Following last week’s Student Wellness Fair and the annual Cardinal Walk, the Stanford BeWell program is coming to students fall quarter in an attempt to promote healthy lifestyles in the Stanford community.

The student “passport” program will extend the BeWell program currently offered to Stanford faculty. The faculty BeWell program, established two years ago, has about a 50 percent participation rate.

Similar to the employee program, the student program will consist of three steps. The first step involves taking a health appraisal survey, which will help each student assess his or her strengths and weaknesses and then use the results to complete the second step, the “personal wellness plan.”

After completing the wellness plan, students may take the third step, which is to get credit for completing seven of 12 “Wellness Trip” activities. These activities range from attending wellness and health promotion talks to signing up for a ride-along night with the Stanford police.

“The premise for the program came from the Provost,” said Jennifer Sexton, the coordinator of health and wellness programs.

“Wellness programs have existed forever, but having a university setting is unique,” she added.

Sexton said the main health issues the program plans to focus on for students include relationships, eating habits, sleep, physical exercise and alcohol intake.

“We hope people become self-motivated to make a positive change in their lifestyles,” Sexton said.

She said she often sees students trying to do homework while at the gym. A goal of the BeWell program, she said, is to reframe exercise as a de-stressor and encourage students to use their time at the gym as a break.

The BeWell program has launched two main events this quarter to help promote awareness–the Student Wellness Fair and the Cardinal Walk, which, for the first time this year, was open to students.

The fair, according to Sexton, attracted around 400 students, as well as numerous passers-by. The program has tried to increase awareness through peer health educators, resident assistants and e-mail lists. However, Sexton said, the program is primarily dependent on word of mouth to promote participation.

She said she hopes to have half of Stanford’s 6,878 undergraduates participate in the new program.