Skidmore College
PA-13: Wellness Program

Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is an employer-sponsored paid benefit providing short-term counseling services to individuals and their families when personal concerns interfere with work performance, personal happiness, or good family relations. These services assist with any personal issues including:

Stress Management
Alcohol or Drug Abuse
Emotional Distress
Marital or Family Conflict
Financial Difficulties
Workplace Conflict
Self-Improvement

Use of EAP's services is completely voluntary and confidential to the fullest extent allowable by law. Employees are not charged for their services as the College pays a preset fee each year for all ongoing employees. Additionally, if employees need specialized resources or longer term assistance, EAP helps to find additional resources best suited to employee needs.

Wellness Programs include:
- Healthy challenges (Get Moving!, No Gain Challenge, etc.)
- Biometric screenings
- Wellness Fair
- Onsite fitness classes and facilities/equipment
- Support from insurance carrier with additional programs integrated into care management

Our Health Promotion department is a source of numerous projects aimed at creating greater awareness of and support for wellness across campus. Examples of projects run through our Health Promotions department include our Peer Health Education program, which is aimed at promoting healthy choices and lifestyles through educating and empowering the campus community on a variety of health-related topics, and the Social Norms Campaign, which is a multi-year campaign to give students information to keep them healthy and safe by correcting misperceptions about “normal” student behaviors related to drug and alcohol use. A student-run Wellness Center in our student center offers drop-in peer to peer consultation services, regular programming around sexual health as well as a lending library related to health/wellness topics.

Our Director of Health Promotion also partners with other departments and offices and oversees regular evaluation of our students’ health behaviors, including campus-wide surveys around a number of topics, including; alcohol and other drug use, sexual and gender-based misconduct, mental health and stress, social connections nutrition and exercise. Survey findings are used to design, implement, and evaluate programming on a variety of health topics.

In addition to the impact of the Health Promotion department, projects are also launched by other individuals, groups, and offices on campus. Some recent examples include:
- Student clubs such as Active Minds, FeelGood, HIPS Club, SkidEats, Outing Club, Yoga Club, etc. partner to host numerous engaging events each year.
- ConsentFest a peer to peer education program, co-sponsored by more than 20 different student and community organizations, focused on reinforcing affirmative consent in sexual behaviors as a shared campus value and on helping students understand and implement affirmative consent in their own lives.
- The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life offers religious services and holiday observances, contemplative practices, programming around mindfulness, educational programs, discussion groups, social justice projects, community service opportunities, and individual spiritual counsel.
- A student-run Emergency Medical Services (SCEMS) helps train, supervise and support students to serve as first responders for Skidmore community members experiencing a medical emergency. Last year, SCEMS responded to more than 100 individual calls for help.
- There are wellness-focused courses offered every semester including courses focused on nutrition, mindfulness and stress reduction, physical activity, positive psychology, etc.
- The Counseling Center sponsors monthly “Wellness Series” talks which invite area professionals to address topics of general interest related to mental health. Previous topics have included grief and loss, healthy relationships, eating disorders and LGBTQ health.
- Skidmore is currently participating in the Jed Campus Program, a three-year comprehensive evaluation and strategic planning initiative targeting student mental health, suicide prevention and AOD abuse among our students. A working group composed of students, staff, and faculty recently completed the first stage of the program.
One of the primary goals of our 2015-2025 institutional strategic plan is to strengthen the inclusiveness, health, and well‐being of our community, and we are creating new opportunities for developing the skills that will make Skidmore a more healthful, inclusive, and creative community. A new subcommittee of our Institutional Policy and Planning Committee is also currently being formed to help give an even deeper emphasis to wellness in how we think and act as an institution and community.

Our Counseling Center is another critical component to our wellness program, and it offers confidential and professional mental health services and referrals to students struggling with a variety of social, emotional and psychiatric problems.