CSU Be Well Conference Full Agenda

USU Room 303
Presenter(s): Blake Elis - Chico 

The Chico State Ecotherapy Program was created as a community-driven response to recover from the 2018 Camp Fire. In 2019, the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve (BCCER) received funding for the "Forest Therapy for Community Recovery" pilot project to certify 15 community members as forest therapy guides to serve individuals impacted by the Camp Fire. Since its inception, the program has expanded to address the aftermath of subsequent fires and the isolation and mental health crisis exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic on Chico State campus. In this session, you'll learn all about the evidence-based practice of Nature and Forest Therapy and it's mental, emotional, social, and environmental health benefits. You'll also learn how the Ecotherapy Program is helping students and community members in the North State to process trauma and grief, enhance resilience, and help build healthy relationships with place, nature, ourselves, and each other. 

USU Room 304 
Presenter(s): Allison Insunza and Angela Conte - Long Beach 

Body Positive at The Beach is an eight-week series that helps students overcome conflicts with their bodies. It is built on the foundation of practicing intuitive self-care, cultivating self-love, exploring one’s own unique and authentic beauty, and building community. Participants have called this program life-changing. In this presentation, we will share the results of our program, discuss how to bring a Body Positive program to your institution, and create a more compassionate campus community. 

USU Room 205
Presenter(s): Danielle Munoz, Amanda De Loera-Morales, and Gary Coyne - Long Beach 

The WAT was developed in 2022 by staff from key student wellness support units, like Basic Needs and Counseling services, and designed to model trauma informed understandings to support students. The implementation and rollout of WAT focused on building collaboration both among health and wellness support units within Student Affairs and with units across campus. The training features both informational content, such as understanding how the neurobiology of stress impacts learning, as well as scenarios in which participants role play responding to students in distress. Surveys of participants found statistically significant increases in confidence in the ability to recognize students in distress, the ability to motivate a student to seek help and the ability to recommend appropriate resources to students.

USU Room 306
Presenter(s): Leah Bank, Sarah Mebane - Bakersfield 

The recently opened Wellness Suite at CSUB has become a popular destination for students to visit throughout their day on campus. This presentation will provide an overview of student benefits, including quantitative and qualitative feedback, and share best practices, policies and procedures, entry data, and testimonials. Additionally, the presenters will discuss the space design and concept and share replicability ideas for other campuses looking for ways to implement similar resources. Attendees will be able to: (a) explain the collaborative approach taken to achieve success with this project, (b) understand the impact on students’ overall health through a dimensions of wellness lens, and (c) brainstorm ways to use features of the Wellness Suite on your own campus. The Wellness Suite project was funded primarily through the Chancellor’s Office AB-74 Basic Needs Partnerships Funds. 

USU Alamitos Bay 
Presenter(s): Maureen Guarcello, Dipthi Battapadi, and Jim Lange - San Diego 

As the Carnegie Foundation aptly put it, We cannot improve at scale what we cannot measure. Embed measures of key outcomes and processes to track if change is an improvement (Bryk et al., 2015). This certainly applies to complex, systemic change necessary to address population-level mental-health and well-being concerns. In 2022, San Diego State University began regular measurement of students using the Wellbeing Improvement Survey for Higher Education Settings (WISHES, see anew.nyu.edu/what-we-do/wishes), a short, validated set of scales and items that allow realtime assessment of student mental health, thriving, distress, physical health and economic concern among other variables. With more than 6,000 student responses, SDSU has seeded a culture of wellbeing program improvement referencing WISHES data and generating interest from diverse campus programs, services, and stakeholders. 

USU Room 305
Presenter(s): Dr. Osmara Reyes-Osorio, Dra. Lorena Marquez, and Rosalba Arvizu - Los Angeles 

Dr. Marcelle Hayashida is associate vice chancellor for Wellness, Health & Counseling Services under the division of Student Affairs at UC Irvine. She oversees the departments of Campus Recreation, CARE, Campus Social Work, Child Care Services, Counseling Center, Disability Services Center, Student Health Center, and Student Wellness & Health Promotion. Dr. Hayashida is a licensed clinical psychologist in California and has worked in a variety of settings, including private practice, college counseling centers, as faculty, and in administrative roles such as the associate dean of students/dean of women at Pomona College. Her research and publications focus on African American mental health, Black women in higher education, and college student mental health, and she presents broadly on topics that include Black women's mental health, college mental health, and working in student affairs. She holds undergraduate degrees in French and psychology from Vassar College, and a master's degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan.

