Upgrades to come for Student Wellness Services

MSU Student Health and Wellness Services is working to heighten their student awareness and involvement on campus, and these efforts are set to increase with the opening of the upcoming Student Wellness Center.

The Student Health and Wellness program is integral to student success and all services are readily available to any student taking seven or more credits. Further details on eligibility and resources can be found on the MSU website through the Student Health Services portal.

Physical, psychological, social and dental health services are all accessible through MSU’s Student Health Services, both online and in person. 

They are largely underutilized, Associate Vice President of Student Wellness Amber Long said. “Sometimes students aren’t aware they have access to these resources, especially with rapidly increasing freshman class sizes each year.” However, the Health and Wellness operations remain fairly consistent in spite of that, Long said.

The limitation on available physical space is also a contributing factor to the lower awareness levels of the on-campus health services. Having the health services spread out, and in some instances hidden away as is the case with Counseling and Psychological Services, physical location may make seeking out these services daunting. 

For this reason, while making efforts to increase its online presence and preparing to update their website once the Student Wellness Center opens, Student Wellness Services has been making sure they’re ready to transfer to a new physical environment when the time comes.

“We hope that our move to the new Student Wellness Center will increase visibility and make it easier to access care given since all health and well-being services will be in one location,” Long said.

While the resources in the new Student Wellness Center will be available for new and incoming students in future semesters, many current students will have graduated by the time it is finished. There are efforts being made to increase student awareness in the meantime. 

In addition to outreach events that promote their services, they will be hosting a Student Wellness student employee job fair on Nov. 14 for students wishing to work at the new Student Wellness Center, according to Long.

This event is a step forward in the sense that the majority of current employees are “professional-level providers” with the exception of student phlebotomists and patient service assistants, Long said. 

For students looking to work in healthcare and wellness fields, the student employment job fair will provide a unique opportunity on campus, according to Long.

Student awareness and student involvement are dependent on each other and MSU’s Student Wellness team is making a concerted effort to leverage that fact for a healthier community on campus. They are trying to look at whole-person health and well-being on campus, beyond just physical health, Long said about the program’s current mission.

The promotion and preservation of health and safety for MSU students is the goal of the Student Wellness Services and the only way for that to be efficiently achieved is through present and future student awareness.