UT Wellness Mini-Grant Program
Investing in bold, student-centered ideas that promote sustainable well-being across our campuses.
About the UT Wellness Mini-Grant Program
The University of Tennessee System awards approximately $60,000 in mini grants each year to support projects focused on improving student well-being and strengthening student success across all UT campuses and institutes. Each selected project demonstrates collaboration, measurable impact and alignment with the eight dimensions of wellness defined by SAMHSA.
2026-2027 UT Wellness Mini-Grant Recipients
UT Knoxville
Wellness Wednesdays: Leveraging Belonging and Connection to Foster Wellness
The Herbert College of Agriculture will implement a year-long wellness initiative that gives students recurring opportunities to build practical life skills, connect and create lasting partnerships with campus resources, and develop healthy habits across the eight dimensions of wellness. This project will produce a framework that other UT System campuses can adapt to support similar wellness programming.
Principal Investigator: Spencer Ryan – Herbert College of Agriculture, Student Life, UT Knoxville
Co-PI: Mackenzie Furches – Herbert College of Agriculture, Undergraduate Recruitment, UT Knoxville
Healthy Places @ UT: Activating Campus Spaces for Everyday Wellness
Healthy Places @ UT transforms everyday campus spaces into opportunities for wellness by providing brief, evidence-based activities that encourage movement, mindfulness, reflection, and social connection. Through a network of movable QR-enabled Healthy Places and a replicable implementation toolkit, the project will help students integrate wellness into their daily routines while creating a model that can be adapted across the University of Tennessee System.
Principal Investigator: Helen Hennon, FS Design and Construction, UT Knoxville
Co-PI: Katy Locke, RecSports, UT Knoxville
Understanding Student Spiritual Wellness and Religious Identity
Understanding Student Spiritual Wellness and Religious Identity introduces student affairs professionals across the UT System to the major concepts and best practices in spiritual wellness, while also creating and cultivating a cross-campus, interdisciplinary community of professionals to evaluate resources and challenges and build future collaborations that support student spiritual wellness and academic success systemwide.
Principal Investigator: Erin Darby, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies, UT Knoxville
Co-PI: Jill Zambito, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health and Wellness, Division of Student Life, UT Knoxville
Vols in Motion: A Student-Centered Lifestyle and Wellbeing Program for the College-to-Career Transition
The Vols in Motion project will engage students, faculty, and staff to co-create an evidence-based program that supports students entering their final year at UT and preparing for post-graduation life and careers. By strengthening five different dimensions of wellness, physical, financial, occupational, emotional, and social wellness, the project will create practical, scalable tools that can be adapted across the UT system to promote wellbeing, persistence, and success for students as they transition to the workforce.
Principal Investigator: Danielle Ostendorf, Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sports Studies, UT Knoxville
Co-PI: Stephanie Antonelli, RD and MS; Department of Public Health and Nutrition, University of Tennessee, UT Knoxville
UT Chattanooga
From Wellness to Well-Tech: Identifying Gaps in Campus Wellness Support and Opportunities for AI-Enhanced Student Services
This project explores how AI and strategic communication can improve access to campus wellness resources and enhance student support. By identifying wellness needs and opportunities for responsible AI integration, the project aims to develop scalable strategies that promote student well-being for all dimensions of wellness across the UT System.
Principal Investigator: Nagwan R. Zahry, Communication, UT Chattanooga
Co-PI: Feng Guo, Psychology, UT Chattanooga
UT Southern
UT Southern’s Career and Cashflow Compass (3C)
UT Southern’s Career & Cashflow Compass (3C) is a program that helps all students, especially rural and first-generation students, build occupational and financial wellness skills through practical workshops, peer support, and warm handoffs to campus resources. By reducing the stress of financial illiteracy and building goals that lead to healthy relationships with work and aspirations, 3C will support the wellness of our students, including those who might not have otherwise engaged in wellness programming due to stigma, through a pilot that can be adapted for use systemwide.
