For many students, getting around campus at Bentley University can be an uphill battle—literally. Situated on a large hill, most of Bentley’s academic buildings can be found at the top, while the student center, residence halls and fitness center are located at the bottom. As a result, a culture of driving to and from upper to lower campus has emerged as students attempt to avoid the dreaded walk up the Smith stairs.
As this trend has increased, staff in Bentley’s Center for Health and Wellness and students from Student Government Association, the Wellness Educators, and the Health and Fitness Club came together to launch a “student fitness challenge” aimed at promoting more walking on Bentley’s campus. The goal of the challenge was to not only cut back on students driving to and from classes but also provide an outlet for those looking to engage in more campus-wide fitness activity.
“Faculty and staff have had access to online fitness challenges for several years, but this is the first time Bentley has offered an online, community-wide program specifically for our students” says Jessica Greher, director of wellness and prevention at Bentley.
The Center for Health and Wellness partnered with a company called Wellable, an online platform that uses mobile and wearable devices to track students’ steps throughout the seven week challenge. Students had the option of connecting their smartphone, Fitbit, or other tracking device to the Wellable app. The students that tracked the most steps throughout the challenge were eligible to win various weekly prizes.
At the end of seven weeks, more than 250 Bentley students participated in the challenge and took almost 37 million steps from October 3rd to November 13th. The challenge culminated in an event called Harry’s Hill Climb where students raced from Copley Circle on lower campus to the library quad on upper campus.
For those who did not have the opportunity to participate in the fall challenge, Greher says that a new online challenge will be offered this spring.