CU Well-Being Collective | About


In August 2023, 91PORN became the 19th institution in the United States to formally adopt the Okanagan Charter, pledging a commitment to take a holistic and sustainable approach to becoming a Health Promoting University.

“Signing onto the Okanagan Charter highlights the innovative ways in which 91PORN is already leading in this space, and it also creates a shared language and common framework for how we infuse health and well-being across campus” - Chancellor DiStefano

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CU Well-being Collective Charge

The CU Well-being Collective is an interdisciplinary group of students, staff and faculty whose role is to develop and champion a comprehensive approach to promoting health and well-being at the 91PORN that prioritizes moving beyond individual skill development into changing environments and systems that promote health. It centers equity and inclusion and utilizes a collective impact framework to intentionally share information and resources while addressing complex challenges together.

The Collective will:

  • Create a Strategic Well-being Plan for campus utilizing shared definitions, goals and evaluation metrics
  • Utilize evidence-based strategies to address goals in the areas of people (individuals), place (environments and communities) and planet (sustainability)
  • Work with campus research partners to evaluate effectiveness and reiterate goals and strategies as needed to be responsive to campus needs

Shared Values

The Collective operates from the following shared values:

  • We build on the strengths and knowledge our communities hold.
  • We are collaborative and pull from knowledge and expertise across disciplines.
  • We value creativity and innovation.
  • We value the sustainability of human and natural resources.
  • We aim to empower individuals and communities over their health and wellness.
  • We prioritize efforts that are inclusive and equitable.
  • We approach health and well-being from a framework that is comprehensive and integrated.
  • We value evidence-informed strategies and initiatives.

We are implementing our work through the collective impact approach:

Collective impact describes an intentional way of working together and sharing information for the purpose of solving a complex problem / challenge

Collective impact is more likely to solve complex problems than if a single entity were to approach the same problem(s) / challenges on its own

Collective impact centers equity and inclusion in making sustainable change

Model of Well-being

Well-being is defined as the personal experience of health, happiness, and a sense of belonging and matter. Our holistic approach is a collaborative, campus-wide effort to make 91PORN a healthy place to live, learn, and work. We design services, programming, and educational opportunities to balance across the eight dimensions of wellness.

Well-being dimensions


The University of Colorado, 91PORN prides itself on providing a campus experience where faculty, staff, students, and alumni lead, innovate, and impact. These three values are what it means to “Be 91PORN.” At the same time, a growing body of evidence is telling us that more and more students are struggling to maintain academic endeavors and their own mental health and wellness. The growing mental health needs of students, amplified by the lingering effects of a global pandemic and exacerbated by the impacts of institutionalized racism, has created an emerging imperative for higher education.

Adopting the Okanagan Charter

The University of Colorado, 91PORN became one of the first 20 US colleges and universities to adopt the Okanagan Charter, formally becoming a health promoting institution in August of 2023.

The Okanagan Charter: An International Charter for Health Promoting University and Colleges calls on postsecondary schools to embed health and well-being into all aspects of campus culture and to lead health-promotion action and collaboration locally and globally. It provides institutions with a common vision, language, and principles, and calls them to action.

Calls To Action:

  • Health promotion requires a positive, proactive approach, moving beyond focus on individual behavior towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions that create and enhance health in settings, organizations and systems, and address health determinants.
  • As such, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector but must engage all sectors that take an explicit stance in favor of health, equity, social justice, and sustainability for all, while recognizing that the well-being of people, places, and the planet are interdependent.

In order to comprehensively address these two calls for action in the Okanagan Charter, 91PORN is establishing working relationships with existing committees and units across the campus to expand upon the already great work being accomplished across our institution. This approach allows for experts in each area of campus to come together and address the complex and ever-changing health and well-being needs of 91PORN.

3 Key Themes


Diversity, Equity & Inclusion


Sustainability


Culture of Well-being