The Faculty of Engineering Community Well-being Program offers and coordinates a variety of health-related programming across our community, designed to support well-being in each of the Nine Dimensions of Well-being.
Some of our well-being activities and resources are open to everyone (in or outside of the University of Waterloo community). Other activities and resources support specific groups (employees or students or specific programs).
History of the Faculty of Engineering Community Well-being Program
In early 2019, the departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering (MME) implemented a Wellness Program (ENGWellness) for students, staff, and faculty similar to other dimensional models used by Harvard, McMaster and Simon Fraser University. ENGWellness adopted a holistic approach and was developed in response to the University of Waterloo’s commitment to the Okanagan Charter - a policy-driven pledge to embed wellness into all aspects of on-campus life and the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Mental Health’s (PAC-SMH) 34 recommendations. In response, in early 2019, the ECE and MME departments created two full-time, dedicated Student Wellness Coordinator positions - one for each department. Sam Vandekerhove was the first Student Wellness Coordinator for MME, and Renate Donnovan was the first Student Wellness Coordinator for ECE. Since then, other individuals have held those roles.
The COVID-19 pandemic put immense strain on everyone and took a significant toll on our community. Over the pandemic, wellness resources were expanded. Other departments across the FoE expanded their student advisor roles to dedicate a portion of their workload to improving student well-being.
During this time, the FoE also recognized the need for an overarching role that supported employees, as well as students, and addressed well-being concerns at the strategic level was needed. In 2022, the Community Well-being Officer role was created. At that time, the name of the wellness program was changed to the Faculty of Engineering Community Well-being Program to ensure all members of our community, including the School of Architecture, felt included in the program.
In 2025, the Faculty of Engineering Community Well-being Framework was completed. The CWF identified needs within the FoE, and identified priorities and action steps to address those needs.
Our Goals
To support and promote the well-being of the Faculty of Engineering students, staff, and faculty members through evidence-based, sustainable well-being programming in accordance with the University of Waterloo's adoption of the Okanagan Charter.
To create a community of caring that is inclusive and equitable to ALL Faculty of Engineering students, staff, and faculty members in accordance with the University’s adoption of the Okanagan Charter and priority area goals stipulated in the University of Waterloo Engineering Strategic Plan 2025-2030.
We Need Your Help!
If you have any thoughts, ideas, feedback or anything else to share that might benefit your experience or that of your peers, please contact the Community Well-being Team. We would love to hear from you!
