By Linah Mohammad/se news editor
SE Campus has been honored as a fit-friendly worksite by the American Heart Association.
Melissa Evans, SE kinesiology assistant professor and the wellness program leader, said the Gold level designation the campus received came out of a desire to make employees healthier as well as students.
Photo by: Bogdan Sierra Miranda/The Collegian
“As the kinesiology department, we are always trying to improve the student’s health and fitness,” she said. “But it is also important that our faculty and staff be healthy as well.”
Even though other campuses have wellness programs, SE was the only one who received recognition from the American Heart Association.
SE offers free fitness classes for faculty and staff as well as free use of fitness facilities. SE also provides various workshops and presentations related both to physical activity and nutrition.
The campus also offers a 30-for-30 program where staff members get 30 minutes to workout during their working day if they workout for 30 minutes during their own time.
“Even if they are part-time, they have access to many of these services,” Evans said.
The classes offered in the wellness program include a Zumba class, a cardio class and a mind/body class.
“We are hoping to shoot for the Platinum level in the future,” Evans said about the association’s highest level. “We are going to have to ramp things up a little bit more, but we are looking at increasing the number of fitness opportunities for our faculty and staff.”
Traci Stonum, the Zumba class instructor, said many faculty and staff take advantage of the wellness program.
“It has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of new staff and faculty members from different departments,” she said. “It’s a chance to see improvement. I have staff who have been attending the class since it started years ago, and I definitely see improvements.”
James Rogers, who works in facilities operations on SE, has attended the yoga class offered by the wellness program for four years.
“It helps me feel better, and it helps me get through my back issues,” he said.
Rogers has been part of the wellness program since it started in 2005. That is when he met SE library specialist Vivian Lu.
Lu said these classes have helped her tremendously.
“I’m not overweight. I’m very healthy, and I can eat what I want,” she said. “But most importantly, you get to make a new friend. Look at us! We’re not even from the same department!”