Principal Investigator: Matthew Little/ Student Experience, UT Southern
Co-PI: Susan Waryck, Student Engagement, UT Southern
UT Martin
UT Resilience Response: A Train-the-Trainer Model for Student Wellness, Campus Safety, and Student-Facing Support Professionals
UT Resilience Response will unite Public Safety, Student Health and Counseling Services, Success Counseling, Student Conduct and Care, and Housing to train student-facing professionals and student leaders in practical resilience, connection, and referral skills. The reusable toolkit will support continued use at UT Martin and replication across the UT system, reflecting the understanding that supporting those who support students is essential to strengthening student care systemwide.
Principal Investigator: Michael O’Neill, Director, Department of Public Safety, UT Martin
Co-PI: Allison Castleman, Director, Student Health and Counseling Services, UT Martin
Chill Together, Soar Together: A 30-day Wellness Education and Recovery Challenge
Chill Together, Soar Together challenges UT Martin student leaders, faculty, and staff to learn about the importance of physical recovery, sleep, and nutrition through a friendly competition in mixed teams using HUME Band 2.0 wearable technology, proving that the key to a healthier, higher-performing campus is not working harder, but recovering smarter, together. Following the campus-wide challenge, the hope is to challenge other campuses across the system to do the same.
Principal Investigator: Angelina MacKewn, Department of Psychology, UT Martin
Co-PI: Laura Brown, UT Martin
One UT West Tennessee Student Wellness Collaborative: Building a Regional Model for Student Wellbeing and Success
The One UT West Tennessee Student Wellness Collaborative will bring together UT campuses, regional centers, healthcare organizations, and community partners to create and deliver a regional student wellness curriculum focused on strengthening wellbeing, resilience, and student success. The project will establish a scalable model that can be replicated across the University of Tennessee System to improve student wellness outcomes statewide.
Principal Investigator: Allan Sterbinsky UT Martin – PSGS – Director: Center for Rural Innovation
Co-PI: Altha Stewart – Senior Associate Dean for Community Health Engagement Director – Center for Youth Advocacy and Well-Being, UT Health Sciences
Support on the Spectrum
Support on the Spectrum is a wellness initiative that provides neurodivergent students with specialized coaching, emotional regulation strategies, sensory-friendly supports, and peer connections to improve mental health, academic success, and overall well-being. Using existing campus resources, the program creates a sustainable model that can be replicated across the University of Tennessee System.
Principal Investigator: Will Gibson, The Accessibility Resource Center, UT Martin
Co-PI: Mark McCloud, Access and Engagement, UT Martin
UT Health Sciences
Humanities in Medicine: Meaning, Connection, and Wellness
Created at UT Health Sciences in Knoxville through an interdisciplinary advisory board of UT faculty, Humanities in Medicine uses music, literature, theatre, storytelling, visual art, and reflection to support the well-being of medical students, residents, fellows, other health professions trainees, and graduate and professional students across UT. The program aims to reduce immediate stress, strengthen connection and meaning, and expand humanities-based wellness programming across the UT System.
Principal Investigator: Tina M Dudney, Graduate Medical & Dental Education, UT Health Sciences College of Medicine – Knoxville
Co-PI: Pulkit Gairola, Graduate Medical & Dental Education, UT Health Sciences College of Medicine – Knoxville
Peer Wellness Out West: Peer Education Programs for UT Martin and UT Health Sciences
Using an evidence-based peer health educator training program and a train the trainer model beginning at UT Martin and UT Health Sciences, this project aims to reduce stigma and increase belongingness through the development of peer wellness education programs at two UT campuses, with hopes of expanding trainings to all campuses across the system.
Principal Investigator: Corinne Webster, Office of Student Success/Wellness, UT Health Sciences
Co-PI: Allison Castleman, Student Health and Counseling Services, UT Martin
