2016, June 2nd to 5th, Borba, Portugal. International Symposium on the Well-Being University
This by-invitation-only symposium was co-sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being at George Mason University, the Executive Masters’ Program in Applied Positive Psychology and the Platform for Public Happiness at the School of Social and Political Sciences (ISCSP) and the Center for Administration and Public Policies (CAPP) at the University of Lisbon. The event was co-organised by Jim Maddux (from George Mason University) and Helena Marujo (from University of Lisbon) and took place in a private 16th century villa adjacent to the town of Borba in eastern Portugal near the Spanish border and in a 17th century monastery owned by the Borba Municipality, which was also a sponsor.
The symposium provided a forum for the exchange of ideas of university faculty members, administrators, and other university leaders who are interested in strategies for enhancing the wellbeing of all members of their university communities—students, faculty members, and staff. The symposium was a first step toward developing a global agenda for the advancement of wellbeing in higher education. Participants in the symposium included representatives from universities in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Hungary, Lithuania, South Africa, and New Zealand. The symposium is a prelude to a larger international conference in the future.
The Wellbeing University Initiative has become the major focus of activities for the Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing. To learn more and view a video on the initiative visit http://wellbeing.gmu.edu/about/well-being-overview.
Meeting Program
Meeting Attendees
Selected presentations:
Questions at meeting end:
The symposium provided a forum for the exchange of ideas of university faculty members, administrators, and other university leaders who are interested in strategies for enhancing the wellbeing of all members of their university communities—students, faculty members, and staff. The symposium was a first step toward developing a global agenda for the advancement of wellbeing in higher education. Participants in the symposium included representatives from universities in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Hungary, Lithuania, South Africa, and New Zealand. The symposium is a prelude to a larger international conference in the future.
The Wellbeing University Initiative has become the major focus of activities for the Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing. To learn more and view a video on the initiative visit http://wellbeing.gmu.edu/about/well-being-overview.
Meeting Program
Meeting Attendees
Selected presentations:
- Well-Being Initiatives for Staff and Students in an Integrative Positive Psychology and Health Psychology Framework.
- The Challenge of Develop, Teach and Research Quality of Life and Well-Being at the University and the Community.
- The Art and Science of Befriending Pain.
- The Creation and Goals of the Institute of Well-Being and Happiness: Tecmilenio University.
- Measuring Wellbeing at Work.
- Well-Being University Symposium.
Questions at meeting end:
- Wellbeing University: if it is so new, what is the agenda?
- Difficulty regarding terminology and definition differences. What to use, and why use one instead of the other? Wellbeing, Happiness, Quality of life, Quality of living…?
- The need to have leaders helping to create a vision, a common platform.
- Taking into consideration such difficult challenges that most Universities face (competition, ranking, unemployment of students, financial problems...) and the differences among them (history, culture…) what are the possible commonalities and what are the core common elements of the interventions? Is there a common goal? Should we have a common global agenda or should we individualize?
- How can we learn from each other and pass the knowledge on? Sharing what each one of us is doing, as much as we can?
- How can we get the conversation bigger and deeper?
- The interest in integrating colleagues that were not able to be present in Borba, namely the Australian group on Wellbeing in Higher Education
- To create a Platform (namely a website, which Aaron Jarden will be willing to do) and to find ways to meet and share (virtually and in presence): wellbeing in Higher Education across the world?
- Leading with Science: The need to teach people – and discuss among us – about program evaluation, towards instruments and processes that are more evidence-based practices in WB Universities. How can we show that a University that invests in wellbeing is a better university? Does it work? In what dimensions is it better (does it increases student attention? Attract students? Lower costs? Enhance employer engagement? How do we leverage this strengths? The intention is therefore to make it scalable, standardized, while proving its benefits.
- Invest in cardinal virtues: putting order into chaos.
- To write a Borba Manifesto (with two head editors; each person writes his story; someone will prepare the document and take redundancies away; make it an impressive text, with visibility but also tangible (designated persons: Nance, Enrique, Aaron, with Jim’s help, and anyone else interested).
- Having a way of follow up of the group in the future.
- Meeting again in Borba in three years from now.
- Preparation of a 1st Positive University’s World Conference in 2017. Where? Melbourne, Australia? Portugal? Mexico?