Tara Wheeler sits down with MSU Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Regina Hyatt, to discuss the Cowbell Well Initiative and the impact it's making in the community.
... tara wheeler: mississippi state vice president of student affairs, dr. regina hyatt, joins me now to tell us a little bit about the cowbell well initiative.
What is it and how did it get started?
Dr. regina hyatt: thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about cowbell well.
This is our public health campaign for our students and our employees to think about how, in the midst of the covid crisis, they can stay well.
This campaign contains lots of informative pieces that will help keep our community safe and well during this time.
Tara wheeler: how is it being implemented?
Tell me about that.
Dr. regina hyatt: sure.
We have lots of signage, videos that include lots of prominent people around campus and in town.
Of course bully, our mascot, is involved.
We have lots of social media postings and information that will be available to our students in our residence halls, through our digital signage, and in general, all around campus and in town, you'll see cowbell well messages.
Tara wheeler: with all the students getting ready to come back, i know there's a huge focus with not wanting to spread the coronavirus.
What are the goals for implementing cowbell well?
Dr. regina hyatt: sure.
Well, certainly our primary goal is to help reduce the spread of covid-19.
We're going to do that by emphasizing seven health behaviors.
I'll try to say all of them without looking at my notes.
Dr. regina hyatt: the first one, and importantly is what we're doing today, wearing your face covering.
Mississippi state this fall, in every building, you must wear a face covering.
And outside, when you're not six feet apart from someone.
That's the number one strategy.
Dr. regina hyatt: secondly, is washing your hands frequently or using hand sanitizer.
In all of our buildings when you come in, there are hand sanitizing stations available.
Dr. regina hyatt: thirdly, we want students to participate in a daily health screening.
Not just students, but our employees as well.
That includes a simple set of questions that we're asking students to do through an app, as well as a temperature check.
Dr. regina hyatt: next, the fourth, i think, item on the list is to practice self-care.
Tara wheeler: what do you mean by that?
Dr. regina hyatt: self-care means taking care of your mind and your body.
Taking opportunities to exercise, taking opportunities to talk with friends virtually, taking moments to decompress and to really think about how you're feeling.
It's utilizing resources.
We have a student counseling service on campus.
We want students to use that resource particularly, to help address any concerns or issues that they might be having.
Dr. regina hyatt: next step, we want our students to sanitize surfaces.
Tara wheeler: yes.
Dr. regina hyatt: what that means, of course, is in every classroom when you walk in, there'll be sanitizing wipes and so forth.
Each classroom will be cleaned after each class, but we want students to take personal responsibility for wiping down their own areas.
In their residence halls, the same thing, taking responsibility for keeping the areas around them safe.
Dr. regina hyatt: lastly, i think this is our last one.
Tara wheeler: stay home if you're sick.
Dr. regina hyatt: stay home if you're sick.
Thank you.
Tara wheeler: there's a lot to think about keeping this virus in check.
Dr. regina hyatt: stay home when you're sick is actually a very, very important issue, because it's runs counter actually to advice that we give students, which is, "go to class."
Tara wheeler: uh-huh .
Dr. regina hyatt: every new student that comes to mississippi state, that's one of the things we say to them is, "go to class."
Amidst the covid virus we don't want students to go to class physically, if they have symptoms of covid, or if they have a known exposure to someone who has covid-19.
Tara wheeler: all really important stuff to keep in mind and it's difficult, but the entire community can really benefit from implementing all of these cowbell well initiatives as well.
Where can we go for more information?
Dr. regina hyatt: yes.
We have a covid-19 website off of the main mississippi state webpage at msstate.edu.
It's the first thing that you see when you open up the homepage.
Tara wheeler:
Tara Wheeler sits down with MSU Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Regina Hyatt, to discuss the Cowbell Well Initiative and the..