Wellness Education & Promotion Centre Volunteer Program

Volunteer Opportunities Wellness Education & Promotion Centre

Volunteering with the Wellness Education & Promotion Centre at the University of Guelph is for anybody. Whether your career interests lie in social justice, medicine, marketing, education, or counselling, the health promotion that you will do in your role as a volunteer can have an impact all over campus!

The Wellness Education & Promotion Centre’s volunteers provide support to the large-scale health promotion and wellness education programs that are offered by our parent department, Student Wellness Services. These may include, but are not limited to:

  • Flu vaccine clinics
  • Mass STI testing
  • Awareness weeks
  • Event promotion & staffing
  • Developing and designing social media content 

By volunteering at such events, students can expect to gain skills such as:

  • Client/patient interaction
  • Confidentiality
  • Marketing & Communications
  • Administration
  • Leaderships
  • Skills and knowledge related to the various wellness topics

Application and Hiring Process

We are currently no longer accepting volunteer applications for the 2023-2024 year. Applications for Summer and Fall 2024 will open in May.

Interested students can apply online on GryphLife when applications are open.

Students are invited to apply to be a volunteer with the Wellness Education & Promotion Centre at any time, however, new volunteers are typically only taken on at the start and middle of the Fall and Winter semesters and at the beginning of the Summer semester.

Admittance into the volunteer program will rely on completing the form, supporting the philosophies of the Wellness Education & Promotion Centre, and being able to attend Volunteer Orientation.

Volunteer Orientation

Volunteer Orientation happens twice a semester. It is a 90-minute session that details the services offered through the Wellness Education & Promotion Centre, and reviews the role of the volunteer.

Dates of upcoming Volunteer Orientations can be found in the application form. Volunteer Orientation is a requirement of being a volunteer with us. If you are unable to attend the date, you will need to wait for a future Orientation date before starting your volunteer role.

Event-Specific Training

Before each event, short trainings will be offered to volunteers by the WEC’s Senior Peers. They will provide instructions and details regarding the event the volunteer has signed-up to staff. Volunteers will not be able to staff an event if they have not been trained in advance.

On-going Training

As possible, bi-weekly Wednesday trainings will be made open to volunteers to hear from guest lecturers and/or participate in workshops with the Wellness Education & Promotion Centre’s Peer Wellness Educators.

Requirements

Students are invited to participate in as many or as few events as possible. That said, before helping with an event or program, students must complete Volunteer Orientation and the Event Specific Training.

Volunteers will be removed from the program if they fail to make any commitments or scheduled shifts. Volunteers are invited to sign-up for as many or as few opportunities as they wish, and are able. All commitments should be considered against the students’ personal schedule prior to signing up. We are only able to run large-scale events because of the strength of our volunteers, and without them, they can’t happen. That’s why we need strong support up-front – so we know whether or not to proceed with the event!