Office of Student Life
Center for the Study of Student Life

Wellness Assessment

Recruitment

Visit go.osu.edu/WA to take the Wellness Assessment! The survey is open year-round for students to receive their wellness scores.

Introduction

Student wellness is an essential component of academic success in higher education and subsequent opportunities in the labor market. Yet wellness itself has many facets. The Ohio State University Office of Student Life’s Student Wellness Center uses a model that includes ten key dimensions of wellness: career, creative, emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, physical, social, spiritual and digital. The Wellness Assessment is designed to measure these ten dimensions of wellness to give students a better understanding of their own wellness and to provide them with resources that they can utilize at Ohio State to improve their wellness. Students can take the Wellness Assessment at any time during the school year to receive feedback about their own wellness. Reporting generated from the Wellness Assessment uses data collected during the month of October.

Key Findings and Results

Results are published annually on the Wellness Assessment Dashboard.

How it’s used

The Wellness Assessment is designed as both a tool for students to better understand their own wellness and as a research method to better understand Ohio State students’ well-being generally. Results help inform Student Life of the areas in which students are flourishing and the areas in which student wellness can be improved. Understanding student well-being helps Student Life departments like the Student Wellness Center provide programs, resources and other initiatives to best enhance the student experience. 

Methodology and Wellness Score Calculations

Each wellness dimension in the survey contains items to assess a range of attitudes and behaviors. Scores were calculated by adding together the values of all of the survey items within a given dimension, then dividing that sum by the total number of items, which produced an average wellness score for each dimension. The scores for respondents who did not answer all of the items within a dimension were calculated by summing the scores for the answered items and dividing that sum by the total number of items answered. Students who failed to provide several responses within a dimension (i.e., answered less than 50% of the items within a dimension) were not given an average wellness score for that dimension, since creating wellness scores based on too few items would not be an accurate representation of that overall wellness dimension. Respondents needed to have an average wellness score for all ten dimensions to be included in reporting.

These wellness attitudes and beliefs were measured using a Likert scale; respondents indicated their level of agreement with various statements on a 5-point scale. When asked about behaviors, respondents reported the frequency of the occurrence, also on a 5-point scale. Wellness scores for each dimension range from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating more positive attitudes and behaviors. Negative items were reverse coded so that unhealthy responses were associated with a lower score.

Resources/contacts

For questions about the Wellness Assessment survey, methodology or reporting, please contact the Center for the Study of Student Life at cssl@osu.edu.

Other helpful wellness resources:

Update cadence

Data collected during the month of October are used for annual reporting. The Wellness Assessment dashboard is updated after analysis is completed each year, typically in December or January. The dashboard was most recently updated in December 2025.

Wellness Dimensions and Items

Career
  • I am confident in my career decisions.
  • I feel that my current studies will be helpful to my future career.
  • I envision my future career as a means to contribute to society.
  • I feel that my major/program/career decision is an appropriate expression of my abilities and personal strengths.
  • I feel that my major/program/career decision is an appropriate expression of what I find meaningful and important in life.
  • I am able to balance my current job with the rest of my life.
  • I feel that my current job interferes with other aspects of my life.
  • I feel that I work in a positive environment.
  • I feel that I work in a stressful environment.
  • I set achievable goals in my current job.
Creative
  • I express myself through creative activities.
  • I attend arts-related events or programs.
  • I think of myself as a creative person.
  • I value multiple perspectives when thinking about complex topics.
  • The arts help me appreciate other perspectives and cultures.
Digital
  • I have strategies for limiting my screen time each week.
  • I feel anxiety if I do not have my cell phone with me.
  • I spend more time than I think I should on social media platforms.
  • I interact with others online in a polite, respectful manner.
  • I use digital resources to support my personal goals.
  • I use digital resources to support my professional goals.
  • I understand the impact of my digital footprint on my future goals.
  • I am confident in my ability to maintain my privacy using digital resources.
  • Online interactions have made it difficult to socialize face-to-face with my peers.
Emotional
  • I am able to appropriately manage my feelings.
  • I am able to appropriately express my feelings.
  • I would be willing to seek help from others when I am having a difficult time.
  • I feel that I am able to cope with my daily stress.
  • I have a positive image of my body.
Environmental
  • I engage in environmentally friendly behaviors (e.g., turn off lights/faucets, walk or bike).
  • I take time to appreciate my surroundings.
  • I take time to appreciate nature.
  • I think it is important to conserve natural resources.
  • If given the opportunity, I recycle.
Financial
  • I think it is important to spend less than I earn.
  • I am confident that I can plan a financial budget.
  • I have enough money saved to handle financial emergencies.
  • I track my spending to stay within my budget.
  • I feel stressed by the amount of money I owe (credit cards, student loans, car payments, etc.).
  • I feel stressed about my personal finances in general.
  • I am confident in my ability to use credit cards responsibly.
Intellectual
  • I am confident in my ability to find solutions to my problems.
  • I am confident that I can learn new skills.
  • I am interested in learning new things.
  • I engage in intellectually engaging activities.
  • I feel that my education is a priority.
  • I was able to manage my academic workload during my most recent academic term.
Physical
  • I am confident that I can maintain a nutritious diet.
  • I eat a nutritious diet.
  • I engage in exercise.
  • I get at least 7 hours of sleep per night.
  • I use alcohol/nicotine/other substances to manage stress.
  • I use illicit drugs (e.g., cocaine, ecstasy, LSD, mushrooms, molly).
  • I use nicotine products (e.g., cigarettes, vaping, smokeless tobacco).
  • I use pain medications, sedatives, sleeping medications or tranquilizers (e.g., OxyContin, Vicodin, Percodan; Valium, Xanax, Ambien) for non-medical reasons without a prescription.
  • I use stimulants (e.g., Ritalin, Adderall, Dexedrine) for non-medical reasons without a prescription.
  • I use cannabis for non-medical reasons without a prescription.
  • If you are sexually active, do you practice safer sex?
  • How often do you binge drink?
Social
  • I feel a sense of belonging in a community.
  • I feel supported by my family.
  • I feel that I am a person who other people like to be around.
  • I have a strong social network.
  • I have at least one close friend whom I trust and can confide in.
  • I feel comfortable communicating face-to-face with others.
  • I rarely feel lonely.
Spiritual
  • I engage in self-reflection.
  • I feel a connection to something larger than myself.
  • I seek out meaning in my life.
  • I have values, morals, and/or a belief system that helps me make decisions and guides my life.
  • Harmony and balance within humanity is important to me

The Wellness Assessment is copyrighted by The Ohio State University.