Eating well is tough-especially in college. Jolene Sell, UWGB’s first full-time dietitian, helps make eating well a lot easier for all hungry Phoenix.
Meet UWGB’s First Dietitian: Jolene Sell graduated from UWGB in 2011 with a degree in Nutrition Science. After working various jobs, including one at UW-Whitewater, she found herself back at Green Bay as the school’s first, full-time dietitian where she offers free advice and contributes to programming on campus about healthy eating. She is also available to meet one-on-one with students about their dietary habits and needs.
What are the benefits of meeting with Jolene?
When trying to improve your nutritional habits, meeting with a dietitian is a great place to start. Some of the benefits of meeting with Jolene include her free services, as well as the way she runs her program to feel less like a meal plan and more like a healthy sustainable lifestyle.
“You are able to troubleshoot; throw an idea out there to me, and we can chat about it,” she said. “Really being able to talk about a lifestyle rather than purely just meet the goal. Of course, I help meet goals, but meeting with a dietitian can help create a system for life.”
You don’t have to have a meal plan with Chartwells to meet with Jolene; her goal is to help students create healthy habits for both on-campus and off-campus lifestyles. “I counsel across the board.,” she said. “I am not necessarily counseling eating better in our dining hall unless they are on a plan. I do work with nontraditional students at home… Like how to create a grocery list; how to meal prep and plan for the week. It’s all based on nutrition and wellness, not based on the food we have unless they are specifically trying to navigate that.”
What services are offered?
Jolene has four main areas of service: Student Nutrition, University Health, Chartwells’ employees, and Sustainability.
“Specifically for the students, I offer free nutrition counseling to any student that goes to UWGB, whether it is nontraditional or students living in the dorms. They can set that up with me for free, and I do follow-up appointments.”
Jolene likes the appointments to be very relaxed and comfortable, allowing students to bring up topics that most concern them. In the end, it’s not about starting a diet; it’s about everyday life and how to eat better in the long term. “It’s more of like a lifestyle of chatting through some of the things you may have a hard time with, maybe cooking skills? These appointments are all about developing life skills in nutrition and wellness.”
What is the process?
A large part of the process of meeting with Jolene includes identifying student’s goals. “When we meet, just start out with what is the goal of the appointment. If it’s, ‘I am required to be on the meal plan and I have dietary restrictions so how can I eat safely,’ we just go from there,” she said. “I really identify what goal they want to get out of the appointment before we dive in any deeper.”
Students can take control of their appointments with Jolene, but she does like to check in with students monthly about their progress. “The process is very student driven. They lead the appointment, and I help them along the way to meet their goals.”
Whatever your goal may be, Jolene is a great, free resource. She would love to work with more students, bettering their health and helping create healthy habits.
If you would like to talk with Jolene, there are a variety of ways you can reach out to her:
Instagram: Jolene_uwgbdietitian
Email: sellj@uwgb.edu
Written by The Go Getters: Emily Gerlikovski, Ekaterina Lindeman, Jenelle Mackie, and Ashley Stafne
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sounds like a well-seasoned resource
A great resource for students. I don’t believe this is the first time a dietician had been available to UW-Green Bay students as you imply in the first subheading.