President Ribeau shows the pedometer he has been wearing recently to encourage himself to take the recommended 10,000 steps per day. He told administrative staff he would like the University to implement a wellness program for all employees.

President Ribeau addresses administrative staff on wellness, professional development

It’s the work of many people giving their best to Bowling Green that “comes together in a magical way” to help the University’s innumerable intricate parts function together so well, President Ribeau told attendees at the annual spring reception hosted by Administrative Staff Council March 29.

Besides helping the institution perform better, he said, employees’ efforts at professional and personal growth will also lead them to make a difference as family and community members.

Commenting on the administrative staff members who received ASC professional development grants this year, Ribeau said professional development is “the way we reinvest in the most important resource we have: human capital.” After hiring employees, he added, the University should provide ways to help them reach their full potential. “If we can do this, we will have given back to the community,” he said.

Making that sort of opportunity available to more University employees is a goal for the coming year, the president said, adding that “there’s never enough time, and there’s certainly not enough money, but if you have the will, you will get things done.”

A second thing he would like to make a priority is creating a more formal wellness program for employees, he said. Showing off a pedometer he has been wearing since a campus talk on the dangers of inactivity by Steven Blair, president and CEO of the Cooper Institute in Dallas, Ribeau said he is trying to increase his steps to 10,000 a day.

“There are things we can all do each day to increase our wellness, but there are also things we can do as an institution. We need to do more to take care of ourselves and each other right here at BGSU,” he said. He said he wants to meet with ASC, Faculty Senate and Classified Staff Council to find a way to add a wellness program to the University’s everyday life.

The president said he planned to discuss initiating a wellness plan with the board of trustees at its April 1 meeting.