News

U of G Garden Gander

Wellness@Work is launching a summer walking series, exploring U of G’s beautiful gardens. Join us every Tuesday until the end of August for a guided walk through the picturesque gardens and landscapes on campus.

John Reinhart, Grounds Manager, will take participants on a noon hour walk to explore different gardens and trees on our campus.  Each week will feature a different area of campus with more to discover.  Come learn about new plantings, plant problems, botany, history of plantings and more!

It's no secret that happiness is contagious.  At work, taking time to acknowledge others and share a friendly smile or greeting can go a long way. 

In Shawn Anchor's book, "Before Happiness: The 5 hidden keys to achieving success, spreading happiness, and sustaining positive change," he shares a simple example that many organizations have now adopted called the 10:5 Way. 

The rules are simple:

Faculty and staff at U of G can help create a caring campus community by learning how to recognize, respond and refer students who may be in need of support. 

More Feet on the Ground has been developed by the Council of Ontario Universities, Brock University and the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health as an educational resource to support campus community members to recognize, respond and refer students experiencing mental health issues on campus. 

On July 24 we recognize International Self-Care Day, as an opportunity to celebrate the important role self-care plays in maintaining positive mental and physical health.  

Self-care is not a luxury, but a necessity in our everyday lives.  Taking time for ourselves and developing new strategies to enhance our own mental and physical health is an important component to our overall wellness.  Often when we get busy, our basic self-care strategies are forgotten.  

These pedal pushers give knowledge mobilization new wheels

Some people are biking to work this week, to help launch the city’s 2018 Bike Month.

But 15 University of Guelph staffers have kicked it up a notch – they’re biking at work.

And in doing so, they’re saving time and pursuing wellness.

Dear Colleagues:

Today, we join with people around the globe to recognize World No-Tobacco Day, while also acknowledging the efforts of Indigenous communities to become tobacco-wise and keep tobacco sacred. The World Health Organization has established May 31 as an annual opportunity to draw attention to the negative cardiovascular health effects of smoking.

We would like to take this opportunity to update you on Smoke-Free U of G: the University’s initiative to make the Guelph campus a smoke-free environment.

So far:

Thank you to everyone who submitted their healthy recipes for The Great Wellness@Work Recipe Contest.  It was a tough decision, but the review committee selected a breakfast, entree and dessert recipe. 

View the winning recipes here. 

Congratulations to the three winners:

1st place: Jennifer Demies
Red Lentil Coconut Curry Soup

Volunteers are needed for SummerFest- a U of G community event on campus which started just last year and includes live music, food trucks, and fun activities for kids and families of all ages.

The planning committee are looking for lots of volunteers, who are needed for tasks including set-up, takedown, monitoring entrances to Johnston Green and parking lots, greeting guests as they arrive, etc. to help make this event a success!

Please consider:

From May 7-11, U of G celebrated Be Well, Be Safe Week in recognition of National Mental Health Week and North American Occupational Safety and Health Week. 

Here are just a few snapshots of the 30 events that took place throughout the week! 

Starting with the kick-off event on Monday, we had over 200 staff, faculty and students join us for Lynne Skilton-Haye's keynote presentation on her personal story of resiliency.  

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you to everyone who attended our April 4 town hall event to share and discuss the Wellness@Work survey results. We were thrilled to have about 300 people in attendance, with others watching online.

Here on our Wellness@Work website, you will find the full survey report, supplemental report and an infographic that summarizes some of the key findings from the overall U of G survey results: https://www.uoguelph.ca/wellnessatwork/wellnesswork-survey.