The below message was sent from James J. Valentini, dean of Columbia College and chair of the JED Steering Committee, on October 10, 2018.

Dear Undergraduate Students,

The health and well-being of our community is among the highest priorities for all on our campus. As we settle into the fall semester, I am writing as the head of the JED Steering Committee to reaffirm our commitment and announce important updates that support this ongoing effort.

Last year, as part of our partnership with the JED Foundation, we announced a strategic plan with 14 key areas of action to help strengthen services and programming.

Driving this work is a common vision for our community: one where the individual and collective are provided with the tools they need to flourish in academic studies, professional pursuits and personal interests. This is the intent of the session Live Well | Learn Well, recently introduced to many of you during the New Student Orientation Program. Over the summer, students who participated in a communications focus group selected the name Live Well | Learn Well as the foundation for our well-being work.

Today I’m pleased to share the first step in implementing this vision: a new online tool at wellbeing.columbia.edu to help guide you, our undergraduate student community, directly to resources in one central location, thereby reducing barriers to support. This website will directly support one of the priorities outlined in the Columbia-JED Strategic Plan, ensuring well-being is a campus wide-responsibility. The website also serves as the platform for the progress on our work with JED, detailing the 14 objectives, workgroups and actions since our last update.

As our work continues, Live Well | Learn Well initiatives will evolve, so I encourage you to give feedback, share your story, get involved and to look out for the Live Well | Learn Well name to easily identify undergraduate health and well-being resources.

There are many individuals and organizations here at Columbia who are dedicated to you, our student community. Ask for help if you need it and support those around you. We’re in this together.

As always, I look forward to your comments and ideas.

Sincerely,
James J. Valentini
Dean of Columbia College and
Vice President for Undergraduate Education

cc: Mary C. Boyce, Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
Lisa Rosen-Metsch, Dean, School of General Studies