February 10, 2016 Minutes

SAC welcomed Erika Griffith, Program Director for HELPS (Healthy Exercise & Lifestyle ProgramS), who shared information about the HELPS and TLC programs and how to get involved.  J. Kline Harrison, Associate Provost for Global Affairs, also provided staff an update on the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) process.

Guest Speaker:  Erika Griffith, Program Director for HELPS (Healthy Exercise & Lifestyle ProgramS) shared information about the HELPS and TLC programs and how to get involved.

• “Therapeutic Lifestyle Change” (TLC) (see flyer) – A medically directed, professionally supervised program designed to develop a healthy and active lifestyle utilizing exercise and education programs.

• Why do we need a program like this?
  • stress (self-induced, family, work, etc.)
  • food industry caters to our stress – cheap, convenient, tasty
  • physical activity has declined due to our desk jobs (we should get 150 minutes of vigorous activity per week).
  • technology industry contributes to our lack of activity, affecting us and our kids
  • Fad diets
  • Join a gym; start exercising
  • Often not realistic and creates burnout; not sustainable
  • We live in a toxic environment that affects our health and decision-making skills (factors below):
  • How do we solve these issues?

• HELPS (Healthy Exercise and Lifestyle ProgramS) is a community-based, medically directed, professionally supervised “chronic disease prevention program” designed to help people develop healthy, active lifestyles. – see flyer

• $25 to $35 (discount for staff) per month, similar to a regular gym, but with bonus experts on staff. 6:00 – 9:00 am MWF and MTTh 5:30 – 7:00 pm.

• TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Change) program (for 15-20 people at a time, 3 times per year) recognizes that there are many different contributors to good health. Many of these are behaviors that we choose to engage in. We can’t realistically change these behaviors overnight. The program is customized and individualized to you. Helps us change overall lifestyle. Assessments and Interventions. Individualized planning and feedback. Funded through HR – but participation and results are confidential.  No transportation provided.
  • What results can one expect?

• Weight loss
• Waist circumference loss
• Lower cholesterol
• Lower blood sugar
• 15% increase in physical function
• Reduction in blood pressure

Guest Speaker:  J. Kline Harrison, Associate Provost for Global Affairs, provided staff an update on the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) process that WFU is currently undertaking.  Quality Enhancement Plans (QEP) are required to be completed every 10 years by member institutions of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in order to reaffirm our accreditation.   Accreditation confirms the integrity and quality of the degrees awarded to our students, supports the University’s recognition among the higher education community, and is necessary for access to federal financial aid.  QEPs focus on three things:  student learning, institutional effectiveness, and builds on something that is already occurring at the University.

• first initiative is called “Arrive at Wake” which is an academic bridge for international students arriving at Wake to help with the cultural transition to campus. Used to have a 2-hour orientation, then 2-days, now a 1-week orientation. In addition to the 1-week orientation, we are now providing a second session summer school class designed specifically for them to deal with the cultural transition and writing here. We see the need for helping them throughout the year. We want the students to integrate with domestic students, and for both groups of students to gain benefit from each other.
• second initiative is called “Global Awakenings” giving our first-year students a global/abroad experience. Looking into facilitating an abroad experience to identify better with international students, and be better ambassadors, and perhaps go abroad a second time during their WFU career.
• third is “Global Villages” which are living and learning communities in our residence halls; better for international students and domestic students to do activities together, good for students who have not traveled abroad to live and learn with international students.
• fourth initiative is called “Global Laureates Academy” which is a certificate program that recognizes curricular and co-curricular activities to accumulate points for a certificate. Faculty and staff can also be recognized to build their portfolios as a laureate. Each constituency will have a tailored goals and portfolios.

• Notes: QEP title is Transcending Boundaries: Building a Global Campus Community, to be inclusive of all students, faculty, and staff. University is currently going through reaccreditation, and as such we must go through a QEP. Provost led an effort back when he first arrived. What bubbled up from that was the idea of globalization. Look at QEP as the look of Global Wake Forest. In the past, we focused on studying abroad. Now, we’re looking at our own international and diverse population here and trying to enhance the quality of the experience. We are in a different place now; our international students on campus have quadrupled; we are much more diverse in faculty, staff, and student body. Broad-based involvement was first priority.
• Second priority was to focus on student outcomes – developing initiatives to achieve student learning outcomes. advisory board is being formed of students, faculty and staff, to figure out how to make these programs solid and effective. We identified and focused on five student learning outcomes:  Intellectual inquiry, self-awareness, community interaction, intercultural communication, and global responsibility.
• Necessary Resources available to do this and we do.  We have been able to generate revenue from our own programs so this is self-sustaining.  We don’t have to compete for funds or ask for money.
• There has to be an assessment process where the committee will assess progress and learning outcomes.
• Next steps – Global Wake Week coming in March (March 14th through the 18th). SACS review team will be here March 28th through the 30th to review the QEP

• Anonymous Form Submission

• Jennifer mentioned an issue that was brought to SAC’s attention by a “Concerned Citizen” concerning parking, driving, and safety here on campus; while it is not within our jurisdiction to do anything about these, we can and certainly will forward these on to the appropriate departments.

