Teamwork

autzen bridge

Foster Transdisciplinary Collaboration

The Sport and Wellness Initiative is an ambitious endeavor—reimagining how students, faculty, and partners interact, learn, research, and advance sport and wellness. This strategic plan provides an initial path forward for achieving the Initiative’s mission and goals. The intention is not to replace or overshadow existing sport and wellness efforts and programs at the university. Rather, the university will seek opportunities to enhance or amplify these efforts as appropriate.

Valuable opportunities remain untapped at the intersection of sport and wellness. By overcoming a boundary that has persisted throughout higher education, the University of Oregon can break the mold, set a new standard, and set itself apart as a one-of-a-kind world-class university.

How we achieve this includes:

  • Increase the recruitment and retention of faculty and student population with diverse experience and backgrounds
  • Extend international reach and presence
  • Strengthen internal and external communications
  • Center equity and inclusion as a key value of sport and wellness

Increase recruitment and retention: 

The university will develop and continuously refine recruitment strategies to enroll and support international and racially and ethnically diverse students and employ faculty members from historically marginalized backgrounds in academia and/or the sport and wellness fields, while also embracing cultural diversity and promoting social justice and equity. Attracting and retaining a diverse and inclusive body of faculty and students will improve learning outcomes, organizational effectiveness, and quality of life for all.

Extend reach:

The Sport and Wellness Initiative’s efforts to engage partners in academia, industry, government, professional athletics, health, public health, community-based organizations, and medicine will serve to entrench the University of Oregon’s name in crucial areas of focus. In turn, the university will serve as a central hub for individuals and organizations across all relevant stakeholder groups to convene, discuss, collaborate, and innovate the field of sport and wellness. These connections and conventions of stakeholders are foundational building blocks that will build the University of Oregon’s reputation as a leader in sport and wellness.

Strengthen communications:

The Sport and Wellness Initiative will create an interconnected information system across disciplines and departments, and managed by university staff, to highlight opportunities to engage with ongoing efforts and to facilitate new connections that bring together the university’s diverse range of expertise in novel ways.

Center equity:

Sport has become a leading edge for critical and sometimes divisive conversations about equity and inclusion, particularly around gender and race. The Sport and Wellness Initiative will recognize the importance of these conversations and become a convener of events that help to promote equity and inclusion in sport, health, and wellness.


 

Provost Patrick Phillips said this about UO Sport and Wellness, "This initiative is designed to integrate and increase the impact of a wide range of academic fields in sport and wellness; provide world-class experiences and educational opportunities to attract students; and align the university with research and expertise on healthy living and environmental quality, while helping the residents of the state live longer, healthier lives."