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.

The BACCHUS Network™ and Founder Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez Featured in Stephen R. Covey’s Latest Book The 3rd Alternative

The BACCHUS Network™ is pleased to announce that the nonprofit organization and Founder Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez are featured in the newest book from Stephen R. Covey called The 3^rd Alternative, Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems. Covey is the bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

In his latest work, Covey addresses resolving conflict by describing the 1^st Alternative as “my way,” and the 2^nd Alternative as “your way.” The 3^rd Alternative transcends traditional solutions to conflict by forging a path toward a third option that moves beyond your way or my way to a higher or better way – one that allows both parties to emerge from debate or even heated conflict in a far better place than either had envisioned.

The reference to Founder Dr. Gerardo Gonzalez and BACCHUS is featured on pages 187-188 of the book. Dr. Gonzalez’ story references his days as a student at the University of Florida and the experiences he faced with his peers and their drinking behavior. His efforts and new approach to helping young people in higher education avoid risky behaviors led to today’s national student leadership network of peer educators addressing health and safety issues.

We are also pleased to acknowledge BACCHUS Board member Judith Tindall. Covey cites a reference from her work, Peer Programs: An In-Depth Look, in the same chapter.

The BACCHUS Network™ is a national 501c(3) student leadership organization focused on health and safety. The BACCHUS Network™ has nearly 700 affiliates and 25,000 peer educators across the country. For additional information, you can visit the organization website at www.bacchusnetwork.org

Win a Free General Assembly Registration by Creating the Theme for GA 2012

General Assembly 2012 will be held November 1-4 in Orlando, Florida. Our conference hotel is The Doubletree Hotel at the Entrance to Universal.
This year we invite our student members to submit their ideas for the conference theme. The person submitting the winning theme will receive one
free conference registration fee. If duplicate winning themes are submitted, we will place all duplicates into a drawing for one winner.

Ideas are due by 5 PM Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, February 29, 2012.

Include the following in an email to admin@bacchusnetwork.org
1. Subject Line is "GA 2012 Theme"
2. Your Full Name:
3. A Phone Number Where We Can Contact You:
4. Campus Peer Education Group Name:
5. Campus:
6. Your Conference Theme:
7. A Narrative about the graphic or artwork you might associate with this
theme: (Limit 70 words)

Make the most of your creativity and budget by submitting an entry!
Winner will be announced on the website.

Five Tips for Great Classroom Presentations

As peer education advisors, peer educators, and health educators, we want to be asked by faculty to present on collegiate health and safety issues. Classroom presentations provide outreach to students, increase awareness of services available on campus, and are a great peer educator recruitment tool. These presentations can also be challenging. Fifty-minutes is not a lot of time to thoroughly cover many health issues.

Rachel Billowitz, MPH (Rachel.Billowitz@nau.edu), a health sciences lecturer at Northern Arizona University, suggests the following tips to increase the effectiveness of one-time presentations to classes. These were originally posted to the HEDIR Listserv in regards to sexual health presentations and are reprinted here with permission.

1. If possible, try to ask the instructor for two class periods, so you are not trying to condense all the content into one.

2. Ask the students to do the reading prior to your presentation so they are familiar with the content.

3. Work with the class instructor to solicit anonymous questions from the students about the topics. Small squares of paper collected in an envelope work just fine. Obtain those questions before the presentation, and tailor your presentation to address the unique concerns of that student group.

4. Do not try to focus on delivering a large amount of factual information in the presentation. Instead, consider focusing your presentation on activities that ask the students to apply the knowledge gained from the reading to real-world scenarios to help facilitate skill building. For example, put students into groups of three and ask them to: brainstorm factors a heterosexual couple should consider when selecting a birth control method; brainstorm ways to negotiate condom use; brainstorm ways to give and get consent in a fun/ sexy way, etc.

5. Connect students with online resources that can link them to medically accurate sexual [or other] health information. Several sites have functions that allow people to ask questions anonymously and a health educator posts the answers within a day or two. An excellent site is the Go Ask Alice site from Columbia.

Thank you to Rachel for these great tips. Do you have any additional tips for classroom presentations? Share your tips with others by posting them as a comment to this article.

