At the University Council meeting on Wednesday, February 2, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé and his colleagues gave the second focus issue presentation of the year on the topic of wellness.

Dr. Dubé said wellness at Penn used to consist of three siloed offices—Student Health Service, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), and Campus Health—but they have now joined together under the Wellness at Penn umbrella. Its mission is to infuse wellness across its eight domains throughout the Penn experience through inclusive, innovative, and impactful initiatives.

The new pillars of wellness are: Student Health and Counseling and Public Health and Well-Being.

Student Health and Counseling focuses on caring for students during their academic journey. This means meeting students where they are, when needed, and continuously adjusting to feedback, Dr. Dubé said.

Batsirai Bvunzawabaya, director of integrated care initiatives, said students need options to receive care. The Let’s Talk drop-in service grew from five locations in 2019 to ten locations this semester. Students can talk about stress and anxiety they are feeling, bounce around ideas, and work through their emotions.

The other pillar, Public Health and Well-Being, extends to faculty, staff, and postdocs, Dr. Dubé said.

Rebecca Huxta, associate director of Campus Health, discussed the well-being educational programs. There were 99 events in the fall of 2021, with 3,915 attendees. The most popular event was the I CARE program—an interactive training for students and staff. There was also a flu clinic that resulted in 13,803 people getting vaccinated.

President Amy Gutmann expressed thanks to the wellness team on behalf of all students, faculty, and staff. There was not this level of expert care and service many years ago, she said.

“I can’t say this too often, and very rarely can I say with certainty—it’s been life-saving,” said President Gutmann.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lizann Boyle Rode, associate vice president in the Office of the University Secretary, addressed the eight open forum topics brought up at the December council meeting. In the new business portion, topics were brought up by two speakers—one about the CCTV policy concerning destroying footage and student participation in a sexual assault committee; the other requesting a timeline be released related to the University procedure governing sanctions taken against Amy Wax, the Robert Mundheim Professor of Law in the Carey Law School.

The next meeting of the University Council will be an Open Forum on Wednesday, February 23 at Bodek Lounge, Houston Hall (Almanac January 25, 2022).