Collective Wellbeing

Wellbeing is often interpreted as individual wellness, but collective wellbeing centers on interconnection and our shared capacity to thrive together. Addressing the overall physical, mental, and social health of a community, collective wellbeing encourages conditions where all community members have access to resources and fulfilling opportunities.

Faculty, staff, students and university leaders each face their own complex challenges. However, many of these challenges and their impacts are interconnected, such as a professor dealing with stress has less capacity to support students. Due to the nature of complex challenges, they cannot be managed by a singular group alone but require collective action by all key stakeholders within a system.

The collective wellbeing approach to institution-wide challenges is based on a model of collective care and an understanding that complex challenges need to be addressed collectively. This model requires all groups to address systematic complex challenges rather than leadership addressing them alone or delegating responsibilities downwards.

Task Force

Established by Heidi Northwood, provost and vice-president: academic, and Manuel Riemer, department of psychology professor, the Collective Wellbeing Task Force will address systematic complex challenges and their impacts on collective and individual wellbeing as faculty, staff, students and university leaders.

The mandate of this task force is to look into the root causes of challenges and points of stress in order to address them in collective ways that create positive impact on wellbeing across the various groups.

The task force will work towards creating mutual understanding among the different groups at the university, raise general awareness about the root causes of institutional challenges, develop ideas for collective action, and coordinate those actions.

Task Force Members

The Collective Wellbeing Task Force has representation from various areas around the university. The task force members bring a wide range of perspectives and experiences from across the institution.

Coordinators

Manuel Riemer
Heidi Northwood

Faculty Members

Shirley Chen
Markus Poetzsch

Contract Teaching Faculty Members

Ali Diebold
Rebecca Pister

Undergraduate Students

Alina Khan
Makeda Kafele-Green

Graduate Students

Cristina Pinke
Lainey Hayles

Staff Members

Jenna Baronette
Lisa Jarvis

Leadership

Pam Cant
Kate McCrae Bristol

Administrative Support

Jessica Blondin