UIndy faculty & staff walk to better health
By Abby Adragna
Editor-in-Chief
Faculty and staff members at the University of Indianapolis are shaping up with help from two health and fitness opportunities on campus.
Three years ago, the university’s kinesiology department started a program to promote exercise among faculty and staff. The program, known as “R UIndy Fit?”, kicked off its third year on Jan. 17 with the theme “Walk like an Olympian.”
According to Dr. Heidi Hancher-Rauch, visiting assistant professor of kinesiology and this year’s “R UIndy Fit?” organizer, the goal of the program is to motivate faculty and staff to walk at least 10,000 steps each day.
“Their goal is to get at least 70,000 steps for the week, which would be 10,000 steps per day,” Rauch said. “It’s the 10k-a-day idea for health. The recommendation has been made that individuals should strive to get at least 10,000 steps per day to improve their health.”
Faculty and staff members sign up for the program in teams of eight to 12 members, and each member must pay $20 to participate. According to Rauch, the money helps the program organizers provide participants with pedometers and some prizes, as well as food at the opening and closing ceremonies.
Rauch said this year about 165 faculty and staff members from 17 teams are participating in the “R UIndy Fit?” program. Teams started tracking their steps on Jan. 21. Members count their steps from Monday to Sunday and then record their weekly step count each Monday before 4 p.m.
According to Rauch, if members reach the 10k-a-day goal or 70,000 steps for the week, their names are put into a monthly drawing. Several prizes were donated for the program, including Colts apparel, a hologram signed football from the Colts Super Bowl Championship team, Pacers tickets and Indians gear and tickets. Dr. Jennifer VanSickle, assistant professor of kinesiology, was instrumental in getting many of these donations, Rauch said.
In addition, there is a “Golden Shoe Trophy” that travels each month to the team with the most recorded steps. The team that wins the traveling trophy also receives a free lunch from Subway.
“It’s a neat program. It developed mostly out of a need that the kinesiology department physically saw on campus for some type of health promotion for faculty and staff,” Rauch said. “Faculty and staff really are interested in having some opportunities to become healthier, and there really wasn’t that much available.”
Cindy Tyree, office manager for Ecumenical & Interfaith Programs and PHASE III Vocation Project, is taking advantage of the “R UIndy Fit?” program, as well as another health-promoting program on campus.
According to Tyree, UIndy has been a host to Weight Watchers at Work off and on for a few years. According to the Weight Watchers Web site (WeightWatchers.com), the program helps with weight management by promoting emotional, mental and physical health.
Tyree said 25 to 30 faculty and staff members on campus participated in a special nine-week Weight Watchers at Work session that began around Thanksgiving and ended Jan. 24. Currently, around 15 paying Weight Watchers members are participating in a 12-week session that began Jan. 31. The 12-week session costs $144 and ends April 24.
Tyree said weekly meetings are held on campus, and goal weights are set. Weight Watchers sends a receptionist to each meeting who weighs each member and fills out any paperwork. A leader also is sent to conduct the meetings. According to Tyree, the leader comes with a new discussion topic each week, and members often discuss different exercise programs with one another.
Tyree said the program helps members lose weight and then manage and maintain their weight. She has been a member of Weight Watchers since 1993.
“As I’m getting older, I’m seeing that we really need to stay in good health,” Tyree said. “Insurance is more expensive. So if we can put off health problems, we are so much better off. And then we’re not having sick days, so we’re working more.”