USU Room 306
Presenter(s): Cathy Nguyen, Katie Ramos, and Dr. Lissa Lim - San Marcos 

The CSUSM SHCS Health Assistance Fund (HAF) aims to remove financial barriers hindering student access to essential health services. This session highlights HAF's mission, outcomes, strategies, and challenges in ensuring equitable access to medical, mental health, and wellness services on and off-campus. Attendees will learn about HAF's impact on student demographics, service requests, and feedback over two years, emphasizing its effectiveness in reaching diverse student populations. Panelists will discuss the supportive role of SHCS staff beyond financial contributions, providing guidance, resources, and a network of professionals to help students prioritize education and personal growth. The Q&A session empowers institutions to implement similar initiatives, enhancing student well-being and academic success by removing financial barriers.

USU Room 303
Presenter(s): Ian Wallace and Marie Ekmekjian - Maritime 

At Cal Maritime, where leadership is integral to education, health surveys reveal a need for improved emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills among students, staff, and faculty. Similar trends are seen across CSU campuses, where youth mental health challenges are rising. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) will conduct a workshop on microinterventions, focusing on culturally-responsive interpersonal skills vital for personal growth, wellness, and leadership. The session, drawing on Dr. Derald Wing Sue's work, will educate participants on microaggressions and teach intentional, affirming responses to them. Through Dr. Sue's taxonomy, attendees will practice responding to real-world examples, fostering communication skills, emotional regulation, and self-awareness of biases. The workshop aims to equip participants with tools for constructive responses to microaggressions, enhancing their personal development, wellbeing, and leadership abilities in various university settings. 

USU Alamitos Bay 
Presenter(s): Genevieve Pascale - CSULB, Dr. Ayla Donlin

During Fall 2023, CSULB's LifeFit Center @ The Beach launched the Wellness U pilot employee wellness program initially targeting 10-15 participants. Surpassing expectations, 35 employees enrolled in the eight-week program, focusing on movement, mindfulness, and nutrition. The hybrid program offered virtual and in-person support, promoting autonomy and flexibility. Virtual movement sessions accommodated diverse fitness levels, while mindfulness resources included guided meditation apps like UCLA Mindfulness and Headspace. Nutrition information was provided through wellness software and apps, encouraging food tracking and goal-setting. Weekly 15-minute coaching sessions provided accountability and support, cited as the most valuable aspect by participants. Results, including heart rate and body composition, will be shared along with testimonials. The workshop will engage attendees in mindfulness exercises and goal-setting, concluding with feedback on future program iterations. 

USU 304
Presenter(s): Jessica Lopez, Lindsay Wetzel-Polin, Joanna Snawder-Manzon, and Jennifer Swanson - Monterey

This session will discuss a collaboration between Athletics, Health and Wellness Services, and the Basic Needs Office at CSU Monterey Bay to support student-athlete basic needs and mental health. Mental health stigma, time, and coaches' attitudes may contribute to student-athletes’ reluctance to seek help (Yoon & Petrie, 2023), potentially increasing the risk of experiencing a mental health crisis, increasing the severity of symptoms, and poor academic and athletic performance. While high-profile professional and collegiate athletes advocating for mental health support and intervention in the past few years have inspired more open conversations, stigma related to accessing basic needs and mental health services persists. Campuses must be strategic in their programming and collaborations to continue to address perceptions of stigma and encourage student-athletes to access support services. Members of the CSUMB Athlete Care Team (ACT) will review our efforts to normalize mental health conversations, increase accessibility of services, and increase education and training to support a spirit of help-seeking for student-athletes.

USU 205
Presenter(s): Charisma Mangahas - Long Beach 

After being diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome which is an autoimmune disease leaving my body to be over taken from paralysis, my educational plans were changed, along with my priorities. I got a degree to find answers for myself so I majored in Exercise Science. By shifting the mentality of what my finish line looked like, I learned that even if my goals and belief in myself can travel fast, my body will flow along its own timeline. The adapted choices I’ve made for myself, along with being confident about any health-related events out of my control, led me to find power behind respecting my choice, and I encourage others to follow suit. The challenges I’ve faced were lessons to discover a new understanding between the balance of mind and body. Up to this day, compromise allows me to create a harmonious understanding of living with a disability. 

USU Room 305
Presenter(s): Donna De Loera, Graciela Lopez, Carol Almaguer - Long Beach 

The Campus Assessment & Stabilization Team (CAST) at California State University, Long Beach is a team of mobile mental health professionals, in collaboration with university police, responding to crises and urgent needs of the CSULB campus and surrounding community with a humanistic and trauma informed approach. During this session, we will discuss the collaboration between Student Health Services and University Police to develop CAST and the efforts of the program to expand the mental health resources for the CSULB community. We will identify some of the challenges and successes of the program since its implementation a year ago. Lastly, we will explore how a program like this could be tailored to support your campus community.

OUTDOOR - Walking Activity: Friendship Walk 
Presenter(s): Dr. Osmara Reyes-Osorio, Dra. Lorena Marquez, and Rosalba Arvizu - Los Angeles