As you navigate the college experience, UofL has your back. You’re never alone in the Cardinal Community. Whether your needs are related to academic success, personal wellness, general well-being or recreational activities, there are resources available to enhance your overall student experience and to ensure a thriving future. Check out these 10 helpful campus websites:

1. ��–��UofL hosts over 400 student organizations that cover a wide variety of student interests. These groups provide a wonderful opportunity to become involved in campus life and to connect with other students on campus who enjoy some of the same things you do. Find the list of contacts on the��.��
2. –The Student Recreation Center (SRC) offers the latest fitness facilities and equipment, complete with basketball and racquetball courts. Campus Recreation also offers activities ranging from group fitness classes to competitive intramural sports to sport clubs.
3. ��–��The Cultural Center supports and offers programs that acknowledge and reflect the experiences of underrepresented populations. It also provides educational opportunities for all members of the campus community to examine their individual and group experiences within a culturally diverse society.
4. ��–��The counseling center offers services such as individual or group counseling, workshops, couples therapy, urgent consultations and psychiatric referrals. Some of the services are covered by student fees and do not require additional payment. The website also provides a list of��
5. ��–��The Cardinal Station and Health Sciences Center (HSC) Campus Health Services (CHS) offices provide basic primary care including physical exams, immunizations, allergy shots, travel medicine, flu and COVID-19 shots, sexual health and contraception and more. CHS has an insurance advocate who assists students enrolled in the UofL student health insurance program.
6. ��–�����Ǵڳ�’s����provides community-building socials with other first-gen students, workshops and individual coaching. Participants can earn completion grants toward their UofL bill.����matches first-generation, first-year students with faculty and staff for individual mentoring in the��.��
7. ��–��The University Writing Center offers one-on-one or group consultations to both undergraduate and graduate students with a trained writing consultant. The center also provides a range of online resources.
8. ��–��This is where many students can find out about outside-the-classroom learning opportunities, whether they are work-related (internships, co-ops) or research-focused. The Center for Engaged Learning (CEL) is an on-campus resource for UofL, the community and industry partners that helps Cardinals better prepare for academic and success.
9. ��–��What’s going on today? You’ll find happenings from Belknap to HSC listed on the official UofL Event Calendar.
10. ��–��The ITS HelpDesk provides technology support to the Cardinal community. The ITS website features a Knowledge Base, Service Catalog and FAQ section with answers to questions like “What software is free for enrolled students?” and “What digital storage options are available?”

Several of these resources are sanctioned by UofL’s or the . The Office of Student Involvement is a hub for cultural, social and recreational programs, while the Student Success Center provides resources related to advising, academics, financial well-being and belonging.

According to the UofL Student Success Center, whether a student is in need of a laptop, exploring a new major, facing a financial barrier or simply looking for a peer who’s been there before, the SSC is the place to turn.

We urge you to explore the wide array of programs and activities at UofL. We’ll be here every step of the way!

On Campus (EIM-OC), administered by ACMS, named UofL a “Bronze Campus” for activities organized and implemented at the SRC in 2022. UofL is one 149 universities and colleges worldwide to be honored by EIM-OC, a leading organization in the fields of exercise physiology, kinesiology and sports medicine. ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world.��

The award was the first for UofL, which was in its first year of the program in 2022.

“This recognition would not have been possible without the ongoing programs already offered by the SRC staff and all their hard work,” said Jason Jaggers, associate professor, Health & Sport Sciences in the College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development. “I hope by working together we continue this momentum through 2023 to achieve another goal of the EIM-OC program by getting the Campus Health Center involved to set up an exercise referral system. This initiative will empower students to learn more about the positive impact of physical activity on their overall health and wellbeing, leading to an enhanced quality of life.”��

Of the recognized this year, 73 received gold, 55 silver and 21 bronze. All award winners will be recognized June 1 as part of the 2023 Exercise is Medicine World Congress, held in conjunction with the American College of Sports Medicine’s Annual Meeting.

“These campus programs are nurturing future leaders who will advance a key tenet of Exercise is Medicine: making physical activity assessment and promotion a standard in health care,” said Robyn Stuhr, vice president of Exercise is Medicine.

EIM-OC calls upon universities and colleges to promote physical activity as a vital sign of health and encourages faculty, staff and students to work together to improve the health and well-being of the campus community. Schools earn gold, silver or bronze status based on their activities.��

The 128,000-square-foot SRC features group fitness studios; basketball, racquetball and squash courts; strength training areas; a sport club studio; a golf simulator and more. It is open 97.5 hours a week during the school year.

