JOMO x Virginia Tech University
JOMO and the Hokie Wellness Department at Virginia Tech joined forces to create the first-of-its-kind, multi-year, digital well-being program for the entire student body. The program helped VT gain recognition as the First Digitally Well University in the World.
Hokie Wellness Department at Virginia Tech
The mission of Hokie Wellness is to foster a healthier Virginia Tech community by providing prevention services, education, outreach, and resources to employees and students. The department strives to educate and empower every student to take an active and engaging day-to-day approach to their wellness in order to enjoy a long, healthful, and purpose-filled life.
Hokie Wellness needed a campus-wide, digital well-being campaign
Through VT’s own research, they found that 75% of their students were having challenges with procrastination and nearly 70% of those students say that caused them moderate to high distress. In addition, VT faculty and administration were closely watching national studies on social media use and its potential impact on teens’ mental health. This is similar to situations found at college campuses all across North America.
Laurie Fritsch, Assistant Director at Hokie Wellness, and her team were making critical but small strides through their digital-wellness workshops and programs to address these issues but, “At [the rate we were going], we would maybe have reached 3% of the student population. What we needed was a campus-wide campaign.”
JOMO and VT join forces to design & pilot a campus-wide program
“Hiring JOMO(campus) helped us fast forward this priority by 5 years.” - Laurie Fritsch, Hokie Wellness at VT
Fritsch contacted JOMO(campus) to develop a multi-year program and expand the reach and impact of their efforts. The mandate was clear: this can’t be a flash in the pan but needs to be an ongoing, integrated, and sustainable program that supports the entire VT student body.
Our work began with understanding the specific issues facing students at VT. We brought our team to VT’s campus to run student surveys – ultimately pulling those insights into a pilot – a 4-Week Digital Well-Being Challenge. The challenge focused on education, awareness-building, and driving behavior change.
The JOMO(campus) x VT program leveraged multiple communication touchpoints with students, including a list of challenges for that week, email prompts, weekly recaps, and an attention-grabbing advertising campaign across residence and dining halls with taglines like Experience VT. JOMO boxes were also placed in common areas to encourage students to put their phones away and enjoy great conversations.
Over the course of two pilot programs, students were given simple tools and strategies, including regular brain breaks, creating a bucket list, as well as utilizing focus mode and JOMO boxes during meals, class, and study time to decrease distractions.
Based on the data gathered during the two pilot programs, JOMO and VT are now designing a large-scale rollout for the Fall of 2023 to reach 10,000 first-year students.
Our goal with this innovative campaign is two-fold:
1. Student Well-Being
We desire the flourishing - mind, body, soul - of each student at Virginia Tech. We will equip students and faculty with concrete tools and strategies for digital well-being. All of this leads to not only improved well-being, but increased student retention, improved graduation rates, and increased GPA.
2. VT Leadership
We desire to establish Virginia Tech as a world leader in student digital well-being, pioneering an innovative multi-year campus-wide campaign that prioritizes individual and collective flourishing.
Our Campaign with Virginia Tech
As part of our pilot programs at VT, we produced a series of campaign assets that pushed students to make a behaviour change, and gave them a vision of the Joy of Missing Out. These print, video and digital assets were used as a coordinated effort all over campus to engage with students.
Video: Join the JOMO Movement at VT
This inspirational spot introduces the concept of the joy of missing out — to make space for the right things. Conversation, connection, and community on campus.
Video: Break up with your phone.
It’s not me…. it’s you, Big Tech. This playful spot prompts the viewer to rethink their default digital settings.
Print: Posters and banners distributed across Campus
Analog: Conversation cards and JOMO phone boxes in common areas
Stats and Impact
Our work together has had an incredible initial impact with the student population at Virginia Tech. We are proud of their global recognition as a thought-leader in student well-being, and how students are making changes to their digital habits as a result of our programming efforts.
73.8%
made a change to their digital habits as a result of the 4-week challenge
10k+
Residential first-year students will experience the JOMO Digital Well-Being Challenge this fall
1st
Certified Digitally-Well University in the World
Get Started Today
We would be honoured to work together to bring Digital Wellness to your students and faculty. Fill out this form to get a copy of 10 Tips for a more Digitally-Well Campus This Fall.
