Proposal for Authorization to Implement New Program
Collaborative, Online Bachelor of Science Degree in Heath and Wellness Management
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
University of Wisconsin-River Fall
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point
University of Wisconsin-Superior
With administrative and financial support from UW-Extension
Introduction
Healthcare in the United States is rapidly changing. According to the Center for Disease Control, chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and cancer cause 7 in 10 deaths and account for 75% annual medical costs. (http://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/businesscase/reasons/rising.html)
Much of the suffering, disability, and early death caused by chronic diseases is attributable to modifiable lifestyle behaviors. (http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/index.htm)
The economic burden of these preventable conditions not only impacts individuals, but also employers. Employers provide 61% of Americans under the age of 65 with health insurance, the premiums for which have nearly doubled in the last decade. In addition, because chronic conditions are by definition not cured but managed for the rest of an individual’s life, they impact all aspects of life. Thus employers also bear costs from chronic conditions in the form of absenteeism, reduced productivity, injuries on the job, short-term disability, and disability pension insurance on top of direct medical costs. Employees also share this burden through lower wages, higher insurance costs, and a reduced quality of life. Ultimately, many of the costs are shared by taxpayers. “Through publicly funded programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the government pays a significant portion of direct medical costs for their beneficiaries.” (Avi Dor. George Washington University Research Report, Sept. 2010.) In brief, it is much less expensive and far better for people’s lives to remain healthy than to have to manage illnesses that could have been prevented.
Employers have begun to develop health promotion programs to encourage their employees to live more healthfully. “Evidence continues to grow that well-designed and well-resourced health promotion and disease prevention programs provide multi-faceted payback on investment. Peer-reviewed evaluations and meta analyses show that return on investment (ROI) is achieved through improved worker health, reduced benefit expense, and enhanced productivity.” (Zank and Friedsam, 2005.) Most recently, the importance of chronic disease prevention is evidenced by significant funding provided for worksite wellness and health promotion by the "Health Care Reform Laws" of 2010 (public laws 111–148 and 111-152) and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (public law 111–5). These laws support “Healthy People 2020” objectives of reducing chronic disease risk and promoting wellness in “the places where people live, work, learn, and play” by incentivizing health insurance companies and worksites to reduce costs and enhance employee well-being.
There is a strong need for qualified individuals who can manage and administer the integration of health and wellness culture across divisions, departments, and business units to reduce healthcare costs, and improve productivity and employee well-being (Berry, Mirabito, and Baun. Harvard Business Review, 2010). The Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness Management program will prepare students to capitalize on that opportunity.
1. Program Identification
Title of Program
Bachelor of Science Degree Completion Program in Heath and Wellness Management
Department, College, School, or Functional Equivalent
This is a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary program. The departments and schools/colleges that will offer courses toward this program on each campus are as follows.
At UW-La Crosse, the Heath and Wellness Management program will be housed in Department of Health Education and Health Promotion in the College of Science and Health.
At UW-River Falls, the Heath and Wellness Management program will be housed in the Department of Health and Human Performance in the College of Education and Professional Studies.
At UW-Stevens Point, the Heath and Wellness Management program will be housed within the School of Health Promotion Human Development within the College of Professional Studies.
At UW-Superior, the Heath and Wellness Management program will be housed within the Department of Health and Human Performance.
Timeline for Initiation
Pending approval by UW System and the Board of Regents in June 2011, the first classes for the degree will be offered in Fall 2011.
Delivery
This degree completion program (the 63 credit major of a 120 credit bachelor’s degree) will be delivered fully online. It is currently not offered in any other format on any UW campus.
The first 60 credits of the degree consist of general education classes and prerequisites, and those may be taken either online through the UW Colleges or several UW campuses, or they may be taken in face-to-face formats on all UW campuses, as well as at other accredited institutions in Wisconsin and elsewhere.
