NOAH FISHMAN, Special to The Denisonian—
After months of construction, the Ann and Thomas Hoaglin Wellness Center opened on August 29th, the first day of Denison University’s academic year. Hoaglin is replacing the recently closed Whisler Center, located behind Huffman.
“I loved the structure of Whisler, but it did not meet our needs as a campus anymore,” stated Associate Director of Student Wellness, Jack Wheeler. “The Hoaglin center was, from the beginning, going to be in the center of campus, a place where students could engage before they needed intervention.”
Some of the new amenities in Hoaglin’s wellness wing include a multipurpose room, movement room, telehealth rooms, wellness rooms, and student collaboration spaces, all of which can be reserved on WhattoDU. The wellness rooms have diffusers and massage chairs, the multipurpose room has indoor-outdoor spaces and moveable furniture, and the movement room can be used for cycling, yoga, and dancing. Another resource found in Hoaglin is the Financial Wellness Office, which helps students with monetary questions.
On top of this, there are garden areas in the front and back of the building, and the lobby is open from 8 am to 11 pm. Additionally, there are 3 full-time staff members in the wellness department, and 15 student workers, who provide mental, physical, and emotional outreach, including programs around the center.
According to the International Accreditation of Counseling Services (IACS) Statement Regarding Recommended Staff to Student Ratios, “every effort should be made to maintain minimum staffing ratios in the range of one F.T.E. professional staff member to every 1,000 to 1,500 students.” The Hoaglin Center’s counseling and the medical wing has 8 on-site counselors for some 2400 students, keeping the university well over the recommended amount. Among these counselors is Marina Trent, substance abuse and recovery specialist, who will help students that want to examine their drug or alcohol use.
Students may call and schedule counseling appointments, or take advantage of the same-day appointments offered from 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm from Monday to Friday.
Beyond all of these in-house assets, The Hoaglin Center has a partnership with the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “They provide a full-time psychologist and administrator for managing the partnership, as well as a psychiatrist,” Wheeler said. “They’re also offering more services for physical therapy for all students, not just athletes.”
In terms of quality of care, The Hoaglin Center staff prides themselves on being well trained. However, if a specialist is not quite for you, they’ll help you find a better fit.
“There are culturally competent clinicians here at the center who come from varied backgrounds with varied expertise and training. I can’t promise that you’re going to walk in and see a therapist that looks just like you,” Wheeler said. “If you try that relationship and it’s not serving your needs, work with your therapist. They will help to navigate you to a provider that might be more appropriate for your needs.”
The Hoaglin Center does have numerous contracted community clinicians within the Columbus area and is more than happy to help set students up with one of these providers.
“If a student says ‘I want to see someone who’s the same race as me, or the same sexual orientation as me’ then we can connect them with diverse, LGBTQ+ friendly clinicians at no cost,” said Dar Compton, Associate Director of Counseling Services.
“The mission of the wellness wing is to help students build the skills and habits for lifelong wellbeing,” Wheeler explained with a smile. “A big component of that is helping them to become agents of their wellbeing,” he said.
“I hope that we create not just a wellness center, but a campus where students can check in with each other, be with each other, lean in, ask questions, and start conversations.”