern opened its newly constructed WellBeing Center, which houses both the Health Center and Counseling and Consultation Services. The $6.5 million, 13,500-square-foot WellBeing Center can comprehensively address the mental and physical healthcare needs of Northern employees and students under one roof. 

Northern also created a Case Administration and Resource Education (CARE) Team, a critical extension of Northern’s commitment to wellbeing, and consists of a campus-wide team of experts to provide free support services to vulnerable students. It uses a case management system to provide standardized, yet individually tailored interventions to help clients achieve their goals, as well as connect students and others visiting the office to the myriad of resources available through the WellBeing Center and other campus departments.

In its first year, the CARE Team has already connected with more than 700 students, and opened more than 100 formal cases. Students average more than 2.5 hours of contact time per case with the CARE Team, which consists of personnel with expertise in student affairs, academic affairs, human resources, mental and physical health, student conduct, and campus safety.

“Over the past year, we have worked diligently toward our goal of integrating health and wellbeing into every level of campus, a strategy which has informed how we connect with our students and each other,” said Abigail Wyche, assistant vice president of Campus WellBeing. “The Okanagan Charter provides us with the framework we need to make thoughtful decisions and prioritize initiatives focused on holistic health that will positively impact our students, our employees, our community and beyond.”

Okanagan Charter

The purpose of the Okanagan Charter is three-fold. First, to guide and inspire action by providing a framework that reflects the latest concepts, processes and principles relevant to the Health Promoting Universities and Colleges equitable health movement, building upon advances since the 2005 Edmonton Charter. Second, to generate dialogue and research that expands local, regional, national and international networks and accelerate action on, off and between campuses. Third, to mobilize international, cross-sector action for the integration of health in all policies and practices, thus advancing the continued development of health promoting universities and colleges.

The Okanagan Charter was an outcome of the 2015 International Conference on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges. The Charter development process engaged researchers, practitioners, administrators, students and policy makers from 45 countries. At the Conference, 380 delegates critiqued and refined the Charter in a design lab and development sessions. On the final conference day, higher education leaders and delegates signed a pledge to bring the Charter back to their settings to inspire and catalyze further action towards the creation of health promoting universities and colleges. 

From NMU's Wellbeing Website: