Wellness@Work Programming Schedule for 2023

The Wellness@Work Programming Committee is making some small changes to the Wellness@Work Programming Calendars that are released monthly. Currently, monthly wellness calendars are published each month that provide University of Guelph staff and faculty with various opportunities to support their holistic well-being with different events, workshops, and activities that support physical, mental, social, and community well-being. This includes programming that Wellness@Work coordinates and also offerings that are already available across U of G (e.g. Learning & Development workshops, Wed walks in the Arboretum, free yoga) that are promoted in the calendar. 

To be effective with planning and to maximize the impact of offerings the Programming Committee is making a conscious decision to "reduce" wellness programming during certain periods of the year. This decision was informed by registration and uptake in coordinated Wellness@Work programming over the past three years, including offerings that were offered before the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. At certain times in the year, there is a lower population of staff and faculty at U of G due to vacations and holiday closures and this has shown with lower registration numbers for Wellness@work programming. Our changes to our published calendars will align with what other areas of U of G do with their workshops and offerings. In fact, Wellness@Work was already offering reduced coordinated programming during the times of the year mentioned below, with most of the calendar during the months of December, January, and the summer being a promotion of what is happening across U of G instead of offerings hosted by Wellness@Work. These offerings that are promoted in the monthly wellness calendars can be found on other U of G platforms such as the Intranet, Learning & Development Calendar, and GryphLife. 

Starting in December 2022 you can expect the following changes to the monthly Wellness@Work Programming Calendar: 

1. Wellness@Work will not coordinate any programming nor publish a calendar for the month of December. With the holiday closure typically the last week of December and many employees taking vacation time the week prior to the closure, in past years Wellness@Work has coordinated one or two wellness offerings that would have low uptake and at times be cancelled. To be effective with our offerings we have decided that as there is low interest from staff and faculty we will adapt to their needs.
   • For December 2022 Wellness@Work, in partnership with Athletics, will be hosting one recreational skating event. You can drop by the Gryphon Centre Arena between 11 am and 1 pm on Dec 15 for recreational skating and to sip on some hot chocolate as we ease into the holiday season. Register now!
2. Wellness@Work will not coordinate any programming the first week after the holiday closure in January but will continue to promote what is available from other areas across U of G. This decision has the same rationale as the decision for the December calendar. In addition, it is the beginning of the Winter term and many staff and faculty are preparing for the academic semester and are unavailable to participate in wellness programming. In January 2022 Wellness@Work did not coordinate any programming during the first week after the holiday closure and there was no negative feedback received from this. 
3. Wellness@Work will publish a Summer Programming Calendar for the combined months of June, July, and August that will consist of only coordinated wellness programming. In 2022 Wellness@Work published its first Summer Programming Calendar for the months of July and August and this was well received by U of G staff and faculty. Including June in the Summer Programming Calendar is a logical addition as there is not a large amount of programming that is coordinated by Wellness@work during this month and very little to promote by other areas across U of G.   

Your feedback is welcome!

A key component to organizing programming is adapting to the needs of the audience, in our case the needs of U of G staff and faculty. The changes that are mentioned above were actions that Wellness@Work has already been doing in some way over the past few years. Now, the Programming Committee is now making a conscious decision to make this change to the structure of how monthly Wellness@Work programming is organized and published to match the needs of the U of G community. As the years continue the Programming Committee will likely make other changes to adapt to the future needs of U of G staff and faculty. This is a natural part of the process. 

If you would like to share any feedback about the changes to the monthly Wellness@Work Programming you can email wellnessatwork@uoguelph.ca.