The University of New England (UNE) signed up to FISU’s Healthy Campus initiative as it saw its potential to directly contribute to the achievement of one of the key principles of the UNE Strategic Plan for 2021 – 2030, ‘Future Fit’: improving the health and wellbeing of all students and staff at UNE.
“Healthy Campus offers us an opportunity for us to lead by example, and obtain an international accreditation, not currently held by many other Australian universities. It has been both challenging and very rewarding. This project involves numerous moving parts, from planning and executing to promoting. For us, cross-university collaboration and clear communication have been key to ensuring that our entire community embraces this campaign”, said David Schmude, former Chief Executive Officer, UNE Life.
Over the past 12 months, UNE has achieved Silver level accreditation with the program. Their goal is to keep pushing forward and to integrate moments of movement and social activity into everyday life at UNE. “We believe that a healthy campus is about more than just academic excellence – it’s about nurturing both body and mind. We’re delighted to see people actively engaging and enhancing their work-life balance while also promoting a healthy lifestyle,” said Mr Schmude.
By embracing the Healthy Campus “road map” of actions, we’ve activated students online and on campus as well as staff across multiple campus locations. We’ve done this with a range of activations from mass walks, yoga and meditation sessions, offering cheap gym membership options in collaboration with the Manna Institute and SportUNE, offering healthy lunches and gatherings, online challenges, participating in Tour De Rocks bike challenge, and started a running club.
“Our team has been excellent at developing new programs and trying new ideas, with the overall health and wellbeing of staff and students front of mind”, said Mr Schmude.
Mr Schmude commented that his team had been very pleasantly surprised with an overwhelming response to the concept overall at UNE, citing one of the highest profile Healthy Campus initiatives focussing on providing very low-cost gym membership for staff as being likely to have driven much of the early awareness and support. “We’re really happy to see so many students and staff engaging in these activities that enhance our social, physical and mental wellness. It’s great to be part of an international community of universities striving for the same goals, and the opportunity to share ideas and best practices.”
Notre Dame and UTS Join FISU Healthy Campus Program, Strengthening Australia’s Leadership Australia continues to set the benchmark in fostering healthier university environments, with The University of Notre Dame Australia (Notre Dame) and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) becoming the 11th and 12th Australian universities to sign up for the FISU Healthy Campus Program. […]
Deakin University becomes 10th signatory to FISU’s Healthy Campus Programme Deakin University recently became the tenth higher education institution in Australia to sign up to the Federation of International University Sport (FISU) Healthy Campus Programme. Notably this registration made Australia one of the leading countries in this global platform with the largest % of member […]
Desire for more on-campus opportunities This research investigated the relationship between competence, self-efficacy, enjoyment, and motivation with physical activity behaviour during student’s transition from school to university. Among 558 first-year biology health science students, 80% reported satisfactory or above physical activity index scores, with males scoring significantly higher than females. Enjoyment, self-efficacy, and competence were […]
