About Us

What is "health promotion"? What is "wellness"?

Health promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. It moves beyond a focus on individual behaviour towards a wide range of social and environmental interventions.

Wellness is more than being free from illness. There are many interrelated dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, social, environmental, and occupational. Each dimension is equally vital in the pursuit of optimum health.

- World Health Organization (WHO)

The mission of the Center for Health Promotion is to support Ithaca College students in developing the skills and identifying the resources necessary for making healthy lifestyle choices. The Center utilizes evidence-based tools and personalized information to empower students to make their own decisions for optimizing their wellbeing. The Center's primary content areas include harm reduction for alcohol and other drug use, building resiliency, and finding balance in order to thrive during college and beyond.

The Center for Health Promotion is located on the lower (basement) level of Hammond Health Center, just down the hallway from CAPS. The Center is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Stop by to meet our staff: Program Director: Nancy Reynolds and Health Promotion Specialist: Kristen Lind. Nancy and/or Kristen can be reached by email at healthpromotion@ithaca.edu or by phone at 607-274-7933.

Contact us by emailing healthpromotion@ithaca.edu or contact the BASICS (Balancing Alcohol and Substance Use to Improve College Success) program by emailing basics@ithaca.edu.

Kristen Lind, M. Ed., CWHC, Health Promotion Specialist

Prior to working at Ithaca College, Kristen had various careers spanning the length of human development. She worked in preschools, was a kindergarten and fifth grade teacher, and before coming to Ithaca College, worked as a caseworker for Adult Services for Tompkins County. As a Health Promotion Specialist, Kristen works directly with students through the BASICS program as well as the THRIVE @ IC Wellness Coaching program. Through THRIVE @ IC, she also does outreach to students to build resiliency and promote overall health and wellness.

"I really enjoy this work because across all ages, human beings are constantly working on building resiliency, learning, growing, finding their purpose, and striving for a sense of balance. I saw it when I taught elementary school as well as when I worked with adults in their 80s and 90s. The great thing about being a young adult is that at that critical age, we are all able to be more self aware of our journey and our struggles than when we are 5 or 10 years old. We also then have a chance, with that same awareness, to shape and build how we want the journey to happen for ourselves throughout the rest of our lifetime."

Contact Kristen:

Phone: 607-274-5778

Email Kristen: klind@ithaca.edu

Nancy has served as Program Director of the Center for Health Promotion since 2009. Prior to coming to IC, Nancy worked in health promotion at several other campuses in the northeast including University of Rochester, Cornell University, SUNY Cortland, and UMASS Amherst. At IC, Nancy keeps busy working with individual students in the BASICS Program and in THRIVE wellness coaching sessions, presents to classes and seminars, and leads health-related strategies such as the Alcohol and Other Drug Team and the Opioid Overdose Prevention Initiative.

"I began my career in college health in 1984, and have never looked back! Health and wellness is a personal interest of mine, and it's wonderful to be able to work for so long in a field that I have such a passion for. I strive to provide students with a calming, nonjudgmental space to talk about whatever concerns them. One of my specialty areas is talking with students about their alcohol and other drug use, using a strength-based, harm reduction approach. Being a college health educator is never boring!"

Contact Nancy:

Phone: 607-274-7933

Email: nreynolds@ithaca.edu