What does it mean to have “well-being”? The words “health” and “well-being” are difficult to define. In many ways, it is easier to describe the absence of health and well-being, than it is to describe what it means to have them.
The well-being of our community matters! The Faculty of Engineering (FoE) Community Well-being was created to support and promote the well-being of our community throughout the year.
defines health as:
"A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."
Well-being goes beyond the aspects of physical health to include other social, psychological, and personal aspects.
Having well-being includes the ability of “an individual or group to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment".
From this perspective, well-being can be seen as a “resource” or “asset” that helps people live their everyday lives. The FoE is currently developing a Wellness framework to guide strategic initiatives designed to improve the well-being of our community. Information on our progress and strategic initiatives can be found on our Wellness Framework and Strategic Initiatives webpage.
In addition, in the FoE, we utilize a dimensional model approach to wellbeing. While there are many helpful models and ways to think of wellbeing, we chose a dimensional model because dimensional models recognize that people have many elements or aspects that contribute to their overall wellness. In the FoE, we utilize the Nine Dimensions of Wellness: physical, intellectual, emotional, relational, spiritual, vocational, cultural, financial, and environmental.
The FoE Community Wellness Program seeks to provide resources, support, and referrals to staff, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to assist in the strengthening of their nine dimensions of wellness. For more information on models of wellbeing and the nine dimensions in particular, please see our nine dimensions of wellness webpage.
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Events
FoE Creative Writing Circle
Do you enjoy writing creatively, or have you always wanted to learn? Then join us for our monthly FoE Creative Writing Circle!
Creative writing, whether for fun or professionally, has been shown to increase productivity in other areas, reduce depression and anxiety, and provide insights in how to address life’s challenges. It's also fun.
Register through our website
Meditation Monday
Join us every Monday...breathe, relax, and be still.
Meditation has been shown to reduce stress, increase balance and stillness, increase awareness, and even expand acceptance and compassion for yourself and others. Each week will vary slightly. “Practices” include breathing, mindfulness, body awareness, earthly grounding, spacial awareness, centring, and more.
See our website for more details.Blog
Recipe of the month - Auspicious Asparagus
. Asparagus is a nutritional powerhouse. It is low in calories and packed with essential vitamins and minerals.
Spotlight on Research - Can Taking Time to “Smell the Flowers” Really Improve Your Well-being?
Research on how interacting with nature impacts well-being
News
Engineering students are cooking thanks to Mindful Campuses Grant
The Community Wellness Team received the Mindful Campuses grant for third year in a row.
New Emergency System Goes Live Oct 1, 2024!
The University of ݮƵ is making a significant change by retiring the WatSAFE emergency notification app and replacing it with a new Emergency Notification System (ENS) platform provided by the company Regroup Mobile.
The University of ݮƵ acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. It is the belief of the ENGWellness Program that reconciliation must go beyond recognition, and we must acknowledge that as a post-secondary institution, we carry much power and privilege.
We also understand our positionality as wellness supports and how that positionality intersects with the experiences and cultures of the student communities we aim to support. We also recognize that the holistic approach to wellness that we promote is rooted in Indigenous healing practices which further contributes to our institution’s commitment to the Okanogan Charter whose key principles include using “whole system approaches” that “value local and Indigenous communities’ contexts and priorities”. With that spirit, we as wellness supports continue to actively participate in educational opportunities to further explore our nation’s history and the rich heritage of Indigenous, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) peoples. We also aim to continuously examine our positionality and systems of discrimination throughout the conversations we have and the work we carry out. We encourage all of us, as a community, to do the same.
For more information, visit the Truth and Reconciliation Response website.
Map source: Adam Lewis, “Living on Stolen Land,” Alternatives Journal December 2015
We're here to help enhance and support your wellness in a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment. Our offices and spaces are a place where human rights are respected and where 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and their friends and allies, are welcome and supported.