This year’s Wellness Week, hosted between October 17 and 21, could be the last Wellness “Week”students attend . In the search for a more efficient alternative to this week-long program, the administration is considering a plan that condenses these educational programs to one day long event. In the future, Carlos Hoyt, Associate Dean of Students, who is involved in Wellness Weeks scheduling, said he would like the administration to consider holding the Wellness Week programs all on one day, similar to the schedule used on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Although the logistics of the schedule have yet still to be decided, the student programs would be most likely be separated by lunch and free periods. “[The Administration] wants to schedule programs that create the least disruption and especially eliminate any student stress from disorientation about the week’s schedule,” Hoyt continued. “[The Dean of Studies Office] wanted to focus and try to create developmentally targeted programs, which resulted in the wide array of different workshops that we thought students would really like,” Hoyt said. Wellness Week this year also introduce a new method of scheduling. As in year’s past, students were required to attend three separate, hour-long programs covering various topics on the central theme of well-being during Wellness Week. Unlike last year, in this year’s schedule gave students a free cut from one class period on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, and all the Wellness Week programs met from 1:45 to 2:45 in the afternoon. Students attended Wellness Week programs during sixth and seventh period on Monday. Classes held sixth and seventh period met during second and first period on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday schedules remained the same. On Friday, sixth and seventh period classes met during fourth and third periods, with the final programs of the week again held during. In the 2010 Wellness Week schedule students missed one extra class each week with the programs scheduled during those missed periods each day of the week. Hoyt said that he and the administration worked to change the schedule from last year to primarily preserve student’s lunch periods. The administration also felt the changes would make the schedules more consistent for visiting speakers. “Overall, students like the concept and content of the programs, so it is just a matter of getting the students into the programs in a timely manner so they can enjoy them,” Hoyt added. Hoyt added that student feedback from SurveyMonkey questionnaires, sent out nightly to review the day’s program, have given mostly positive reviews about the content of the programs, with only a few complaints. Wellness Week was held comparatively early this year, as the week usually occurs in early November. However, as Hoyt said, the administration usually plans the week in the weeks following midterm, as students are generally tired from a long week of major assignments and looking for a bit of break. However, because of Wellness Week’s close location to midterm this year, many students have expressed discomfort with both the scheduling and the amount of work in their classes. Meaghan Haugh ’13 said, “The Wellness Week schedule took the place of my lunch period on two of the three affected days, but I think it allowed for overall free time in the afternoons.” William Rodriguez ’13 said, “I wasn’t really a fan because I had more work and I didn’t have a dedicated lunch period all week.” Hoyt said, “In general, [the administration] wants to create a wide array of programs that are both flexible and muscular, flexible in relating to campus events that might be important to address, as was the case last year when seniors and faculty discussed community conduct, and muscular in being strong in content and educational value for each grade targeted.”
