McDaniel College secures multiyear grant to expand wellness initiatives as part of the college's signature McDaniel Commitment

McDaniel is the recipient of a NetVUE grant from the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to focus student support on the eight dimensions of wellness.

Wellness Wed Jasken — President Jasken stopped by to say hi to students during McDaniel's "Wellness Wednesdays" kickoff event. The spring 2023 series was sponsored by McDaniel’s Active Minds student organization, which is dedicated to promoting mental health awareness, along with the Wellness Center and the Center for Experience and Opportunity, as part of the You Matter campaign.

McDaniel College has received a multiyear grant to support the development of wellness initiatives and programming as part of the college’s signature McDaniel Commitment, a customized program of courses and opportunities that guarantees every student is prepared for personal and professional success.

McDaniel is among a select group of institutions awarded the Vocation across the Academy Grant from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC).

The NetVUE grant is part of a series of funding, totaling $90,000, for wellness initiatives. The initial $30,000 grant is to be used for project planning and activities during the first year. CIC will then award an additional $30,000 after McDaniel matches the funds.

McDaniel is looking to offer additional support to students and strengthen the impact of the McDaniel Commitment by integrating the eight dimensions of wellness—intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, financial, physical, and occupational.

Christine Moran, associate vice president of Student Success

“Through holistic advising, curricular development, and new co-curricular activities, we can encourage awareness of and growth across the eight dimensions of wellness and create conditions that allow students to truly focus on maximizing opportunities within the McDaniel Commitment,” said Christine Moran, associate vice president of Student Success.

“By cultivating a bidirectional relationship between vocational discernment and holistic wellness, students will consider how their sense of well-being informs their discovery of who they want to be in the world.”

The McDaniel Commitment, which launched in 2019, is embedded within the college’s general education curriculum and includes four components—My Place, My Design, My Experience, and My Career. Through the McDaniel Commitment, every McDaniel student engages in a strategic, guided vocational exploration with a team of mentors to completely tailor their personal educational path of courses and experiential learning opportunities.

This is the second NetVUE grant that McDaniel has received in support of the McDaniel Commitment. A grant in 2018 funded the pilot and introduction of the McDaniel Commitment.

NetVUE, which is administered by CIC, is a nationwide network of colleges and universities formed to enrich the exploration of vocation among undergraduate students.

CIC is an association of more than 700 nonprofit independent colleges and universities, state-based councils of independent colleges, and other higher education affiliates that works to support college and university leadership, advance institutional excellence, and enhance public understanding of independent higher education’s contributions to society. CIC offers conferences, seminars, publications, and other programs and services that help independent institutions improve educational quality, administrative and financial performance, student outcomes, and institutional visibility.