By Kerri Linsenbigler
Features Editor
Since Health Services and the Counseling Center combined last year to form the Wellness Center, Director Roger Keener has been brainstorming ideas to bring greater wellness to the campus.
“Last year I had the idea to do some of these things, but it was the first year,” Keener said. “I was sort of getting my feet on the ground. So, I thought if we’re going to get into a wellness programming effort, what are the things that we can do?”
The solution was implementing a bike rental system. Students can rent a bike from the Wellness Center for the day simply by showing their Bonaventure ID. Students can even keep the bike for the entire weekend if they come late on Friday, Keener said.
“We really do have a nice bike path here,” Keener said. “What we’re really trying to do with the program is increase wellness. “
So far, Keener said the bike rentals have been extremely popular. So much so that Keener plans to add an additional five or six bikes for the spring semester.
“We have ten bikes and everyday ten bikes are taken out,” he said. “So, we probably have had over 150 bikes checked out.”
Keener said he also plans to add more items students can rent from the Wellness Center, including snow shoes and cross country skis.
“There’s some good ski areas and some good snow shoe areas,” Keener said. “We get enough snow to do those types of things, and people can take advantage of that.”
Possible expansions of the rental program are endless, Keener said. In the future, Bonaventure might even invest in camping equipment, he said.
“When I was at West Virginia University, we used to have the opportunity to check out backpacks and tents,” Keener said. “I guess a group of (Bonaventure) students could go out in the woods and tent, but there’s also Allegany State Park students can go to.”
Besides promoting physical wellness on campus, Keener also hopes to sustain students’ mental and emotional well-being. The Wellness Center is in the process of cataloging DVDs for student rental. Dramas, comedies and even TV series will be available, Keener said.
While the Wellness Center’s new programs are well received, Keener said he encourages constructive feedback from students, faculty and staff.
“The thing that we’re probably going to look at in the spring is maybe forming a student group to be an advocacy group and give us input on what we need to change,” Keener said.
To offer suggestions or to learn more about the Wellness Center’s new rental programs, contact Keener at rkeener@sbu.edu.
