BACCHUS Student Trustees Urge You to Consider Running for a BACCHUS Leadership Position

 By Sheldon Jackson and Courtney Diener, BACCHUS Student Trustees

Welcome to a new semester and new school year! We hope you had a great summer vacation. We are excited to see what activities and programs everyone is doing this fall semester. Currently, we are preparing for General Assembly in Orlando, FL, November 1-4, 2012. The theme this year is The Magic of Peer Education: Healthy Students, Healthy Campuses.

One thing we as Student Trustees want every BACCHUS peer educator to consider is running to be elected a member on the Student Advisory Committee or a Student Trustee. This is an amazing opportunity to be involved within The BACCHUS Network. Holding a student leadership position within The BACCHUS Network is truly a privilege and a honor. During a term in one of these positions, students will learn so much more about The BACCHUS Network and the way BACCHUS operates. If you become a member of the Student Advisory Committee, you will network with members in your BACCHUS area, with other members throughout the country, fellow SAC and the Student Trustees. The skills and experiences gained through these positions directly apply to your academic and career goals and provide you the opportunity to have an impact on both a regional and national level.

BACCHUS truly is a student run organization and, hopefully, a lot of students will run for either an SAC or a Student Trustee position. For more information about running for an SAC or a Student Trustee position, visit the BACCHUS website.

We hope everyone is as excited as we are with a new school year and even more excited for General Assembly.  Please contact us, Sheldon or Courtney if you have any questions about running for an office. We are happy to share our experiences with you.

Get Ahead This Summer

By Courtney Diener and Sheldon Jackson, BACCHUS Student Trustees

As warm weather and sunshine begins to grace our presence, you might be asking yourself the question, "What role does summer play for peer educators and advisors?"

The obvious answer is that summer is a great time for everyone to take time to relax. That means summer barbeques, getting some vitamin D from the sun (remember to wear sunblock) and maybe watching a game on television. But summer is also great time for your peer education groups to get ahead.

Summer is a great time to take inventory of your stock of peer education materials and to place orders for the supplies you will need in the fall. Summer is also a great time where your peer educators can work on recruitment of new peer educators for the fall. Some campuses host summer retreats where their peer educators can work on their presenting skills and building a solid team. Other campuses work on updating and improving scripts or programs. Even just familiarizing yourself with The BACCHUS Network websites and campaigns can prepare you to kick-start your peer education group into a great fall.

So this summer in between all the pool parties, walks in the park and outside fun, consider spending some time getting your peer education group ready for fall.

What is the Value of Membership in The BACCHUS Network?

By Kendra Loomis (Area 1) and Taylor Schwab (Area 12)

At the 2011 BACCHUS General Assembly in November, network delegates convened to vote on an amendment to the BACCHUS bylaws. As a result of the meeting, an affiliation fee for The BACCHUS Network was implemented, effective January 1, 2012, requiring affiliates to pay in order to remain in the network.

Is the affiliation fee really worth the $300 cost? Well, would you rather pay for the services provided individually, which could cost roughly $1200; or would you prefer to pay for the $300 affiliation fee, which provides numerous discounts and benefits?

Essentially, BACCHUS pays for itself. Benefits include: a discounted fee for the General Assembly, the Area Conference, and local trainings, as well as promotional materials (posters, material packets, pre-designed health campaigns, training kits, etc.). Not only will you receive the discounts, but also the benefits of BACCHUS far exceed the tangible merchandise. Some of the ways in which BACCHUS enriches lives includes providing a sense of community, motivating leadership, and fostering networking skills. As the affiliation fee deadline of March 30, 2012 approaches, we hope you see the value that BACCHUS has to offer. Click here to renew your membership.

More Wellness, Less Waste: BACCHUS Goes Green

As you may have noticed, The BACCHUS Network has become more “green” over the past few months. The Sexual Responsibility Week and Safe Spring Break campaigns were delivered electronically. The Peer Educator™ magazine is now an online, interactive publication. BACCHUS monthly updates and the quarterly newsletter from your Student Advisory Committee member arrived in your email box using Constant Contact. A paper version of the annual charter renewal form was not mailed out this year but is available to be filled out quickly and easily on the BACCHUS website.

You, our members, have encouraged us to reduce our use of paper and we listened. The response from our Network has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, we have had one of the highest early return rates of charter renewal forms in our history.

Because it has been so well received, you will be seeing more electronic delivery of BACCHUS materials and communications including information about General Assembly registration, call for programs, and awards applications, and NCAAW campaign materials. Be sure you are receiving these timely notifications by

• Renewing your BACCHUS affiliation so your current email address is in our database
• Subscribe to the BACCHUS Twitter feed
• Join the BACCHUS Facebook Fan Page
• Subscribe to the BACCHUS listserv
• If you have not been receiving our communications, contact admin@bacchusnetwork.org and we can offer suggestions to assist you

You can view back issues of our BACCHUS e-newsletters on our website.

If you have opted-out from our Constant Contact e-newsletter and would like to receive it again, please email ann@bacchusnetwork.org for instructions on how to re-subscribe.