Ashland University Makes Commitment to Healthy Campus

Ashland University has been commended by the American College Health Association (ACHA) for taking the ACHA’s Healthy Campus Pledge and demonstrating the commitment of the AU campus to achieving the Healthy Campus 2020 goals and objectives. 

“We are proud to say that Ashland University has joined a group of nearly 50 diverse, motivated institutions working to move campuses toward better health. We know that a healthy campus will enhance our learning experience,” said AU President Dr. Carlos Campo. “A healthy, safe and supportive campus environment is one of the five pillars of distinction that frame our strategic goals so we believe strongly in a healthy campus and will continue to develop our ‘Eagle Well’ initiative. 

In the months ahead we will focus on all aspects of wellness, from environmental to spiritual, physical and more.” Dr. Deborah Sullivan, who serves as AU’s director of Campus Wellness, completed the application process for this project. “We weren’t ready to submit the form in the fall, but by January we had accomplished a number of initiatives enabling us to meet more criteria such as gauging wellness dimensions of faculty, staff and students; assessing needs and priorities; offering Weight Watchers at Work, and other initiatives,” Sullivan said. “Campus Wellness recently distributed a ‘Certified Healthy Department’ application to recognize departments currently promoting healthy habits. 

We have plans for many more initiatives in the future to continue to meet the criteria of Healthy Campus 2020.” Healthy Campus 2020, which provides a framework for improving the overall health status on campuses nationwide, is the companion framework to Healthy People 2020, the federal government’s health promotion and disease prevention initiative for achieving better health across the United States. Strategies extend beyond traditional interventions of education, diagnosis, treatment, and health care at clinical levels and involve embedding health into all aspects of campus culture, across the administration, operations and academics.

 The ACHA congratulatory letter sent to AU President Campo said, “We appreciate the inherent challenges in developing a campus culture that supports health. Becoming a Healthy Campus Partner is an important step for Ashland University that demonstrates its commitment to health and well-being while joining the nationwide movement to create healthier campuses. Congratulations on becoming a Healthy Campus 2020 Partner. 

We look forward to working together to realize the vision of ‘campus communities in which all members live, long, healthy lives.’” Ashland University, ranked in the top tier of colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report’s National Universities category for 2017.