The Virginia Commonwealth University’s Clicker Enhanced Social Norms Marketing program began in 2005 with the goal of reducing high-risk drinking and related harm. At the heart of this program is the recognition that presenting students with accurate information about their peers’ alcohol use reinforces healthy behaviors.

The social norms marketing campaign is improved through alcohol education sessions utilizing clicker technology. In the sessions, students use hand-held wireless devices that transmit personal responses to questions asked, and their responses are instantly displayed as graphs. This immediate feedback shows students the gap between their perception and the reality of actual alcohol use on campus. 

These sessions challenge participants to observe healthy behaviors rather than the unhealthy behaviors that often seem more visible. Data have demonstrated that students who participate in the clicker sessions have more accurate perceptions of normative alcohol use than those who do not attend a session and are more likely to limit their alcohol use. 

Because the program proved to have such positive impact on the decision‐making development of students, ACHA awarded it the Best Practices in College Health Award in the category of Health Education and Promotion Services in 2010. The success of the program spurred VCU’s Wellness Resource Center to explore a variety of other misperceptions and how these can be addressed in a similar fashion.

This fall,  through real-time clicker feedback, 1,867 incoming students were able to see that while most of them perceived that only 30% of Americans support LGBT people in being who they are, their own responses revealed that 89% of those freshman support LGBT people in being who they are.

Knowing the difference in perception versus reality is very useful, to both college health professionals and students, and that’s why we at VCU love our clickers. Anyone have other questions they have found helpful in making their campus healthier?

By: Lorri Castro-Zenoni
ACHA Wellness Needs of Military Students Coalition Chair  

The Government shutdown has different effects on our student populations. But how does it impact our military and veteran students on our college campuses? 

Here is a link to a Veterans Field Guide to the Government Shutdown created by the Veterans Association (VA). It was last updated on October 7, 2013. As it may change daily, please continue to review the document.

Almost all branches of the military have suspended their tuition assistance (TA) programs. Students can still use TA if already approved for this semester, but most new applications will not be approved until funds are appropriated. The VA is continuing to process and issue payments for education claims, though payments to students may be slow. The VA should continue to pay until they are out of funds, and the length of the shutdown will determine how long the money will last.

Please visit these individual sites for specific information related to each branch.

Air Force (log in by Air Force Personnel required)
Army
Coast Guard
Marines
Navy
Military Spouses

For those campuses that have a VetSuccess program, your representative has most likely been furloughed (effective October 8) and will remain furloughed until funds have been appropriated. Those students utilizing the GI Bill will find the hotline non-operational and the website not up to date. Vocational Rehabilitation counselors have also been furloughed, so many of our students with disability ratings are left with questions that cannot be answered.

As it is uncertain how long this government shutdown will persist, it is important that our campuses and counseling and student health clinics prepare to support our military and veteran students. Many of them rely on their GI Bill for more than tuition; it also pays for housing and food allowances. Inform your staff and learn as much as you can. Many of the Veteran Center employees that these students rely on for answers may not be available. It is up to all of us to help our military and veteran students in this time of need.

What an exciting time to be a student affairs professional! At no other time in our profession have we achieved the level of academic acceptance and discourse in which many of our respective institutions now engage. Much of the recognition and success that we enjoy can be attributed to the passion that we, as college health professionals, hold for student success and support. However, equally important for many of us has been the adoption of professional standards and the introduction of program review and evaluation. Assessing the realities of our student needs and the effectiveness of our community interventions has proven essential to many of our institutions as we have become increasingly accountable for the effective provision of student affairs on campus.

An exciting initiative came to fruition in spring 2013 for many working in Canadian post-secondary student health through the work of Canadian Organization of University and College Health (COUCH) members. COUCH is a division of the Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (CACUSS). Over 32 institutions agreed to participate for the first time ever in a nation-wide effort to gather student health data using the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA). 

Developed by the American College Health Association, the ACHA-NCHA is a self-reporting assessment tool intended to measure perceptions and realities of health and wellness in advanced education settings. Over 34,000 student respondents participated in the Canadian consortium survey, providing a data set specific to Canadian institutions (yes, there are differences between Canadian and American students). We have also collectively worked together to develop Provincial Reference Group reports in three provinces. We anticipate these reports being valuable in engaging provincial stakeholders in a dialogue to further the health and well-being of students. 

For many Canadian institutions, this was their first time participating in the ACHA-NCHA. Exciting times indeed!

Others, like Mount Royal University and University of Alberta, have participated in the ACHA-NCHA multiple times. What benefits has participation in the survey afforded both our academies and our students? In truth, the data collected from our surveys has been instrumental in guiding a number of opportunities and initiatives. 

