The Center for the Advancement of Well-Being supports the Well-Being Learning Community (Well-Being LC), an inclusive community where students like you are encouraged to explore well-being topics through reflective learning and shared experiences. This holistic experience includes traditional academic study, experiential learning, personal practices, and opportunities for you to learn how you and others pursue well-being. Learn more in this article and this video.
Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year will open on StarRez at go.gmu.edu/StarRez on December 12, 2022 and close on February 1, 2023.
Purpose
What is a Learning Community?
A Learning Community (LC) is a group of students living on campus who share common interests and come together to explore those interests more deeply. The LC experience is designed to help students find friends, mentors, and support. Each LC has a dedicated team that is invested in the student experience and passionate about the topic area. Additionally, students in an LC will participate in engaging activities based on the LC topic that will elevate the overall residential experience.
Benefits of living in an LC include:
- A supportive, educational, and exciting experience with a community of like-minded students
- A team of dedicated staff that ensures a positive and supportive experience for students
- Fun, engaging activities that focus on the interests of the LC and opportunities to learn outside of the classroom
- Access to academic resources and support from tutors, campus resources, and faculty
- Events and programs tailored to the LC by content experts connected to that LC
- And more
Well-Being Learning Community
The Well-Being LC will reside in Hampton Roads during the 2023-24 academic year. All upper-level residential students are eligible to apply. First-year students should consider the Well-Being First-year Interest LC for their first year and the Well-Being LC for subsequent years.
Applications will open on StarRez on December 12 and close on February 1. To learn more about the Well-being Learning Community, visit go.gmu.edu/wellbeinglc
Application Timeline
Students should apply between December 12, 2022 and February 1, 2023 via StarRez: go.gmu.edu/StarRez
The Well-being LC is a partnership between Housing and Residence Life; the Center for the Advancement of Well-being; and the School of Integrative Studies.
Guiding Principles
The Well-Being LC program is grounded in, and supports, the development of the following principles:
Strengths-based: Building a community in which members see themselves and each other as individuals with unique strengths that are growing and evolving is at the center of this LC. Viewing ourselves and each person in the community from a strengths-based perspective enhances positivity, efficacy, increases hope and optimism, and cultivates well-being.
Mindfulness-focused: Developing basic skills of mindful awareness allows community members to explore the present moment from a non-judgmental approach grounded in curiosity, kindness, and acceptance. Enhancing mindfulness skills contributes to the ability to respond skillfully to situations that may involve psychological or physical distress.
Values-guided: Helping community members to continually clarify personal values, so they can embody those values and contribute to the community through those values is central to this LC. Through clarification, students are encouraged to embody those values and share them with each other to create a safe, supportive space for all members of the community to thrive.
Self-directed: Acknowledging the fact that well-being is a process that must be directed by the individual encourages students to take active ownership of their well-being goals and to identify a path towards those goals. The Well-Being LC creates a safe space for students to assume personal responsibility for their own self-care while connecting them to various strategies and resources.
Responsibility: Being a member in the Well-Being LC supports students in working to understand and give meaning to their experiences and supports them in identifying coping strategies and integrative processes to promote personal well-being and community flourishing. Participation in the LC provides students with opportunities to consider how they will maintain this work beyond the LC experience.
Respect: Respecting and appreciating the highest good within each person, including protecting everyone’s rights to safety and eliminating discrimination and stigma, contributes to individual and community well-being. Self-acceptance and tolerance of others who have different beliefs ensures full participation and inclusion in the Well-Being LC.
Holistic: Appreciating the many elements of well-being points us to mind, body, and spirit, and also to the role of housing, financial stability, family support, social networks, sense of belonging, spirituality, mental and physical health, and academics. Our holistic approach to well-being recognizes that these many facets are in an on-going state of development.
Individualized and Person-Centered: Discovering our visions of well-being reflects the role of unique individual needs, preferences, experiences, and cultural background. This LC emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to well-being but many interpretations rooted in value systems that vary across culture and among individuals. The LC embraces discovering our own values, and learning those of others.
Questions?
Contact Zareena Khan, Assistant Director of Student Well-being Programs, Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, at zkhan54@gmu.edu or (703) 993-6093.
Testimonials
