The steering committee of the university’s Well-being Collective has established the Common Agenda for Well-being at the University of Michigan.

The Common Agenda is a vision for change that includes a common understanding of the current state of well-being and a community-created approach for the future of the Ann Arbor campus and Michigan Medicine.

Key performance indicators will be determined during the summer and shared in the fall.

The agenda, which was informed by community feedback gathered during the last 18 months, will serve as a blueprint for the Well-being Collective’s work moving forward. The collective was created to lead university efforts toward becoming a health-promoting institution through systems- and policy-level approaches.

“The establishment of the Common Agenda is a critical next step,” said Robert Ernst, chief health officer and associate vice president for health and wellness in Student Life. “By design, the agenda is both our guiding light and our mechanism for accountability.

“We have outlined what needs to be done and now we have a clear framework for ongoing and future initiatives that support a health-promoting university.”

Ernst co-chairs the collective’s advisory council along with Preeti Malani, special adviser to the president and professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine.

The university also recently announced its Vision 2034, which includes human health and well-being as one of four impact areas where the university will focus its efforts over the next 10 years.

“In the span of a week, the university has highlighted its commitment to well-being through both Vision 2034 and our Common Agenda, underscoring the universal importance of well-being,” said Laurie McCauley, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.

McCauley is a co-executive sponsor of the Well-being Collective, along with Martino Harmon, vice president for student life.

“I am so impressed by the feedback from our students and employees and by the diligence of our authoring group,” Harmon said. “Everyone deserves to thrive, and that belief can come to life through the collaborative creation of this agenda.”

People can follow progress on the Well-being Collective website and can expect regular updates.

Established in 2022, the Well-being Collective has developed formal networks for input and engagement, a steering committee and an advisory council with a diverse representation of faculty, staff and students.

In addition to its role as a central hub for supporting community well-being through systems and policies, the collective also serves as a national model for how institutions can become health-promoting campuses.

The collective was created as a result of U-M adopting the Okanagan Charter in 2021. U-M became one of the first U.S. universities to adopt the charter, an international agreement to embed health and wellness into all aspects of campus culture.

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• well-being
• Well-being Collective