FRAMING THE CASE

In 2008 the Office of State Personnel pushed out a letter to all

North Carolina state agencies describing a new policy that had
been passed.
This Worksite Wellness Policy reqiured that all state agencies
offer an employee wellness program that targeted four main
health areas:
Healthy Eating
Stress Management
Physical Activity
Smoking Cessation
FRAMING CONTINUED
Though this mandate was pushed out, the support to
follow through with the contents of the policy were not
heavily enforced.
This mandate came with little to no personnel, monetary,
or guided resources to help the agencies implement and
sustain the employee wellness programs

*For the purposes of my case study I will only be describing the issue from
the college/university view
HEALTHYUNCGS ROLE
I am currently a graduate assistant with HealthyUNCG.
It wasnt until learning about the Worksite Wellness
Policy that I realized how valuable and unique my
position with HealthyUNCG is.
We are 1 of only 3 universities that actually has a
paid position to promote and sustain the employee
wellness program.
GOALS OF THE CASE STUDY
The immediate goal of this case study is to receive support and
resources from the state and local level for individual campuses to
fulfill their role in providing employee wellness programing for their
faculty and staff.
A goal of HealthyUNCG is to the continue to evaluate the employee
wellness programming offered on UNCGs campus in hopes to be
able to continuously share our experiences.
Finally, the goal of the Making The Grade in Worksite Wellness
conference is to offer a space for collaboration and advocacy based
activities surrounding college employee wellness. These goals are
continuously being evaluated and shaped as the needs and focuses
of the Worksite Wellness Policy shift.
MAKING THE GRADE IN WORKSITE WELLNESS
Since HealthyUNCG has been the model for other colleges and
universities when it comes to developing and implementing an
employee wellness program our office has been hosting a annual
conference to address the concerns of the colleges and
universities involved.
The goal of the Making The Grade in Worksite Wellness
conference is to offer a space for collaboration and advocacy
based activities surrounding college employee wellness. These
goals are continuously being evaluated and shaped as the needs
and focuses of the Worksite Wellness Policy shift.
THE FIVE LEVELS OF INFLUENCE

Using the Health

Promotion stream
approach I assessed the
different levels of the
socioecological
perspective to frame and
guide the case study.
INTRAPERSONAL
Initiate and maintain evaluation efforts to
track and understand employee health
Work to target known areas of health
outcomes.
Use the mandated areas as a guide for
program design
Find out what motivates employees ($$, extra
time off, etc)
INTERPERSONAL

HealthyUNCG slowly defining health culture is

diverse pockets of the employee population
as we build relationships
New programs in initial phase of relationship
building and identifying who will support new
programs
 FOCUS QUESTION

From the Making The Grade In Worksite

Wellness two key questions emerged as
part of the group dialogue.
How can we get and share the
resources needed to carry out these
programs?
Who can we request to hold the
colleges accountable for effective
employee wellness programming?
INSTITUTIONAL

Have a top down message to ensure

employees receive their flextime from
UNCGs Chancellor other colleges can
advocate duplicate
Establish employees who are interested in
wellness and form a wellness committee to
increase reach across campus
COMMUNITY

Host centralized workshops and sessions so

they are easily accessible for all campus
employees.
Stay committed to sharing resources and
findings from HealthyUNCG programs with
other NC college/universities.
POLICY
Request more enforcement and accountability from Office
of State Personnel on the Worksite Wellness Policy.
Appoint regional Wellness Team director to check in with all
campuses in that region to offer support, guidance, and
accountability.
Allocate funds for Worksite Wellness Policy initiatives and
marketing.
Advocate for flextime policies being utilized at the other
campuses, as well as UNCG.
FEEDBACK LOOPS
We are finding more and more colleges requesting to join in the
conversation about employee wellness. The Making The Grade
in Worksite Wellness
Conference registration is up from 40 participants last
October to 78 registered for the October 6th-7th event.
We are seeing more officials of colleges step up to form
committees that are aiming to chip away at each of the identified
areas for growth (accountability, resources, personnel,
communication.)
Other universities like UNC Wilmington and UNC Chapel Hill
creating more dialogue and action around the raised issues
RISING ISSUES
Many colleges and universities have reached their
max with the efforts they are able to sustain with
minimal resources and personnel.
There is likely high turn over in wellness positions, so
it may be hard to keep the ball rolling when there are
individuals in and out of positions.
Some colleges may not place a high value on the
employee wellness programs, especially if little to no
resources or incentives are provided.
MOVING FORWARD
Unfortunately, the progress of this case study
is at a stand-still since the 3rd Annual Making
The Grade In Worksite Wellness conference
was cancelled due to hurricane weather in
Wilmington.
In the mean-time those who were registered
have committed to continue the conversations
to tease out the constrains that are preventing
them from providing the level of programming
they feel their employees deserve.