2. Context
History of Program
The multi-dimensional concept of wellness has deep and varied roots in many cultures, but it is only now coming to the foreground as an essential part of our modern work lives. The reason for this is simple: cost containment. Healthy people cost a company less money: their healthcare costs are low, they are more productive, and they stay on the job. One case study cited in the December 2010 Harvard Business Review reveals that of a sample of 185 workers who were high-risk according to body fat, blood pressure, anxiety, and other measures, more than one-half became low-risk by the end of a voluntary, six-month wellness program. A control group showed no such improvement. In another case study, MD Anderson Cancer Center found that over a six-year period its health and well-being department improved workers health and as a result reduced lost work days by 80%. “What’s more, healthy employees stay with your company. A study by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health shows that organizations with highly effective wellness programs report significantly lower voluntary attrition than do those whose programs have low effectiveness (9% vs. 15%). At the software firm SAS Institute, voluntary turnover is just 4%, thanks in part to such a program; at the Biltmore tourism enterprise, the rate was 9% in 2009, down from 19% in 2005.” (Harvard Business Review, December 2010, p. 106.)
Although employers are recognizing the importance of health and wellness programs for their employees, there are very few higher education institutions that provide the education needed to run these types of programs, and only the for-profit Kaplan University offers an online B.S. in Health and Wellness.
Graduates of the University of Wisconsin Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness Management will be prepared for jobs as wellness program managers and related positions. They will understand how to develop wellness programs, how to continually sell a wellness program throughout a company, and how to evaluate programs on their effectiveness. They will gain a systems understanding of health and wellness and how a wellness program must support the culture and strategy of an organization and fit within it. The Health and Wellness Management program is a holistic foundation to wellness management within the 21st Century business environment.
Four campuses in the UW System came together to develop this program: UW-La Crosse, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point, and UW-Superior. UW-Extension provided market research, program coordination and leadership, corporate engagement, and connectivity to UW System, while the campuses focused on the academic content, quality, and integrity of the program, as well as the student admission, registration, financial aid, and other support services.
UW-River Fall and UW-Superior are partners also on the B.S. in Sustainable Management program, so they understand the partnership model and have been very helpful in helping the other campuses adjust their operations to accommodate the program. UW-Stevens Point and UW-La Crosse are also partnering to develop the B.S. Health and Information Technology and Management program, so all four campuses are involved in collaborative efforts to increase programs for adult and nontraditional students, and to increase access to the University of Wisconsin.
.
Relation to Institutional and System Mission
The Bachelor of Science in Health and Wellness Management (HWM) contributes directly to the institutional mission of the University of Wisconsin System by supporting the University of Wisconsin System’s Growth Agenda. The three components of the Growth Agenda are to increase the number of degree holders in Wisconsin, increase the number of high paying jobs, and build stronger communities. The HWM degree contributes to all three components of the Growth Agenda by providing a degree that is in demand, supported by Wisconsin employers, and develops competencies that enable graduates to help Wisconsin employers reduce costs while increasing worker health and productivity. It is a degree targeted at adult and nontraditional students and thus broadens access to the university.
The HWM degree supports the institutional missions of the four partner campuses by contributing to the core of liberal education by developing communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical, leadership, teamwork, and collaboration skills. Furthermore, this is a multidisciplinary degree that helps build bridges among disciplines and develops students’ abilities to think in terms of systems and interrelationships.
At UW-La Crosse this Health and Wellness Management degree supports the mission of UW-La Crosse to prepare individuals to take their place in a constantly changing world. In addition graduates of this program will be employed in environments focused on reducing health care costs and improving personal well-being. The collaborative nature of this degree and the employment settings of graduates further advances UW-La Crosse’s mission of fostering curiosity and learning through collaborative, innovation, and the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge.
For UW-River Falls “Develop engaged leaders” is Goal 4 of “Living the Promise,” the strategic plan for UW-River Falls adopted in 2007-08. The fourth initiative under that goal states that the university will strive to “produce graduates with an appreciation for life-long learning who will become the productive, creative, ethical engaged citizens and leaders” promised in our mission statement. Hence, the Health and Wellness Management degree fits very well into the Campus strategic plan.
