Dartmouth staff members are getting Health Coaches.

Sounds perfectly reasonable. In fact, how does anyone get by without a personal Health Coach?

Joseph Asch of Dartblog is not impressed.

A new team of three “health coaches” for the staff?

However nobody is talking about restoring the cuts to administrative support in academic departments, or about staffing Dick’s House so that students can get assistance when they need it — both are areas that were trimmed as part of Kim’s budget effort. Why not? The answer is easy: in the long-existing hierarchy of priorities at Dartmouth College, the staff always comes before the faculty and students. Somehow, even in these straitened times, there is money in the budget for new health coaches and even cash incentives to encourage the staff to work with them:

Annual financial incentives of up to $200 will also be available as part of the Dartmouth Wellness Initiative. Employees who participate in the health screenings will receive $50. Those who meet with a health coach at least twice will receive $50 and there will be a $100 incentive available for taking an online health assessment on the Cigna website (available in January). These financial incentives are available to all benefits-eligible active employees, regardless of whether they are enrolled in the Dartmouth health plan.

This kind of thing would be funny, if it weren’t so costly.