Janay Crosland proposed a resolution for a new wellness course during last Monday’s Clemson Undergraduate Student Government (CUSG) Senate meeting. 
“Today, I will be presenting the Wellness Resolution in order to gain your support for the creation of a one credit wellness class on our campus, most likely under special topics, that will focus on the seven pillars of wellness,” Crosland said. The seven pillars of wellness are social, physical, spiritual, occupational, environmental, intellectual and emotional.
Crosland, a sophomore early childhood education major, is taking a Creative Inquiry (CI) class that focuses on these pillars. She said that the class is making a syllabus “that will encompass all of the seven pillars … and strive to take Clemson to the next level.”
The wellness course would be in lecture form.
“[The CI] may be in jeopardy of losing some of the money … that we use to buy fitbits,” Crosland said. A Fitbit is a bracelet that tracks “your steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes,” according to https://www.fitbit.com/alta. 
Crosland also cited recent changes in colleges as a reason for a lecture course.
“With restructuring of our colleges, we feel that it is a perfect time to present our ideas to the administration,” Crosland said. 
In October 2015, the Board of Trustees approved a re-alignment of the university’s academic departments into a seven-college structure, according to the Greeville News. The College of Health and Human Development became the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences. Crosland said that the CI has discussed the placement of the wellness course in one college. 
“We are currently consulting with the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management and the Food and Nutrition Science faculty, and they are reviewing our curriculum,” Crosland said. The course may be placed in the “Special Topics” category.
“We realize that we don’t want just one demographic of students to benefit from this. We want everyone to benefit,” Crosland said. “That’s why we decided to put it into special topics.”
 Mental health is another factor that Crosland considered in drafting the resolution: “With mental health being such an important issue on our campus, we feel that a wellness course would definitely be a benefit to all the students,” Crosland said.
The course would  cover financial matters, including how to balance a checkbook, as well as spiritual matters. Crosland said the class would focus more on spirituality than religion. 
“We don’t want to sit and try to tell people that they have to claim a religion or claim a type of spirituality,” Crosland said. “We basically want to provide education on the difference between spirituality and religion, and be really broad based to not have any biases.” Crosland said that the course is about education more than anything else.
Part of Crosland’s presentation was about programs at Clemson’s peer institutions. Furman University has a wellness course requirement for graduation. Their website lists a course centered around the “importance of body and mind” as part of general education studies to support Furman’s mission statement about showing commitment to “develop the whole person–intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.”
University of South Carolina has a department called “Campus Wellness” that is dedicated to supporting healthy lifestyles for all members of the USC community. The department offers drop-in appointments and workshops that focus on physical exercise, stress and time management and tobacco cessation and treatment.
Crosland said conversations had taken place about pairing the wellness course with the mandatory CU1000 library courses. 
Crosland has presented the idea to the office of Vice President of Student Affairs Almeda Jacks, Associate Vice President and former CUSG advisor Dr.George N. Smith and  Interim Dean of the College of Health, Education and Human Development Dr. Brett White.
“They all believe that we need more student support,” Crosland said.
A motion was made and seconded during the Senate meeting to send the bill back to Academic Affairs Committee. Crosland said the bill will receive its second read at next Monday’s meeting when a vote may occur.
CUSG Senate meets every Monday at 7 p.m. in the Senate Chambers at the Student Union.