UW-Stevens Point (UWSP) has a longhistoryin helping create the wellness movement. The Health Promotion and Wellness program was introduced in 1987. UWSP faculty were instrumental in developing the modern concept of wellness, which was expanded in 1990 into a 7-dimensional model including: social, physical, emotional, intellectual, career, environmental and spiritual wellness. The program has received several national awards for preparing Health Promotion and Wellness professionals with a Bachelor of Science degree. TheHWM degree will build upon UWSP’s national leadership in wellness and health promotion by expanding its reach into distance learning. For UW-Stevens Point, the HWM degree aligns with the strategicefforts to develop inter-disciplinary programs with a wide audience and promising market perspectives while supporting the current mission to provide undergraduate professional programs with a strong liberal studies foundation. TheHWM degree supports the missions and visions of the College of Professional Studies and the School of Health Promotion and Human Development, key aspects of which are to 1) develop professionals who promote lifelong wellness for individuals and communities, 2) expand opportunities for bachelor's degrees that contribute to a vibrant economy and flourishing communities, 3) and to explore new mutually beneficial partnerships.
The mission of UW-Superior is to foster intellectual growth and career preparation within a liberal arts tradition that emphasizes individual attention and embodies respect for diverse cultures and multiple voices. Students who master the liberal arts competencies embedded within the Health and Wellness Management degree will be fulfilling the UW-Superior mission by becoming positioned to help employees maximize their work production within their respective workplace[s] by optimizing and understanding their personal wellness. The seven dimensional wellness model includes social, physical, emotional, intellectual, career, environmental and spiritual wellness.
3. Program Description
This program will be a 63-credit major, online bachelor’s degree completion program in Heath and Wellness Management. This degree is intended primarily for adult and nontraditional students. All courses are required. There are no electives.
To be eligible for admission to this program, students will need an Associate’s Degree from an accredited institution or 60 credits or the equivalent. More specifically, students will need to have satisfied UW System minimum general education breadth requirements as stipulated in the UW System Associate Degree Transfer Policy. Prerequisites for admission will be College Algebra, Statistics, General Chemistry, Introductory Biology, and Introductory Communications, or their equivalents, passed with grades of C or better. (Note: Admissions decisions are made by the home institution to which students apply. Students entering the degree program with an Associate’s Degree from UW Colleges are likely to have met most of the prerequisites. However, students will have to work with their home institution to clarify their institution’s degree requirements.)
Minimum General Education Breadth Requirements and Associate Degree Transfer Policy
1. Completion of a minimum of 60 semester credit hours of work.
2. Achievement of a "C" grade point average or better.
3. Successful completion of proficiency or competency requirements as defined by the institution.
4. Completion of 40 semester hours fulfilling the University of Wisconsin System minimum general education breadth requirements for the associate degree as follows.
· Humanities and the fine arts - A minimum of 9 and a maximum of 15 semester hours from at least two disciplines. No more than six semester hours may be taken in the fine arts.
· Natural sciences/mathematics - A minimum of 12 and a maximum of 16 semester hours in at least two disciplines. Not less than 8 hours must be in the natural sciences, including one laboratory science.
· Social science - A minimum of 9 and a maximum of 15 semester hours from at least two disciplines.
· Integrated studies - A maximum of six semester hours may be included in courses which combine elements of two or more of the breadth categories as defined above.
Additional specific requirements must include one course with a historical perspective, one course taught from primary texts (including translations), and one two-semester sequence of courses. In fine arts, only history or appreciation courses are eligible for inclusion as meeting breadth requirements.
Students wishing to complete the entire curriculum online may do so by entering through UW Colleges Online or though another UW institution that has the general education program online, and then finish this degree online through any one of the four partner institutions.