Over the last month, UofL has increased the amount of wellness opportunities available to faculty and staff. While these opportunities have been previously announced on various internal webpages and within the UofL Today employee newsletter, below you will find a central listing of the opportunities compiled for your convenience.

Virtual Classes and Fitness at Home

Get Healthy Now (GHN), the university’s employee wellness program, has collected multiple online resources for staying active and focusing on your wellness.

• is a collection of stretches for your back, neck, arms and legs. Whether you’re sitting at a desk, on the couch or somewhere else in your home, you can follow these short videos for a quick, seated stretch break. The stretches are designed to release tension, ease anxiety, and get relief from aches and pains.
• is a written workout plan you can do at home by following the visuals and step-by-step techniques for exercising with resistance bands.
• is a YouTube yoga channel for families that incorporates yoga movements into interactive stories and songs. The energetic instructor uses her British accent to take families on virtual adventures that build strength, balance and confidence.
• is an online collection of dance tutorials provided by the Louisville Ballet for families to stay active and creative together. The tutorials include a wide range of dance warm-ups, ballet basics, and folk dances from around the world.

The Department of Intramural and Recreational Sports is offering multiple virtual fitness opportunities that are open to faculty and staff.

• Virtual Fitness Consultations are free to all employees Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. When you sign up for a 15-minute, one-on-one virtual consultation with a certified fitness instructor, you’ll receive a customized exercise routine based on what you have available in your home. To get started, send an email to woodall@louisville.edu.
• Mile Club is an exercise program that encourages participants to walk, run, hike or bike the miles they would have traveled this summer to a destination. With the Mile Club, you can email your destination and weekly totals to the host, or you can download the app and join the UofL SRC Mile Club there to track your miles. Once you “arrive” to your destination, Intramurals staff will send you a champion t-shirt.

  
  To join the club on the app, download “Strava” on your smart phone and touch “Sign Up.” Skip any free trials that pop up to maintain a basic, free account. Touch the “Club” tab, then touch “Explore Clubs,” then “Clubs” again. In the search bar, type “UofL SRC Mile Club” and touch the club to join it.

Mental Health and Connection

Human Resources is offering a new professional/personal growth series called “Learning Cafes.”��There are also many existing benefits for employees that can support your overall well-being.

• are online sessions focused on continuing your professional and personal growth while working at home. Each “cafe” features a topic of interest, guidance from a seasoned moderator, an engaging activity or reading, and time for discussion and sharing to renew your connection to the UofL family. Topics include talking to your kids about furloughs, staying motivated while working remote, meditation, how employee resource groups can support you, and more.
• is an online program and app available for Anthem members that helps users learn to reduce stress and monitor different areas of their health. For example, you can utilize their daily mood tracker to analyze your patterns, take mini interactive courses on focus areas such as “Controlling Anxiety,” listen to relaxation audios, and scroll through uplifting images and quotes that update every time you log on. There is also a specific set of practical tools and articles dedicated just to coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

  
  To get started, log in to , click on “My Health Dashboard,” then “Programs,” and you’ll find “MyStrength.” Follow the prompts to set up your customized MyStrength account. If you already have an Anthem account, you can download the MyStrength app on your smart phone and sign in there to keep your customized program and tools within easy reach.

• The (EAP), is a university benefit that provides free and confidential counseling services and resources to you and your household family members, even if you aren’t enrolled in a UofL medical plan. Managed by a third party, Human Development Company, the program’s counselors are available 24/7 and you can get up to eight free confidential sessions per topic, per year. Topics you can discuss with a counselor include grief and loss, stress management, alcohol/substance use, marital/relationship, depression, workplace concerns, Counselors can also provide referrals for things such as day care, elder care and financial concerns.

  
  Individual use of the EAP is confidential and not reported to your supervisor nor the university. Call 502-589-HELP (4357) or 800-877-8332, or go to to schedule an appointment.

Health Promotion, a division of Campus Health Services, has expanded some of their program offerings to include faculty and staff.

• is a four-week class that teaches participants evidence-based methods for mindfulness, meditation and stress resilience. The “Koru Basics” introductory course is available now through June. After completion of “Koru Basics,” participants may advance to “Koru 2.0” for an additional four-week class.
• is a set of guided narrations meant to facilitate mindfulness by walking listeners through “slow looking” at works of art. Originally created for in-person art observations at the Speed, the guided prompts can also be used with artwork available in your home or with the Speed’s online collections. For example, you can open their online and listen to while you observe a work of art.

Trager Institute, the university’s hub for optimal aging research, innovation and care management, offers multiple opportunities for employees to stay connected over topics related to holistic health.

