The UO Department of Physical Education and Recreation has developed Well-Being Coaching, a new program designed for students to figure out goal-reaching plans that enhance their ultimate well-being and health.
Jessica Campbell, Senior Assistant Director of Well-Being and Fitness of the Department of PE and Recreation and Division of Student Life, led the creation of the program.that was developed by the national organization, American Council on Exercise.
“[ACE] work[s] with college campuses to provide a curriculum that’s been vetted by professionals in the psychology and exercise industry,” Campbell said. “And so they train people like me to teach their curriculum and we contract with them.”
According to Campbell, the Well-Being Coaching program is prevalent and popular in many universities around the country, including The Ohio State University’s extremely successful program.
Last fall, Campbell took the time to reach out to these universities with existing programs to gather data on the formation of their programs and how to model them to UO’s standards.
“The Department of Research and Assessment on campus has done surveys on students’ well-being for a few years now,” Campbell said. “And there has been a decline in students’ well-being for lots of different reasons. We all have a different definition of what well-being is.”
Campbell said she and her team also supervise the Student Recreation Center, and she has examined and expressed that there is a correlation between academic success and graduation rates and students’ well-being and stress levels.
To become a Well-Being Coach, Campbell said, there is a certification to redeem through the American Council on Exercise through a three-credit course, PEF 399, with 18 chapters total and 90 required contact hours.
The class requires textbook work and exams, but all costs for the course are reimbursed through the university, Campbell said.
Well-Being Coach Camille Hoover explained the process of earning the specific certification.
“The first part was learning about coaching strategies, cognitive behavioral coaching and motivational interviewing which are all really useful,” Hoover said. “The last part was learning about special populations which is less applicable to our job, but it was still really cool to learn about.”
According to Hoover, the Well-Being sessions can vary through different wants, needs and goals of the students that participate.
“We’ve been helping people with anything from nutrition to ‘I want to spend less time on my phone’ to ‘I want to not feel nervous to go to the Rec,’” Hoover said. “Some people just come and talk to have a monthly conversation to look forward to with someone that’s outside of your circle.”
Campbell said the goal of Well-Being Coaching comes from the questions they ask the person receiving the coaching.
“The goal is to ask the person in front of us a lot of questions to figure out ‘Why did this start,’ ‘What are some behaviors around you,’ thinking about their environment and what is happening in their lives,” Campbell said. “And then we figure out what are those things that we can change to help them move forward.”
Campbell described the coaching plan as learning about their story and dissecting the pieces in the details to help make a plan.
“The goal by the end of the session is to have a specific goal and how you’re going to get to the next step,” Campbell said. “We try to make it as tangible as possible and check in to hold them accountable that they’re actually making progress towards what they want to do.”
Campbell and Hoover said the Well-Being Coaches are trained to handle many different types of goals that students have, including financial.
“If they want to just learn how to tackle finances because it’s their first year living off campus, we can provide them all the resources with that,” Hoover said. “I think just being able to provide multifaceted, peer-related support doesn’t have the stigma of the Counseling Center. It’s literally just talking.” 
Campbell labeled the program as a “one-stop shop.”
According to Campbell and Hoover, signing up for a Well-Being Coaching session is readily available through the PE and Rec website, and sessions are offered virtually and in person.
According to Campbell, Well-Being Coaching is funded through UO’s Budget Advisory Group, which is university-led funding that Campbell applied for and was accepted to.
“The funding is through BAG and all the money goes to the coaches to pay for their books and class and certification which is $500,” Campbell said. “And we also pay for their salaries to work on that.”
Hoover said the job and certification have all felt very rewarding to her.
“I think the draw for me is the student interaction because I’ve done quite a few jobs working with students, and this one has been by far the most rewarding,” Hoover said. “It’s very unique from anything I’ve ever done, and it’s a really great way to connect with people in a different way than you can with most other jobs.”