Not a plan β a roadmap. Destination 2025 was a two-year plan. Between Fall 2024 and Fall 2025, four new wellness responsibilities came under this division β Financial Wellness, Spiritual Wellness, Basic Needs Collective, and the Medical Student Wellness Program. A plan built for the old footprint couldn't absorb them. So the plan stopped, and the roadmap began.
Horizon
2023 → 2027
Pillars
Four
Dimensions
Nine
Frameworks
JED Β· Okanagan Β· CAS Standards
Accreditation
IACS Β· AAAHC
Framing
Strategic Plan vs. Strategic Roadmap
These aren't interchangeable terms. The shift from one to the other wasn't cosmetic β it was structural. Here's the distinction, and why this division made the move.
A Strategic Plan fixes the footprint.
A plan is built around what the division looks like today. It defines objectives, timelines, and resources for the departments and programs it already holds. New additions can be bolted on β but only up to a point. Past that point, the plan bends, strains, and eventually breaks.
Destination 2025 β a two-year plan (FY23 β FY25) built for the division as it was in 2023.
A Strategic Roadmap fixes the destination.
A roadmap assumes the division will keep growing, absorbing new responsibilities, and re-routing around what wasn't visible on day one. It commits to the destination β an integrated, evidence-backed wellness ecosystem β but treats the route as something that evolves as the terrain changes.
Re-Routed Destination β a three-year roadmap (FY25 β FY27) built to carry the growth the plan couldn't.
Why we moved
Between Fall 2024 and Fall 2025, four new responsibilities transitioned under this division: Financial Wellness (Fall 2024), Spiritual Wellness programming (developed Fall 2024), Basic Needs (Spring 2025), and the Medical Student Wellness Program (Fall 2025). Once the scope doubled faster than the plan could adapt, continuing to bolt on additions stopped being honest. The plan was stopped β and replaced with a roadmap designed to grow with the division, not against it.
The Transition
From plan to roadmap β the real sequence
Destination 2025 didn't fail on its objectives. It was overtaken by its own growth. Four new responsibilities arrived in twelve months β each one adding scope the original plan was never sized for.
FY23
Plan Launch
Destination 2025 launched as a 2-year Strategic Plan
Fall 2024
First Additions
Financial Wellness transitions under division Β· Spiritual Wellness programming developed
Gold = the original plan's horizon Β· Orange/Red = the transition window Β· Teal = the destination the roadmap commits to
North Star
Mission & Vision
The destination the roadmap is built to reach.
Vision
We support student well-being & success by prioritizing wellness which fosters a culture of care and belonging.
Mission
Our mission is to support student well-being and success by prioritizing wellness, fostering a culture of care and belonging.
Architecture
The four pillars
Every program, every initiative, every department budget line maps to one of four pillars. This is the division's load-bearing architecture.
01
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Access
Remove barriers to care β financial, logistical, cultural, and informational. If a student can't reach a service, the service doesn't exist for them. Includes fee structure, 24/7 virtual counseling, referral pathways, and physical accessibility.
02
π
Education
Build health literacy into the academic experience so students can steward their own wellness. Includes the EmpowerEd Canvas course, peer-led programming, and financial wellness curriculum.
03
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Outreach
Meet students where they are, not only where we are. Campaigns, peer navigation, and sustained presence at high-need intersections β on the dorm floor, in the classroom, at the food pantry.
Deliver clinically excellent, integrated care across counseling, medical, and disability services. Anchored by unified Medicat EHR, stepped care models, and the Huntsman MHI collaboration.
Whole-Student Model
Nine Dimensions of Wellness
Wellness is not mental health alone. The roadmap is built on a nine-dimension model because students show up whole β and services have to meet them that way.
Physical
Nutrition, movement, sleep, preventive medical care, and embodied health.
Emotional
Awareness, regulation, and expression of feelings; resilience and help-seeking.
Intellectual
Curiosity, cognitive engagement, academic pursuit, and lifelong learning.
Social
Belonging, relationships, community, and connectedness across difference.
Cultural
Identity, heritage, cross-cultural fluency, and affirming representation.
Occupational
Purpose, career readiness, and alignment of work with values.
Environmental
Safe, sustainable surroundings β physical spaces that support wellness.
Financial
Literacy, stability, and agency over personal economic decisions.
Spiritual
Meaning, values, and connection to something larger than self.
Shared Vocabulary
The words the roadmap runs on
Every division aligned on wellness has to agree on what wellness means. Two definitions anchor the roadmap.
Well-being
Inter-association Commitment to Well-being in Higher Education Β· Oct 2022
"An optimal, dynamic and ongoing state that allows people to achieve their full potential."
Wellness
Global Wellness Institute
"The active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health."
Global Framework
The Okanagan Charter
Our roadmap aligns with the Okanagan Charter's two Calls to Action for health-promoting universities. These aren't aspirations β they're commitments.
01
Embed health into all aspects of campus culture.
Across the administration, operations, and academic mandates β health is not a separate function; it's a design principle woven through every decision, policy, and practice on campus.
02
Lead health promotion action and collaboration locally and globally.
Universities have an obligation to generate and share evidence, convene partners, and model what healthy institutions look like β on campus, in the region, and in the field.
Why it matters on our roadmap
The Charter reframes wellness from a "student services" portfolio to an institutional responsibility. Every pillar on this roadmap β Access, Education, Outreach, Treatment β is a mechanism for honoring the Charter's commitments.
Framework
JED Campus
A four-year comprehensive mental health process.
JED Campus is a national framework that guides institutions through a 4-year strategic planning process for emotional health, substance misuse prevention, and suicide prevention. The University of Utah completed the process and became JED alumni in 2024 β the roadmap carries that work forward.
