Montana State University is hosting an opening celebration for its new Student Wellness Center, which will house multiple offices to allow the university to take a more holistic view of student health and well-being. 

The celebration, which is open to the public, is set for 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, inside the new MSU Student Wellness Center, located at 950 W. Grant St. on the MSU campus. 

MSU President Waded Cruzado; Amber Long, associate vice president of student wellness; Jacob Zink, Associated Students of MSU president; Tricia Seifert, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Development; and Steve Swinford, vice president for Student Success will deliver remarks at the ceremony. 

The new building, which students voted to support, notably hosts a 45-foot climbing wall, which is visible from the sidewalk. It will also house the offices of Campus Recreation, Counseling and Psychological Services, Health Advancement and Student Health Services. The university’s food pantry, Bounty of the Bridgers, will also move into the Student Wellness Center. 

Having a one-stop shop for health and well-being will make it easier for students to engage in a variety of activities to support personal health, and research has shown healthy students are more likely to graduate, according to Long. 

“Our goal is to get students to experience and participate in behaviors that promote health, well-being and inter-personal engagement, which also foster, in most situations, feelings of connections and feelings of belonging,” Long said. “When a student feels like they belong, they’re more likely to continue engaging in activities to maintain those healthy habits.” 

The hope is that having health and wellness services under one roof will lead students to use services they might not otherwise have found. For example, a student departing a counseling appointment might see an advertisement at Campus Recreation and sign up for intramurals. Another student could easily get a flu shot after a session in the weight room. 

A highlight of the building, according to Long, is the common area that will function both as a social gathering space with a fireplace, lounge chairs and study area and as an indoor walking area, with an east-to-west “sidewalk” that students will likely take advantage of in inclement weather. 

The west end of the building is a three-story clinical space, which will house Student Health Services, Counseling and Psychological Services, a pharmacy and a dental clinic. Health Advancement, which educates students on topics like drug use, sexual health, nutrition and stress management, is centrally located near the commons area.  

Campus Recreation will occupy the two-story, east end of the building. Its facilities include a three-court gymnasium, a turf multi-activity-court, four fitness studios, ample space for strength and cardio training, and a climbing wall and a bouldering area. It also houses a pool with lap lanes, and a leisure pool.  

By having the staff and the facilities in one place, “We want to reduce barriers in any way we can to make it easy to access, easy to navigate, easy to make healthy choices,” Long said.