• is a weekly virtual meeting open to those who want to learn more about individual, family and community holistic health. These weekly meetings occur every Monday evening from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., and feature a range of holistic health topics, guest speakers, activities and open discussions. Meetings are designed to help participants cope with the pandemic and provide a space to bring your concerns for peer support.
• is a virtual meditation series offered every Friday at 12:30 p.m. Sessions are hosted by one of the Republic Bank Foundation Optimal Aging Clinic mental health providers, Anna Walton, LCSW. Participants will address their stress and anxiety during this uncertain time through her guided meditations.

We are all navigating the unknown together. Your total well-being is critical and UofL has multiple resources and opportunities available right now to help you. Carve out some time in your calendar to schedule a meeting with yourself and look further into these opportunities today.

Opportunities listed above might not be an exhaustive list of all available wellness opportunities, and new ones may become available. If your department also offers a wellness opportunity that is open to all employees, be sure to submit an announcement so that it can be featured in the UofL Today employee newsletter.

The past 31 years have given the assistant director of Intramural and Recreational Sports quite a perspective, allowing him to witness the evolution from commuter school to vibrant campus community, the opening of the Student Recreation Center in 2013 and, most recently, the appointment of the first female president with the hiring of Dr. Neeli Bendapudi.

Through all of those years and all of those changes one thing has remained constant – the students have always been at the center of what drives Smith.

“It’s unusual to be in one position for so long. My duties have changed, but I’ve always been involved with the students and that has been very motivational and refreshing,” Smith said. “The students are why we’re here and I’m lucky to be involved with them at a very fundamental level.”

Smith estimates that he interacts with hundreds of students every day. In fact, when the SRC first opened, data showed that 17,700 different student IDs were swiped to enter.

“That is a vast majority of the student body. We’re not just working with the Greeks or this group of students or that group of students. Every type of student comes to the rec center and it gives us a really good pulse on who they are and what they want,” he said.

Having such a firm pulse on UofL’s student body is the biggest reason Smith threw his hat into the ring to be the next Staff Senate chair after having served as a senator for seven years. Smith was elected to the one-year term in June, succeeding Will Armstrong.

His biggest goal as chair is to restore trust and integrity at UofL. He believes the pieces are in place and the timing is right.

“We have the right people now – not only with Bendapudi, but with our senior leadership team that is on the same page and wants this same thing. I was on the presidential search committee and that is why I was so impressed with Dr. Bendapudi. Every question we asked her circled back to integrity. Integrity has to be the key to restoring trust on campus,” Smith said. “I am closer to the end of my career than the start of my career, but things are lined up right now to really make some positive changes, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Smith also wants to facilitate more involvement from senators, encouraging committee participation among other efforts.

“The more people are involved, the more invested they become and the more successful the group is,” he said. “I believe in servant leadership. The best thing a leader can do is empower other people and get them involved with decision-making.”

Specific initiatives under his watch will be identified at the Staff Senate retreat in September.

Getting to know Staff Senate Chair John Smith

UofL News: Where are you from?

Smith: I grew up in the south end. I went to Stuart High School when it was still a high school. It’s a middle school now. I went to EKU for college.

UofL News: How did you end up at UofL?

Smith: When Ellis Mendelsohn retired, this job opened up. At the time, I was working for the Lexington City Government, but my goal was always to be on a college campus. A college campus is where I became interested in sports administration and recreational sports in the first place. I knew that being on a campus is how I could best put that to practice.

UofL News: What is your favorite thing about UofL?

Smith: We’ve been through a real hard time, but the passion that people still have for this place is contagious. Despite all that we went through, people still did their jobs the best they could because they had pride in what they do and they didn’t want those distractions to take away from the students’ success.

UofL News: What is your favorite thing about the city of Louisville?

Smith: I’ve always liked the diversity of the city. We have a lot of white-collar stuff here, but the general attitude of this city is when the chips are down, we take care of each other. UofL fits into that really well.

UofL News: What are your hobbies?

Smith: I officiate with the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. I am currently an NCAA Volleyball official. I am active at my church (Southeast Christian Church), which might be where the servant leadership part comes in. I go to Sweden every summer to help do a youth golf camp through our church. We took our 17^th trip a couple of weeks ago. I’ve also volunteered for FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) since it came to campus and that is very important to me.

UofL News: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

Smith: My grandfather, who was a really strong person, always used to tell me: ‘If you leave something better than you find it, you’ll always be invited to come back.’ It’s simple, but I think simple things are the most powerful.