• New Proposed SAC Membership Divisions and associated By-Law change:   Presentation of proposed new membership divisions and breakdown related to upcoming elections as well as discussion of the by-law change needed to make this happen.  Voting as needed.  Please vote quickly!

• Standing Committee Report-Outs:   

• Communications:  Raffle, Facebook page update/research, Fantastic Newsletter statistics
• Events: Offered a thank you to those who participated in the Hats, Gloves, Scarves drive. Now planning for Staff picnic has begun; it is scheduled for June 9th from 11:00 to 1:30 pm at BB&T Football field and we’ll have loads of parking. Many more details to come. Mark your calendars!
• Fringe Benefits:  Fringe benefits are so much more than our health insurance, like HELPS and TLC. We can still do the Spring BCBS Wellness Credit. Look for info on the PDC website. There is also a 10-minute video showing how to fill out the wellness assessment. Get the points through preventive care, participating in WFU activities like the Benefits Fair (May 3rd), etc.
• Membership:  Moving up the timeline of the election by approximately two weeks this year.
• Professional Development: Amy Ciaccia – meeting with John Champlin to determine what courses are most beneficial. We’ll poll the SAC and send a survey to us. We should answer on behalf of ourselves and our constituents. More to come soon!
• Pro-Humanitate: have a couple things going along with the picnic, getting folks involved with donating to the community. With picnic, getting folks to donate time and money for the event. Also doing something with the Food Bank. University Advancement has given us permission to use a large wooden WF board that can hold cans of food and we will have a race to fill it. For the Fall, we’ll seek to have one non-profit organization to come present in Benson, giving students the opportunity to come and volunteer with the organization. Alumni will be doing Pro Humanitate day on April 9th.
• Work-Life Balance: Reported that there will be a babysitting event for April 23rd from 4:00 to 8:00 pm, in the Barn for faculty and staff. We will need to help with promotion. More info coming soon. Sororities and fraternities will be staffing this event.

• Outside Committee Report-Outs:

• Capital Planning Advisory: facilities provided an update of projects that we see in progress on campus, projects that are pending approval, and what’s happening outside (like at Innovation Quarter). Discussing logistics of expanding campus to downtown. Emily Neese will share more in the future. Lots of Kitchen and Poteat renovations, Reynolds Gym Phase 1 finished, Phase 2 coming. HES building opened in January, classroom space. Athletics baseball clubhouse which is currently a giant hole in the ground.
• Faculty Senate: did not meet
• Parking & Transportation: nothing new to report.
• Tree Advisory: will meet next week.
• DIPC: update from Barbee Oakes from campus climate team; Pro Humanitate Department has moved to corner of Polo and Reynolda, Reynolda Hall will now renovate that space. Unconscious Bias class delivered by Shayla.
• Finance Advisory: shared financial highlights of past year, annual report is available for your viewing. John Shenette joined the team to discuss 5-year replacement/renewal/upkeep of our campus facilities and how to plan for it financially. Tuition rates will be announced later in the spring.

• Raffle Drawing!

• Winner of the basketball tickets was Richard Woollen!  Congratulations!

General Announcements:

Upcoming Meetings              March:     Mur Muchane, Associate VP for Information Technology & CIO

                                                                          Emily Neese, Associate VP, Strategy and Operations

                                                      April:       Andrea Ellis, Assistant VP for Innovation

                                                                         Benefits Update – Human Resources

                                                      May:         Shayla Herndon-Edmunds, Director of Diversity Education

Truth, Lies, & Politics:          Tuesday, February 16^th at 7:00pm in Wait Chapel   

Founders Day Convocation:  Thursday, February 18^th at 4:00pm in Wait Chapel

Ted^X WakeForestU:                 Sunday, February 28^th 12:00-4:00pm in Wait Chapel

BCBS Wellness Credit:          Wake Forest University Faculty and Staff that accumulate 80 credits by completing wellbeing activities between January 1 and June 30, 2016, will be eligible for a $150 credit toward your medical plan premiums in July 2016. More info is provided on the PDC website.

TIAA-CREF Transition:          There are still a couple of different ways to receive information about the transition to TIAA-CREF as our Retirement Plan Administrator:

                                                    Information Kiosks from 8:30-4:30 in the Reynolda Hall Green Room:

                                                                                     Tuesday, February 16^th

                                                                                Wednesday, February 17^th

                                                                                    Tuesday, February 23^rd

                                                                                    Wednesday, February 24^th

One-on-One Advice Sessions in various Benson locations.  Click here to sign up.

SAVE-the-DATE:  Staff Appreciation Event – June 9^th at BB&T Field!!  More info to come…