Wellness Ambassadors
Click here to find the Wellness Ambassador in your department!
(Up-to-date as of March 22, 2023)
Wellness Ambassadors serve as liaisons between university-wide health and wellness information and their departments. They play a key role in communicating Healthy IU programs, resources, and events to their work teams, as well as communicating the general wellness needs of their work team to Healthy IU.
About the Program
Purpose
The purpose of the Healthy IU Wellness Ambassador Program is to promote healthy lifestyle behaviors and increase awareness of wellness offerings on every IU campus. It seeks to:
- Increase the number of campus departments with a designated person who communicates health and wellness information to their work group
- Create an environment for employees to share ideas on promoting a culture of wellness through resources, programs, and support
IU strives to create a workplace where employees feel engaged and valued. Our wellness has a huge impact at work and beyond. Support for employee wellness is a major way supervisors and team members can engage and inspire in the workplace. We think it speaks directly to Question 5 on the university-wide My Voice at IU Engagement Survey, "My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person."
What Does a Wellness Ambassador Do?
There are 4 basic requirements of Healthy IU Wellness Ambassadors:
- Watch the orientation to become familiar with the program components
- Participate in bi-annual wellness ambassador Zoom calls to brainstorm ways that IU campuses can promote healthy lifestyles for employees
- Read and forward information from campus wellness leaders and the Healthy IU team to your work group, share at team meetings, and/or print and post information in common department areas
- Serve as a liaison between university-wide health and wellness information and your department, and make sure your work group knows that you will keep them up to date
In addition to the basic requirements above, ambassadors are encouraged to become involved in ways that best fit their interests and expertise. Examples include:
- Work with Healthy IU to coordinate programs for your department or other building employees
- Be a leader for Healthy IU team challenges like Climb IU
- Use professional expertise and experience to assist in the development of new departmental or campus health and wellness programs
- Provide feedback to Healthy IU on programs before or after they are implemented
How to Sign Up
Interested in becoming a Wellness Ambassador? The first step is watching an online orientation! Click here to view the orientation video.
After orientation, those who are still interested in being a Wellness Ambassador will confirm their interest and officially become part of the team by signing up here! (Make sure to get your supervisor's support before you sign up!)
Time Commitment
The time commitment for this program depends on how involved each Wellness Ambassador would like to be. The minimum time commitment each month is 1-2 hours. This time will include bi-annual meeting preparation and attendance, emailing and posting about programs, and participating in programs as often as desired.
FAQs
Read the Wellness Ambassador FAQs.
Wellness Ambassador Toolbox
Bi-Annual Meetings
Bi-annual meetings are your chance to share with and learn from other Wellness Ambassadors across the university! Bi-annual meetings are held on the first Friday in May and the first Friday in November. Wellness Ambassadors will recieve an Outlook calendar invite to the meetings.
Newsletters
Wellness Ambassadors receive quarterly newsletters to help them stay inspired and connected to IU wellness resources. Newsletters are sent in February, June, September, and December.
View past newsletters:
Email Signature Image
If your work group allows special identifiers in email signatures, download and use the Wellness Ambassador logo to help colleagues more easily recognize you as an Ambassador.
Zoom Virtual Background
Display your Wellness Ambassador status in Zoom meetings! Download the Wellness Ambassador virtual background. Check out the Zoom Help Center for details on how to use a virtual background.
Share Your Program/Event on Social Media
Connecting the university-wide Healthy IU community to your program/event can inspire and inform.
Fill out the Healthy IU Social Media Sharing Form!
Email Julie Newsom at jullande@iupui.edu if you have any questions. Healthy IU will review all program/event submissions, and if approved, will try to post the information within 2 weeks.
Share a Wellness Journey Story!
When you share a story, you spark a story!
Everyone has a wellness story — each one is unique and inspiring. There are 8 Dimensions of Wellness, and wellness stories come in all shapes and sizes, on a variety of topics, in big and small actions.
Start a Wellness Challenge
Healthy IU has templates for starting departmental or individual wellness challenges on a range of topics. Learn more.