What is Service Wellness?
Service wellness includes community engagement, social responsibility, and civic action – all of which contribute to our communal wellness as individuals, neighbors, and a collective society. Practicing service wellness means cultivating a lifestyle of responsibility, engagement, humility, and reflection with the individuals and communities around us, so we might create a world in service with and for each other.
Service Wellness is one of the ten dimensions of wellness within the Belmont WELL Core curriculum.
Service WELL Core credit is now earned on Suitable! Login on MyBelmont to get started. Instructional videos below!
New WELL Core
50 points required | 1 volunteer engagement = 10 points*
- Review the eight Service Wellness Behaviors (see below).
- Find a service opportunity on Get Connected (or elsewhere).
- Go serve!
- Submit a Service Wellness activity task on Suitable (video below!) based on which Service Wellness behavior you engaged with.
- Once approved, your points will be added to your Suitable account!
Old WELL Core
100 points required | 1 service hour = 10 points
- Find service opportunities on Get Connected (or elsewhere).
- Go serve!
- Log hours on Get Connected and wait for approval.
- Submit one Community Wellness activity task on Suitable per hour you served (video below!).
- e.g. two hours of service = two Community Wellness activity tasks (Community Wellness - Credit 1, Community Wellness - Credit 2)
- Once approved, your points will be added to your Suitable account!
Service WELL Core on Suitable
As of Fall 2024, all WELL Core points are earned on Suitable! This includes Service Wellness (new WELL Core) and Community Wellness (old WELL Core).
New Well Core - Service Wellness on Suitable
(all incoming students as of Fall 2023)
- Use the Service Wellness competency filter on Suitable
- Submit Service Wellness task activities (see video below)
Old WELL Core - Community Wellness on Suitable
- First, log your volunteer hours on Get Connected & wait for approval.
- Then, submit Community Wellness task activities on Suitable (see video below)
Submitting for Credit: Common Mistakes to Avoid
Problem: Your volunteer engagement doesn't fit within the category for which you submitted.
Fix: Pay close attention to the 8 Service Wellness Behavior requirements before submitting. In fact, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with them prior to serving!
Problem: Your reflection doesn't meet the 50 word minimum requirement.
Fix: Resubmit with a more robust reflection. Consider how the service experience impacted you and give us details!
Problem: You have not completed the requirements for the behavior.
Fix: Refresh yourself on the specific requirements for the Service Wellness Behaviors. The detailed descriptions will give you information and examples for what counts.
Some common mishaps are Civic Engagement (which requires one to engage with the civic process), Regular Volunteering (which requires consistent volunteering and hours logged & approved on Get Connected), and Reflection (which requires a formal reflection session hosted by an org or group)
Problem: You submitted your hours using the Service Hours feature on BruinLink OR on Get Connected.
Fix: We are now using Suitable to track all Service Wellness requirements! We don't use the Service Hour forms on BruinLink (we know, it's confusing) and logging hours on Get Connected is no longer sufficient. Instead, log on to Suitable and submit the appropriate Service Wellness task activity to earn points!
Service Wellness Behaviors
Students on the new WELL Core must complete 50 points within the Service Wellness category. Students will self-report their engagement in one of the eight (8) behaviors described below and submit a activity reflection on Suitable in order to receive credit. All behaviors count as 10 points unless specified otherwise.
Students can only receive points for each behavior once.
Learn from someone you are serving
Engaging in service with humility and curiosity allows us to work from an asset-based model of mutuality ("we all have something to bring") rather than a power-over deficiency model ("I'm here to help you").
Participate in the civic process to make your voice heard so that all people & communities flourish
Civic engagement might include:
- registering to vote and making a voting plan, voting in a recent election, volunteering to help others register to vote, giving rides to the polls during election season, volunteering as a poll worker
- participating in a march or rally for social justice causes, contacting an elected official about a cause that is important to you
- getting involved in your local neighborhood association or school board, attending local council meetings or community forums
Volunteer with a non-profit or community organization who serves a population different from you
We mean different in any sense of the word!
Participate in a session for reflection on the meaning of service
Experience alone does not automatically translate to learning. Reflection upon an experience does. This wellness behavior gives credit for engaging in reflection in a structures and communal way. Sessions might be led by non-profit partners you served with, a campus group or organization, a faith community, or other group.
**The Office of Service-Learning hosts monthly Service Wellness Reflection sessions on-campus.
Volunteer regularly with a community partner
Regularly = at least 4x/month or 8x/semester
* All volunteer hours must be logged and approved on Get Connected prior to earning these points!
Partner with a friend, campus group, or residence hall to serve together with a non-profit agency or organization
Consider how serving together changes the impact of your engagement!
Complete a service-learning course or other service-based learning initiative
Enroll in a Belmont service-learning course for a semester to incorporate serving into your course curriculum as a vital way of learning. These courses include intentional tools for pre-reflection, direct service, and post-service reflection for a holistic experience centered on both service and learning.
* All volunteer hours must be logged and approved on Get Connected prior to earning these points.
Participate in a training or workshop by a non-profit organization about your service engagement
Trainings or workshops could include:
- learning about community disparities, policies, and issues most prevalent to the population an organization serves through poverty simulations, panel discussions, or other contextualized experiences
- skill-building trainings or orientations (e.g. Get Connected Orientation or Service Wellness video)
Old WELL Core Requirements
Community Well-Being Through Service (Community Wellness) WELL Core Credit
- Credit processed through Suitable (as of Fall 2024)
- 1 hour of service = 10 points on Suitable
- 100 points required (subject to enrollment status)
- Students must have volunteer hours logged and approved on Get Connected prior to submitting for points on Suitable
- 1 hour of service = 10 points on Suitable
- Requirements
- Service hours must be
- completed in partnership with a non-profit or other charitable organization/cause
- logged on Get Connected within six (6) months of the initial service date
- The primary beneficiary of your volunteering cannot be the Belmont community
- Service hours must be
What counts:
- Responding to and participating in any Need posted on Get Connected
- Volunteering with an outside agency (not on Get Connected) with a charitable mission or non-profit organization in Nashville of beyond
- log these as Individual Hours on Get Connected
- Donations
- Only 10 points of a student's total required points can be earned for donations.
What doesn't count:
- Volunteering for events at Belmont for Belmont (e.g. TT leadership, Student Life events, move-in, performances/shows, etc.)
- On-campus internships
- Peer-tutoring
- Unpaid work, internships, or volunteer hours with for-profit companies or initiatives
Contact Us
Answers to your Service Wellness questions await!