Introduction
The Student Wellbeing Initiative is using a Results Based Accountability framework to guide positive changes to student mental health and food security. To align your unit’s work with the SWI, please consider using the following tools to support your process:
- University of Minnesota’s Wellbeing Promotion & Suicide Prevention Framework
- Guide To Implement Effective Change Ideas in your Unit
- Results Based Accountability brief overview and guide
Shared Framework Definitions
Student Wellbeing as the Foundational State
Definition
Student wellbeing is a balanced and dynamic state in which students’ basic needs and higher capacities are supported, enabling them to learn, grow, and thrive. It begins with the fulfillment of basic physical and psychological needs such as physical health, mental health, safety and security, financial stability, and social connectedness, which provide the stability and sense of belonging essential for healthy development.
Example
Having supportive relationships, good health, and financial security that allow for engagement in life.
Thriving as Active Growth
Definition
Thriving refers to actively growing, learning, and adapting within a context of wellbeing. Thriving is the state that results from a sense of wellbeing, and is evidenced by an individual being engaged in experiences meaningful to them, both in and out of the classroom, that encourage individual growth. Meaningful experiences include exploring your passions through: campus involvement, research, leadership opportunities, internships and paid work, study abroad, community engagement, or any experience that enhances their learning, career and personal development, and overall enjoyment.
Relationship to Wellbeing
When foundational wellbeing is in place, individuals are free to explore, take on challenges, and develop new skills. Thriving emphasizes progress, engagement, and vitality.
Example
A student who feels safe and supported begins to stretch themselves academically or socially by showing motivation, creativity, and resilience.
Flourishing as Optimal Functioning
Definition
Flourishing represents the highest level of wellbeing, where a person experiences both hedonic (joy, satisfaction) and eudaimonic (meaning, virtue, purpose) fulfillment. Flourishing is the optimal state of human functioning. It goes beyond mere happiness or contentment to include a sense of accomplishment, engagement, personal growth, and living a life rich with meaning and purpose. It is the state of actively thriving, not just surviving.
Relationship to Wellbeing
Flourishing is the culmination of sustained wellbeing and thriving; the state of living fully and expressing one’s potential across multiple domains of life.
Example
Someone who not only feels good but is also doing good; living with purpose, contributing to others, and expressing their best capacities.
Mapping Outcomes to the Conceptual Model