Five Peer Educator Recruiting Blunders to Avoid

Now is the time to plan your recruitment strategies for the 2010-11 academic year. Here are five major mistakes to avoid. Planning ahead will increase your recruiting success.

1. Waiting until September to start recruiting.

First year and transfer students are attending summer orientation, checking your school’s website for information, and receiving emails from other groups on your campus throughout the summer months. Begin recruiting now by having a presence at summer orientation events, collecting new student emails, and sending emails or e-newsletters throughout the summer. Be sure your web page is up-to-date and clearly explains how to get involved. Invite new students to join your Facebook group and post your recruitment meetings as events.

2. Only recruiting first year students.

The National Peer Educator Study (NPES) conducted by Michigan State University has found that the majority of peer educators became involved after their freshman year. Juniors and seniors are looking for opportunities to apply what they are learning in their majors and to build career skills. Decide from what academic subjects you would like to attract students and talk with faculty about how being a peer educator provides practical, career-relevant experience (i.e., leadership, delegation, time and management planning).

3. Not answering the “W” questions.

Before a student commits to becoming a peer educator, he or she wants to know four things: Why me? Why now? What for? and Who says? Some students do not see themselves as peer educators. If you see in a student the qualities necessary to be a peer educator, tell him or her. When recruiting, talk about the issues students on your campus are facing now and how peer educators can help. Highlight your peer education group’s past successes. Your current peer educators are the best spokespersons for your group. Encourage them to speak about what they have received from being a peer educator.

4. Making it hard to be a peer educator.

It is okay to be selective in choosing peer educators (click here for sample peer educator applications and interview questions: http://www.bacchusnetwork.org/peeredapps.asp). We also need to recognize that peer educators are students first and have busy schedules. Think about how you can make being a peer educator work in a student’s schedule. Develop position descriptions for peer educators that clearly define what they are to do and the time it takes. Find the day and time when the fewest classes take place and schedule your meetings during that time. Plan your trainings and events with the academic calendar in mind. Having large, intensive events during midterms will create frustration and burn out. Finally, offer a safety net to students who become overwhelmed by allowing them take a break from being a peer educator to attend to other issues.

5. Not making recruitment everyone’s responsibility.

Recruitment is an ongoing, year round process. Every program, event, web posting, or flyer is a potential recruitment tool. As mentioned earlier, your peer educators are your best spokespersons for your group and your best recruiters. If they speak positively of their peer education experience and share their enthusiasm for what they are doing, others will want to join. Encourage them to invite students to the meeting and teach them how to welcome new people to the group.

Do you have a recruiting tip? Share it with others by commenting on this article.

posted by: Ann Quinn-Zobeck, BACCHUS Director of Education and Training

Student Award for Mental Health Education

BACCHUS encourages peer educators to apply for the following award honoring excellence in reducing stigma around mental health.


The 2010 Jerry Greenspan
Student "Voice of Mental Health" Award

The Jerry Greenspan Student "Voice of Mental Health" Award was established to honor a student who is reducing stigma around mental illness, raising awareness of mental health problems on campus, or encouraging help-seeking among his or her peers.

The student selected for this honor will receive:
* a $2,000 cash award
* recognition through The Jed Foundation's website and events
* assistance with composing a video of the student's work
* a trip to New York to attend The Jed Foundation's annual gala on June 10, 2010
* video highlighting the student's award-winning work, which will be showcased during The Jed Foundation's gala
* an opportunity to appear on MTVU**

This award is designed to encourage dialogue about mental health on campuses and reduction of stigma around emotional disorders, and to raise visibility of the amazing people who are tackling these issues at schools across the country.

Applications must be completed online at http://jedfoundation.org/programs/student-voice-of-mental-health-award, and will consist of one essay.

The essay should demonstrate how the applicant is:

* Creating and/or leading campus programs or events that decrease stigma or encourage help-seeking
or

* Sharing a personal story about dealing with a mental health issue or helping a friend with an emotional problem
or

* Working to improve campus policies, programs and services

Entries will be judged by a panel that includes a mental health expert, a television/film professional, a campus professional and individuals with a personal connection to mental health or suicide.

Deadline for submissions is March 15, 2010. Only full- or part-time undergraduate or graduate students who are currently enrolled at an accredited 2- or 4-year college or university in the United States are eligible to apply.

