Johnson County Community College has received a gold-level designation in health and wellness by Exercise is Medicine, an initiative managed by the American College of Sports Medicine.
What it means: The Exercise is Medicine On Campus program awards universities and colleges across the country for their incorporation of health and wellness on campus.
- These institutions can earn a bronze, silver or gold wellness status — with gold being the highest achievement level.
- The rankings are based on how each school promotes physical activity on campus, through measures like making campuses walkable, introducing health-focused programming and connecting students with health fitness specialists.
How it was earned: JCCC earned the distinction after implementing its Student Wellness program, which the college launched in 2015.
- Through JCCC’s Student Wellness program, students have complimentary access to the school’s Barbara Gill Lifetime Fitness Center, as well as resources like personal training, fitness assessments and group fitness classes.
Bigger picture: JCCC is one of 158 campuses across the country to gain recognition from the program this year — along with Kansas City’s Rockhurst University, which earned silver-level designation.
- It’s also one of three community colleges across the country to earn gold-level wellness status.
- JCCC and its fellow recipients received official recognition for the achievement at this year’s Exercise is Medicine World Congress event — which served as part of the American College of Sports Medicine’s meeting this year.
- This comes as the latest in a number of ways JCCC has been recognized for athletics and physical activity this year — including All-American rankings for two of the JCCC women’s basketball team’s players earlier this spring.
Key quote: “This is a very distinguished honor for our Student Wellness program, our Health and Wellness Department and for JCCC,” said Lori Mallory, director of health and wellness at JCCC. “Dr. Tina Pulley, Adjunct Faculty, Health & Wellness, has been instrumental in growing our student wellness on campus and bringing attention to the importance of a student’s mental and physical well-being. The College has been very proactive in offering these services to students as part of their comprehensive education at JCCC.”