Student Wellness Center offers holistic wellness opportunities

MSU’s new Student Wellness Center (SWC) just turned one year old, and everyone from freshmen to graduate students can take advantage of what it has to offer. Since its construction, the SWC has housed many essential services and facilities under one roof.

Project planning for the SWC began in 2019, when the roof of the Marga Hosaeus Fitness Center collapsed due to snow, according to the MSU website. Students had been voicing their support for a new building for years, and this incident paved the way for the new building, according to the MSU website. 

Feedback collected by the University showed that students did not want a duplicate of the previous building, which had been in use since 1971, according to the MSU website. The University considered this student feedback and began construction of the SWC in the fall of 2021. The building was completed in the spring of 2024 and opened the following August at the beginning of the fall semester. 

The recreational and fitness facilities include a three-story climbing wall, indoor lap pool and activity court — providing space for various sports and recreation events — as well as individual exercise equipment. In addition, the SWC offers group workout classes and opportunities for personal training, according to the MSU website. 

Andrew Hamm, a junior graphic design major, said that he uses the SWC gym almost daily. “In the summertime, I have a membership at another gym, but during the school year I definitely prefer this. Just the proximity to where I am, how new it is, it's kind of a no-brainer,” he said. 

The wellness aspect of the SWC is an important focus for the University, said Betsy Asserson, interim associate vice president of student wellness and director of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). MSU wants every student to know that if they or someone they know is struggling with mental health, the SWC offers services that are easily accessible, she said. 

“Student Health Services had a 10 percent increase in total visits in their first year in the building and had nearly 25,000 total visits,” Asserson said. “Counseling and Psychological Services provided ongoing counseling services to 1,850 students and reached over 1,000 people in suicide prevention programming.”

According to her, CAPS provides counseling for students via scheduled appointments or drop-in “Let’s Talk” sessions, offering both immediate support and long-term counseling.

In addition to CAPS, the SWC contains the Dental Services office and free nutrition counseling through Medical Services. Medical Services also offers students the chance to receive on-campus healthcare such as physicals, mental health appointments, sexual healthcare and same-day appointments for urgent issues. Vaccination services are available by appointment, according to the Student Health Services website.

“I really think people need to utilize the actual doctor's office up there,” Hamm said. “I've gone to the wellness office many times, I've gone to the doctor's office many times, it's really painless. I just feel like it's not out there as much, you know. Before it was in the [Swingle Health Center] — everyone knew it.”

The Outdoor Recreation Program (ORP) also has various resources available in the SWC, such as a bike and ski shop, an equipment rental shop and outdoor recreation clinics. These services are accessible through the SWC website. In addition to the ORP rental shop, the SWC offers a rental service for in-facility use, which gives students access to basketballs, volleyballs and other indoor recreation equipment. 

Junior agricultural science student Sofia Da Silva said she appreciates the free rental services —  separate from ORP’s rental shop — offered by the SWC. “If you don't want to buy a basketball or buy climbing shoes, you can just rent some,” she said.

While the SWC has received positive feedback from users such as Hamm and Da Silva, there are several things students hope to see improved.

 “I would like [the pool] a lot more if the hours were better,” Hamm said. “It's just kind of hard with my schedule.” 

He added that a lack of equipment is another downside to the gym. “It's kind of sad how bad it is in terms of equipment. I will say, this amount of space is nice, you know, not many gyms have full-size tracks or the climbing walls or a pool”

Asserson said that she doesn’t see the building ever being perfect, and there is always room for growth and change. According to her, the SWC hosted brainstorming sessions with students and staff to make sure that this vision could become a reality.

The SWC is located at 950 W Grant St. To learn more about what the SWC offers, visit https://www.montana.edu/wellness/.