The Community of Practice Committees focus on the student and workforce experience. The Student Wellbeing Council (SWC) has six standing subcommittees, and the Workforce Wellbeing Core Advisory Committee (WWCAC) establishes subcommittees annually based on identified focus areas. SWC and WWCAC collaborate to advance a holistic, systems-based approach to university-wide wellbeing.
About the CoP
Cornell has formed a Community of Practice (CoP) to support the Health Promoting Campus initiative. The CoP is managed by a Student Wellbeing Council and a Workplace Wellbeing Core Advisory Group, each representing a wide range of constituents and informed by campus and community stakeholder engagement. Membership in the CoP is based on role at the university and intended to be fluid over time.
The Student Wellbeing Council provides leadership and momentum to advance efforts related to student wellbeing.
Membership
Membership includes the following:
Chair:
Director of Cornell Health's Skorton Center for Health Initiatives, Julie Edwards
Executive Sponsors (each of whom previously served as Executive Sponsors for the student Mental Health Review):
Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost of Graduate Education: Kathryn Boor
Vice President, Student and Campus Life: Ryan Lombardi
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education: Lisa Nishii
General Body:
Assistant Director, Sustainability: Kim Anderson
Director, Workforce Wellbeing: Michelle Artibee
Assistant Dean, Career Management Center, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business: Cynthia Saunders-Cheatham
Dean of Faculty: Eve DeRosa
Deputy Director, Athletics: Amy Foster
Executive Director, Student & Campus Life Communications: Amy Gaulke
Assistant Vice President, Division of Public Safety: Dave Honan
Health Public Policy ’25: Andrew Juan (student)
Student Assembly President: Patrick Kuehl (student)
Vice President of Student & Campus Life: Ryan Lombardi
Dean of Students, Student & Campus Life: Marla Love
Graduate and Professional Student Assembly President: Melia Matthews (student)
Dean of Students, Law School: Markeisha Miner
Director, Housing and Residential Life: Abby Priehs
Dean of Students, College of Veterinary Medicine: Jai Sweet
Senior Associate Dean of Students: Kevin Williams
Consulting Members for the Council:
Associate Director of Administrative Services, Cornell Health: Jennifer Austin
Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education: Bonnie Comella
Assistant Director, Research and Evaluation, Skorton Center for Health Initiatives: Abi Dubovi
Associate Director, Skorton Center for Health Initiatives: Laura Santacrose
Community of Practice Committees
The Student Wellbeing Council is comprised of six sub-committees, which were proposed as a result of extensive campus conversations and listening sessions. The six groups currently include:
Research and Evaluation
Policies and Practices
Supportive Environments
Belonging and Connection
Personal and Professional Development
Services and Resources
Workforce Wellbeing Core Advisory Committee
The Workforce Wellbeing Core Advisory Committee provides leadership and momentum to advance efforts related to faculty and staff wellbeing.
Charge
The Workforce Wellbeing Core Advisory Committee (WWCAC) will partner with the Student Wellbeing Council to create an institution-wide vision and mission related to wellbeing at Cornell. The committee will issue key recommendations related to workforce wellbeing at least annually to Executive Sponsors, Christine Lovely, Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), and Avery August, Deputy Provost. In between recommendation cycles, the committee will provide timely and ongoing insights, feedback, and smaller scale suggestions. Executive Sponsors will review recommendations and determine next steps.
Much work is occurring across the university in support of workforce wellbeing. The committee will seek to understand Cornell’s current workforce offerings, the impact of said offerings including inclusivity and accessibility, and make recommendations as needed to best align workforce practices with those outlined in the Okanagan Charter. Of equal importance, the committee will seek to understand and issue recommendations related to the root causes of unhealthy work and personal campus environments, regardless of location.
Understanding the experiences of faculty and staff is critical to developing informed recommendations. WWCAC will regularly receive data from HR Analytics in the Division of Human Resources (DHR) to receive workforce insights. Additional data sources and input will be pursued as needed to ensure the committee makes objective and informed recommendations. While not charged with developing an institutional workforce wellbeing strategy, the committee’s efforts will inform the development of said strategy by DHR.
Membership
Chair:
Director, Workforce Wellbeing, Division of Human Resources (DHR): Michelle Artibee
Executive Sponsors:
Deputy Provost: Avery August
CHRO and Vice President, DHR: Christine Lovely
Committee Coordinator:
Program Coordinator, Work/Life, DHR: Amy Layton
General Members:
Assist. Director of Administrative Services, Communications, Cornell Health: Jennifer Austin
Sr. Consultant, HR Analytics, DHR: Veronica Banks
Sr. Director, Benefit Services and Administration, DHR: Eric Biegler
Assoc. Director, Health and Welfare, Benefit Services and Administration, DHR: Emily Brousseau
Wellbeing Program Director, College of Veterinary Medicine: Kate Buckley
UAW Peer Representative, Staff and Labor Relations, DHR: James Dannic
ADA Coordinator, Facilities and Campus Services: Andrea Haenlin-Mott
Sr. Director, Employee Experience, DHR: Linda Croll Howell
Director, Skorton Center for Health Initiatives, Cornell Health: Julie Edwards
Sr. Assoc. Athletics Dir. of Physical Ed. & Dir. of Recreational Services, Cornell Athletics: Jen Gudaz
Director, Cornell Wellness: Kerry Howell
Sr. Project Manager, Flourish, Weill Cornell Medicine: Michael Lardner
Sr. Associate Vice Provost, Office of Faculty Development and Diversity: Yael Levitte
Assoc. Director, Master of Public Health Program & Professor of Practice: Gen Meredith
Program Manager, Work/Life, DHR: Ruth Merle-Doyle
Assoc. Vice President, Department of Inclusion and Belonging: Sonia Rucker
Manager, Sustainability, Facilities and Campus Services: Meredith Rutherford
Diversity and Inclusion Learning Consultant, Dept. of Inclusion and Belonging: Erin Sember Chase
Director, Faculty & Staff Assistance Program, DHR: Wai-Kwong Wong
Additional Sub-Committee Members
Lead Clinical Administrative Assistant, Faculty and Staff Assistance Program: Jasmine Jay
Community Programming Specialist, Cornell Wellness: C. Lucas
Subcommittees
Sub-committees are established to focus on specific areas identified by WWCAC for the semester or year. Limiting the number of sub-committees and being strategic about the amount of time granted to develop recommendations for leadership is intentional. This model ensures attention and resources are devoted to the focus areas so that recommendations and associated actions can be taken more swiftly. After issuing recommendations to WWCAC’s Executive Sponsors, the sub-committees may cease and new sub-committees will be established to work on other focus areas.
Fall 2023 Sub-committees:
Workload & Boundaries
Mental Health
Healthy Spaces
Characteristics of the Communities of Practice
Domain: What WE Care About
creates common ground
inspires members to participate
guides learning
gives meaning to actions
Community: WHO Cares About It
enables collective learning
fosters interaction
encourages a willingness to share ideas
Practice: What We DO About It
provide focus on ways to address the problem(s) identified
Alignment with Okanagan Charter
Cornell's Community of Practice aligns with the Okanagan Charter'sGuiding Principles and Calls to Action.
Specifically:
It aligns with three of the Charter's Guiding Principles:
Use settings and whole system approaches
Ensure comprehensive and campus-wide approaches
Develop trans-disciplinary collaborations and cross-sector partnerships
It supports two of the Charter's Calls To Action:
2.1: Integrate health, wellbeing, and sustainability in multiple disciplines to develop change agents.
2.3: Lead and partner towards local and global action for health promotion.