Alumni Β· 2024
Prevention Architecture
Four tiers. One continuum.
The roadmap organizes programs along a prevention continuum β from population-level upstream work to targeted clinical intervention. Most students need primary prevention. A few need all four.
Primary
Prevent before it starts
Population-level strategies that reduce risk factors and build protective factors across the whole student body β before problems emerge.
Clinical services for students with diagnosable conditions β counseling, medical care, and disability accommodations to restore and maintain functioning.
Examples
UCC individual & group therapy Β· Student Health Center medical visits Β· CDA accommodations Β· Huntsman MHI collaboration
Intervention
Stabilize in crisis
Acute response when a student is in immediate risk β coordinated, clinically escalated care with clear handoffs and follow-up.
Examples
MCOT crisis response Β· hospital liaison Β· threat assessment Β· post-crisis care coordination via Medicat
UPSTREAM → POPULATION LEVEL Β· TARGETED SUPPORT Β· CLINICAL CARE Β· ACUTE RESPONSE ← DOWNSTREAM
Evidence Base
Why this architecture β in the peer-reviewed literature
Every lever on this roadmap is tied to a student success outcome supported by peer-reviewed research. The roadmap isn't aspirational β it's evidence-backed.
SH&W Lever
Measurable Indicator
Student Success Outcome
Peer-Reviewed Anchor
Counseling / Clinical
UCC utilization, referral completion, acuity
Retention and graduation differences for counseling users vs. peers
Service utilization associated with persistence and retention
Johnson (2022); Baugus (2020)
First-Year Mental Health
First-year screening, targeted early intervention
Symptoms negatively affect academic outcomes β mechanism for persistence risk
Duffy et al. (2020); Lipson et al. (2021)
The Division
Six departments. One division.
The roadmap is executed through six departments β five foundational, plus the Financial Wellness Center, which transitioned into the division during the plan-to-roadmap shift. Three areas transitioned in total during the shift: the Basic Needs Collective, the Financial Wellness Center, and the Medical Student Wellness Program. Of those, only FWC operates as a standalone department; BNC and MSWP are embedded in their aligned departments β CCW and UCC respectively.
π§
University Counseling Center
UCC
π₯
Student Health Center
SHC
π±
Center for Campus Wellness
CCW
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Campus Recreational Services
CRS
βΏ
Center for Disability & Access
CDA
π°
Financial Wellness Center
FWC
Transitioned Β· Fall 2024
Note: Spiritual Wellness, the Basic Needs Collective (FeedU Pantry & Wellness Exchanges, embedded in CCW), and the Medical Student Wellness Program (MSWP, embedded in UCC) operate as division-wide programming rather than standalone departments. See Initiatives below.
Programs & Initiatives
Where the roadmap meets the ground
Every active initiative, mapped to the pillar it serves. If a program can't be mapped to a pillar, it doesn't belong on the roadmap.
Access
Telus Health (MySSP) 24/7 Virtual Counseling
Around-the-clock, multilingual virtual counseling available to every enrolled student β removing the "after-hours gap" that keeps students from care.
Access
Student Health & Mental Health Fee Increases
Strategic fee restructuring that funded expanded counseling capacity, extended hours, and free-at-point-of-care mental health visits.
Access
Accessible Furniture Grant
$20,000 invested in accessible furniture across SH&W spaces β so that physical accessibility matches clinical accessibility.
$20,000 Β· FY25
Education
EmpowerEd Health Literacy Canvas Course
A Canvas-delivered health literacy curriculum building students' capacity to navigate insurance, preventive care, and wellness self-management. 98% reported improved academic experience.
Education
Financial Wellness Center (FWC)
Department delivering financial literacy programming, 1:1 coaching, and crisis financial navigation β because financial wellness is wellness.
Transitioned under division Β· Fall 2024
Outreach
Spiritual Wellness Program
Programming and peer support structures that affirm the Spiritual dimension of wellness across diverse faith and meaning-making traditions. Division-wide programming; not a standalone department.
Developed Β· Fall 2024
Outreach
Peer Well-being Navigators
Trained student peers who provide wayfinding, warm handoffs, and early-touch support β meeting students where they already are.
$130,174 grant-funded
Outreach
Anytime Anywhere Awareness Campaign
Cross-channel campaign signaling that SH&W resources are available whenever and wherever students need them β classroom, dorm, phone, online.
Outreach
First-Ever State of Health & Wellness Address
Inaugural division-wide address making the case publicly for integrated wellness at Utah β and committing the data, targets, and timeline in view of the whole campus.
Treatment
Medicat EHR
Unified electronic health record across counseling, medical, and nursing services β the clinical backbone of integrated care. Full rollout: Fall.
TreatmentPaused
Huntsman Mental Health Institute Collaboration
Strategic clinical partnership extending specialty capacity, training pathways, and research alignment between SH&W and HMHI.
Paused: due to new leadership at HMHI. Further determination needed.
Treatment
JED Campus (Alumni Β· 2024)
Completed the four-year JED Campus comprehensive mental health process. The work continues; the framework graduates.
Integrated food pantry and basic-needs infrastructure β aligning inventory, referral pathways, and student access with Medicat as anchor system. Evidence: food insecurity linked to lower graduation (Wolfson & Leung, 2021).
Transitioned under division Β· Spring 2025
Treatment
Medical Student Wellness Program (MSWP)
Dedicated wellness infrastructure for medical students β the cohort with some of the highest documented burnout and suicide-risk rates in higher education. Clinical, peer, and programming supports built for the training environment.
Transitioned under division Β· Fall 2025
Strategic Roadmap Β· Student Health & Wellness Β· University of Utah Β· Updated Monthly