Wellness, Health, and Fitness/Recreation

UNC Asheville cares deeply about the holistic wellness of our faculty, staff, and students. Programs dedicated to health and wellness include the academic Department of Health & Wellness, Campus Recreation, Health & Counseling Center, Healthy Campus Initiative, and the NC Center for Health & Wellness.

Department of Health & Wellness

UNC Asheville’s Department of Health & Wellness offers flexible programs designed to support students in promoting healthier, more balanced and meaningful lives in a variety of populations and settings. From nutrition and mental health, to exercise science and public health, our faculty are as passionate about creating healthier communities as they are about helping students find their calling. Beyond the classroom, students pursue internships and employment, research projects, leadership experiences and community-engaged learning opportunities. UNC Asheville offers a Bachelor of Science as well as a minor in Health & Wellness.

Learn more about the Health & Wellness Program

Campus Recreation

UNC Asheville's Campus Recreation Department offers everything from fitness classes to intramural sports teams to wilderness outings. Nestled in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, campus is just minutes away from thousands of acres of national forest where students can hike, camp, kayak and rock climb through the Outdoor Recreation Program. Need equipment? Students can rent outdoor gear and bikes for free or just a few bucks.

Students also get full access to fitness equipment and yoga/dance studios at the Sherrill Center, as well as the pool, indoor track, and basketball and racquetball courts at the Student Recreation Center.

Learn more about Campus Recreation

Health & Counseling Center

UNC Asheville’s Health & Counseling Center offers medical services to students free of charge or with a nominal fee. The services offered are designed to promote student health and to maximize academic success. We also educate students on topics important to college students including stress management skills, healthy eating behaviors, safer sex, and mature choices about alcohol use. In addition, we are staffed with professionals from a variety of disciplines, and we strive to meet the needs of all students by providing confidential health and counseling services and by providing references to appropriate community resources, if needed.

If you have a medical emergency, call 911.

Learn more about the Health & Counseling Center

Healthy Campus Initiative

Be Well: A Healthy Campus Initiative was founded by UNC Asheville in 2017 in a collaboration with the Department of Health and Wellness, the NC Center for Health and Wellness, Student Affairs, and Mission Health. It is based on Healthy Campus 2020.

The goals of the Healthy Campus Initiative are to:

Current Priorities:

Learn more about the Healthy Campus Initiative

Food Equity Initiative

The Food Equity Initiative is an organization dedicated to eliminating food insecurity within the UNC Asheville community, with a focus on health, sustainability and resilience. We do this by sourcing and distributing food donations, as well as offering information, events, programs and resources that promote food justice, good nutrition, and community engagement.

Learn more about the Food Equity Initiative

NC Center for Health & Wellness

NCCHW works to impact policy, build capacity and ignite community initiatives by working through a web of cross sector relationships organized around building healthier places throughout the state. To meet this goal, staff broker ideas, champion projects and collect results about how to produce health at the population

The following definition of health as defined by the World Health Organization guides the work of NCCHW: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Learn more about NC Center for Health and Wellness