Please direct any questions to studentaward@jedfoundation.org.


** The mtvU appearance is dependent on the focus and content of the winner's submission. This appearance is not guaranteed to the scholarship winner.

Deadline Approaching for NOYS Award

Submit a program and WIN BIG for your campus. There are $500 and $1000 awards!

BACCHUS Affliates, do you have a traffic or vehicle safety program to share? Apply for the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS) FIFTY BEST Awards

The community contest sponsored by The Allstate Foundation awards $1,000 to 50 youth organizations for their youth-developed and -implemented projects that demonstrate a strong community/campus project focused on youth traffic safety.

Applications are due May 31! Remember, you can't win if you don't enter.

Limited Space Still Available for Social Norms Conference

The National Conference on the Social Norms Approach is a unique and exciting opportunity to meet and interact with some of the leading researchers and practitioners in this rapidly expanding area of health promotion. It is the only national conference devoted entirely to this effective approach, and at no other meeting will so many issues and questions about social norms—from its past success to its future development—be so intensively explored and discussed.

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Sunday, July 12 - Tuesday, July 14, 2009

For more information and online registration: http://www.bacchusnetwork.org/social-norms.asp

A Shout Out From Area 12

If you have never been to an Area 12 conference, this video is a testament to the school/group/area spirit that they have. Is your Area louder? Send in proof to the BACCHUS Blog.

Thanks to Area 12 SAC Mark Freeman for submitting this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR0HooPakvo

Bring BACCHUS Expertise to Your Campus

Looking to improve your comprehensive prevention programming and need some ideas on how to do it? BACCHUS can help. The BACCHUS Network™ is offering staff facilitated trainings. Take advantage of these affordable opportunities to bring BACCHUS expertise to your campus. Prices range from $1000 for half-day consultation to $2500 for a day-and-half training and includes travel.

Campus Site Visit & Consultation
BACCHUS will send a senior staff member on a site visit to consult with you, your chief student affairs officer, your students, your campus or community task force, and other key stakeholders to assess program strengths and suggest ways to improve prevention efforts. This structured visit will include a follow up report to assist you with future strategic planning, writing for grants, and budget development.

Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) Training for Student Life Staff
Screening and Brief Intervention (SBI) has emerged as an effective tool to reduce college alcohol abuse. This training provides a brief screening tool and incorporates motivational interviewing techniques to assist student life staff in having intentional conversations with students. Participants will leave with tools for implementing SBI and resources for assisting students to consider a behavior change.

Certified Peer Educator (CPE) Training
Does the idea of bringing in our national trainer to conduct BACCHUS CPE Training for your campus sound appealing? You can utilize the convenient and affordable option of having The BACCHUS Network™ come to your campus and conduct the training. A BACCHUS staff member will work with you every step of the way to plan the CPE training. The independently evaluated CPE program has increased knowledge, confidence and skills in peer educators completing the training. For less than the cost of many national speakers who present for an hour, you can have a twelve-hour training that empowers your students to commit to healthy and safe lifestyle choices.

Tobacco Cessation Program Training
Tobacco cessation for young adults is a challenging piece of the campus tobacco control puzzle. BACCHUS staff members have expertise in providing cessation efforts on campus. A full-day training includes the top 10 list of campus cessation efforts including: assessment; empathy for addiction; Stages of Change; working with health and counseling centers; medications; cessation groups; technology; targeted promotion; events; staff involvement; and national resources. Participants will leave with strategies for implementing a comprehensive cessation program on campus.

For more information on fees and scheduling, please contact Ann Quinn-Zobeck, Director of Education and Training, at ann@bacchusnetwork.org or 303-871-0901.

Health Behaviors and Student GPA Are Related

If you have ever been questioned as to why health promotion efforts are needed on college campuses, a study just released by the University of Minnesota Boyton Health Services will give you some great talking points. "Our study shows that there is a direct link between college students' health and their academic achievement. This is the first time that anything like this has been published where Grade Point Average is linked to all these behaviors," said Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the director and chief health officer of the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Service.

