UMass Wellbeing Collective Shares Okanagan Charter Experiences at National Summit in Albany

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A delegation of 10 members of the UMass Wellbeing Collective joined more than 175 higher education professionals from 80 universities to discuss the impact of adopting the Okanagan Charter at the second annual U.S. Health Promoting Campus Network National Summit at the University at Albany, State University of New York, from October 14-16, 2024. 

The summit included three days of workshops and case studies and was highlighted by a Presidential Panel featuring UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes. He was joined on the panel by Havidan Rodriquez, president of the University at Albany; Matthew Shaftel, president  of Russell Sage College; and Brock Tessman, president of Northern Michigan University. 

The campus leaders discussed what it meant for their respective campuses to adopt the Okanagan Charter and the value of joining the larger national health promoting campus movement. Chancellor Reyes highlighted the importance of holding wellbeing as a core campus value, as well as the call to finding ways to coordinate and assess the many efforts on campus. He emphasized that at UMass Amherst, the only way to approach care of the student, and the campus as a whole, was to think holistically. “It’s not just about physical health, it’s about mental health and it’s about social health,” he said.  

UMass led a session focused on the adoption and development of the Okanagan Charter, articulating a collective impact approach to building the Wellbeing Collective. Presented by Ann Becker, director of Public Health; Betsy Cracco, assistant vice chancellor of Campus Life and Wellbeing; and Ruben Sanca, executive director of Recreation and Wellbeing; their discussion emphasized the challenging work of breaking down institutional silos and harnessing campus knowledge to inform and shape the systems and settings that can support and improve wellbeing.  

In October 2022 UMass became the 14th university in the nation to formally adopt the Okanagan Charter; it has now been adopted by 31 universities.