October 2015 Dimension of the Month: Financial Wellbeing

For October, as part of the Thrive campaign, the Office of Wellbeing is highlighting Financial Wellbeing. Building fiscal muscles is important for college students. That’s why we are partnering this month with the Office of Personal and Career Development and the Office of Financial Aid to help provide the necessary tools to help your students manage their student loans and learn how to be fiscally responsible!

Parents it is important that you know the resources available to you to help you manage your student’s tuition. Student Financial Services can help you know when your student’s tuition bill is due. Did you know that Wake Forest uses an electronic online billing system called DEAC (Deacon Electronic Account Center)? Each month, an e-bill notification is e-mailed to students at their Wake Forest University e-mail address.  An e-mail notification is also sent at the same time to valid e-mail addresses for each authorized payer that has been granted access to DEAC by their student. Check with your student to see if they have gained access to DEAC. In addition, the Student Financial Aid Website has detailed information, a FAQ and staff e-mail and telephone numbers for further assistance.

Encourage your students to join us in our upcoming workshops and programs! Improving one’s financial wellbeing and learning how to manage one’s money – both in the short term and long term- can make it easier for us to achieve peace of mind and a piece of our dreams.

Thrive Activities this Month:

Encourage  your student to join us for “Money@WFU: What Do I need to Know?” – Community Program – 12-2pm October 6th 2nd Floor Benson | 1-3pm October 14th ZSR Atrium

Our live tweet and greet event allows your students to either meet us in person or tweet us @wfuthrive with #WFDebtFree with questions they have about financial aid, financial literacy, other opportunities to earn scholarships and grants, and learn how to start saving money.

Move More! Move Often!

Move More! Move Often! is our brand new 8-week Fitbit walking program for faculty, staff, and students designed to encourage and challenge individuals to increase their daily physical activity. Using Fitbit activity trackers, participants can monitor daily steps and physical activity.  Throughout the 8-week challenge, faculty, staff, and student participants can access performance incentives, receive supplemental resources and materials, and discounts to help individuals reach their physical activity goals. Your students can apply to join our program and get a chance to win a Free Fitbit at our website: http://move.thrive.wfu.edu/

We encourage you to tell your students about this wonderful opportunity to improve their physical wellbeing!  As parents, you can also join the Wake Forest dashboard.  If you already own a Fitbit and want to join a Wake Forest parents’ page, please email your first name, last, name, and email address to movewfu@wfu.edu.  By joining, you’ll receive weekly emails to encourage you to increase your daily number of steps.

Towards a Mindful Campus – George Mason Scholar Visit to Wake Forest University

Towards a Mindful Campus is our new mindfulness awareness and practice initiative that focuses on building a campus culture that focuses more on the concepts of mindfulness, contemplation, meditation, resilience, and wellbeing. Mindfulness training and meditation have shown significant improvements in personal health, mental clarity, and emotional enthusiasm. The Office of Wellbeing, along with partnering offices,  is bringing scholars from George Mason University on October 26-27 to guide capacity-building workshops on  mindfulness practices and how we can apply these same practices to improve the wellbeing of our community. You and your students can learn more about this visit at our website: http://thrive.wfu.edu/events/ 

The Yoga Project: Tools for Life

We are launching a brand new 5-week yoga experience for our faculty, staff, and students! This course is designed to expose your students to both the fundamentals of yoga practice and the principles of yoga philosophy that will allow them to navigate even stressful or unpleasant situations with balance and wisdom. Your students can learn more and sign up for The Yoga Project at our website: http://thrive.wfu.edu/events/