To download the study, go to http://www.bhs.umn.edu/reports/HealthAcademicPerformanceReport_2007.zip

To view a video about the study, visit http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/newsservice

post from: Ann Quinn-Zobeck

GA Update

Make Hotel Reservations Today!
October 22 Rates Change
Room Block Almost Full!

Contact Hyatt Regency Columbus, 350 North High Street, Columbus Ohio, 43215.

Phone: 614-463-1234 (Reference The BACCHUS General Assembly at time of reservation)

$147 single/double/triple/quad
THIS RATE EXPIRES ON OCTOBER 22 OR EARLIER IF ROOM BLOCK FILLS!


Specific Award Categories Submission Extended to Monday, October 20, 2008
Award submissions only for

Outstanding Alumni

and Outstanding Programs in these two categories:

Illegal Drug/Drug Misuse
Peer Education Recruitment

Email applications to awards@bacchusnetwork.org by 5 pm Eastern Time, Monday, October 20, 2008.

Call for Programs Update
Acceptance letters are being faxed and emailed this week. A final program schedule will be ready and posted to the BACCHUS website by Monday, October 27.

Important Deadlines & Quick Links...

Before Wednesday, 10/22
Make Hotel Reservations

Monday, 10/20
Select Award Applications Deadline Extended

Wednesday, 10/22
Early Bird Registration Deadline
Student Trustee Election Packets Due

On or After Wednesday, October 22
Sign Up for BAC-Tail Contest & School Exhibits

-post from: Ann Quinn-Zobeck

GA Call for Programs Deadline Extended!

Submit a Program and Share Your Expertise!

There is still time to submit your program to present at General Assembly in Columbus, Ohio.

Call for Programs New Deadline: October 6, 2008

For information about submitting a program: http://www.bacchusnetwork.org/documents/GA08CallforProgramsFinal.pdf

To submit a program online: https://www.bacchusnetwork.org/regphp/generalAssemblyCallforPrograms.php

-post from: Ann Quinn-Zobeck

General Assembly - The Place to Be

Did you know that half of the U.S. population is within 550 miles of Columbus, Ohio?

The BACCHUS Network General Assembly 2008 - November 13-16 - Columbus, Ohio

It's time to hit the road on a Journey to Peer Education Success this November! Take advantage of a tremendous selection of learning opportunities during the conference at 70+ educational sessions, 2 keynotes, and 6 featured health issue presentations. If you feel like you need some specialized trainings, you can also take advantage of the pre-conference CPE (Certified Peer Educator) Training or the free Advisor's College sessions.

Call for Programs
Share your talents with our network! Submit an educational session for our General Assembly. Teach us the latest information and prevention strategies on alcohol abuse and drug education, tobacco control, eating disorders mental health issues, sexual health and sexual violence. Spotlight progams on health and wellness issues that affect the quality of life on campus. Help us to become stronger advocates in knowing resources and ways to promote a healthy lifestyle.

For more information about submitting a program click here.
To submit a program online, click here.

Register Online Now
Be a part of the premier conference focusing on student health issues and peer education programs for colleges and universities.

Registration Costs
On or Before Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Advisor/Student $290
Guest $330
Agency Exhibit $500

After Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Advisor/Student $320
Guest $360
Agency Exhibit $550

To download the conference registration booklet, click here.
To register online, click here now!

Apply for Awards and Scholarships
Awards submissions are due Monday, October 13th for
· Outstanding Students
· Outstanding Advisors
· Outstanding Alumni
· Outstanding Affiliates
· Outstanding Programs

Click here to download the Awards Submission Form

Scholarships
Eleven scholarships are available for students this year. Click here to find out more. Scholarship applications must be received in Denver no later than Monday, October 6th.
Email: scholarships@bacchusnetwork.org OR FAX: 303-871-0907

Hotel Information
Participants are responsible for making their own hotel reservations.
Hyatt Regency Columbus
350 North High Street,
Columbus, Ohio, USA 43215
PH: 614.463.1234 for block rates.

$147 Single/Double/Triple/Quad, plus applicable taxes.

Call the direct number listed to receive the conference rate! Do not use the Hyatt 800 - REFERENCE THE BACCHUS GENERAL ASSEMBLY at time of reservation.

· Check-In Time: 3 PM
· Check-Out Time: 12 Noon

-post written by: Ann Quinn-Zobeck