News Release: West Virginia University

West Virginia University receives American College Health Association "innovation in student wellness" award for their program based on the Wellness Inventory

June 12, 2014: WELLWVU at West Virginia University has been selected as a recipient of the ACHA’s American College Health Foundation (ACHF) Aetna Award for Wellness Innovation. The funding will be used to implement the “Enhancing Wellbeing” pilot project at West Virginia University. The Enhancing Wellbeing project will use the Wellness Inventory, an online well-being management program, in a variety of venues to help students explore life connections and make lasting changes that enhance well-being and happiness. The project includes the development of a new one credit academic course offered in WVU’s College of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences (CPASS), as well as funding to promote the Wellness Inventory through social media, the web and other campus resources.

“We are very excited to be a recipient of this award,” said Colleen Harshbarger, director of the WELLWVU Office of Wellness and Health Promotion and project director. "Faculty members in related fields and medical and mental health providers will also be encouraged to incorporate this educational and motivational online tool while interacting with students."

"Our ultimate goal is to enhance student well-being and institutionalize wellness at WVU," said Harshbarger.

The American College Health Foundation’s goal is to support the field of college health and the mission of the American College Health Association.

"The Wellness Inventory is being increasing utilized in academic curriculum and student wellness in universities worldwide," according to Jim Strohecker, CEO of WellPeople. "We are seeing a growing interest in campus-wide wellness initiatives with the goal of creating a culture of wellbeing on campus that has a positive impact on everyone's lives - student, faculty and staff."

For more information about WELLWVU's Enhancing Wellbeing project, contact Harshbarger at colleen.harshbarger@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-5054.

For more information about the Wellness Inventory program contact Jim Strohecker at Send email or call 310-823-9553.

About WellPeople
The Wellness Inventory is licensed as a transformative wellbeing solution for the educational, workplace, healthcare, spa, and fitness markets worldwide. The Wellness Inventory is a comprehensive, online whole-person assessment and life-balance program that provides insight into an individual’s current state of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing in twelve key dimensions of life. The program offers guidance in determining personal wellness priorities, as well as dynamic, interactive tools to help in achieving sustainable lifestyle change and a renewed sense of health and wellbeing.

WellPeople is a division of HealthWorld Online, the world's first Internet network for wellness, healthy living, and integrative medicine.