Of particular note, the ACHA-NCHA data was used by the University of Alberta (UofA) in successfully securing a $3,000,000 mental health grant from the Government of Alberta. This grant will help enhance campus mental health support services and address stigmatization associated with mental health and mental illness within our campus community. Furthermore, it will stimulate a dialogue on campus health and engage the whole community in developing healthy campus initiatives. The benefits of this grant are just starting to be seen as our campus integrates additional mental health clinicians into our existing campus resources. 

The assessment data pertaining to the impacts of disease on academics has supported the UofA's decision to implement a disease in residence surveillance system with which to catch and manage disease outbreaks before they reach critical levels within our communal living settings. Similarly, statistics pertaining to sleep disorders, stress and anxiety has guided the development of the UofA's Heroes for Health campus grants program and the Unwind Your Mind Project. 

At Mount Royal University (MRU), ACHA-NCHA participation began in 2006, followed by subsequent surveys in 2008, 2010, and 2013. In 2006 the data demonstrated a need for health promotion, so a position was created and a student peer health education program was developed. MRU was successful in accessing tobacco reduction funding, using the ACHA-NCHA data to provide evidence of this need. And based on the 2010 data and trends evidenced throughout the years, MRU's president founded a Presidential Task Force on Student Mental Health.  

What is truly exciting about the initiatives highlighted at both of our academies is that the ACHA-NCHA has played an integral role in stimulating healthy campus dialogue and it has provided a common forum from which to collaboratively support the health and well-being of our students and staff. We all have a role to play in supporting the health of our respective communities and the ACHA-NCHA has provided a rich source of data with which to guide campus health programming. 

With the Spring 2013 ACHA-NCHA behind us, the Canadian Reference Group reports are now available on the CACUSS website. These invaluable reports are available for all to use in supporting the health and well-being of our campus communities.

Now that the Call for Programs for the 2014 Annual Meeting is over, we are starting to look ahead to that exciting time of year when registration for the meeting officially opens! Meeting registration will open in January, but it’s never too early to plan ahead.

The ACHA meeting is five days long and jam-packed with sessions, workshops, meetings, networking events, and more. The array of choices can be dazzling – or maybe just a bit confusing. And because we’ve made some programming changes for 2014 (most noteworthy: our addition of 60-minute sessions – more on that to come) we thought a brief primer in the form of some FAQs could help everyone understand the ins and outs of the meeting.

There’s a lot to know – How do I get the member discount on my registration fees? How many hotels offer the conference rate? Will meals be included? Can I add something to my registration? – and we want you to be able to find the answers! We are always happy to answer any questions you have by phone or email, but the FAQs are another fast and easy way to get the information you need.

Check out the FAQs here and please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you don’t find what you are looking for.

One of the easiest ways to get in touch with a large group of people these days is through webinars. These large virtual meetings are especially helpful for college health professionals with colleagues all over the country, and the world. Webinars allow a large group of individuals to come together to share ideas and ask thoughtful questions in a free and interactive setting. 

ACHA is pleased to offer webinar services through GoToWebinar.com, a simple and convenient means to host meetings for up to 100 people. Some ACHA webinars will come from sections, committees/coalitions, or affiliates, while others will be speakers solicited by ACHA. Continuing education credits may also be available for webinars that qualify.  

Recent webinars include “The Art and Science of Coalition Building,” “Using Environmental Management Strategies within a Coalition,” and “Focus Groups in Health Education Practice: An Introduction.”

If you have an idea for a webinar, contact your section, committee/coalition, or affiliate leadership for more information.

Remember a few years ago, when you attended that session at the Annual Meeting? And now something has come up on your campus and you could really use what you learned at that session – if only you could figure out where you stashed that handout. 

Or maybe you need some information on a unique-to-college-health issue; there’s a good chance that one of the hundreds of sessions offered at the ACHA conference over the last several years addressed that topic. But is there any way to view those presentations, even the ones from five years ago, without having to track down the speaker?

Yes, there is! 

After each meeting we post copies of presentation slideshows and handouts so that our members and attendees can check out sessions they missed, review sessions they attended, share information from an interesting session with other colleagues, or view a slideshow along with the purchased audio recording to get a fuller learning experience. In years past, the handouts stayed on the website for about eight months or so and then we took them down.  

We realized, though, that we were sitting on a gold mine of resources. Every year, approximately 130 meeting sessions on just about every conceivable college health topic are presented, and these presentation slide shows contain an enormous amount of information. Sometimes it’s information that’s not readily available elsewhere. And so we present to you the Archive of ACHA Annual Meeting Final Programs and Presentation Handouts! 

We have re-posted session handouts and slideshows as far back as 2009. We’ve also posted the conference programs dating back to 2005, just in case anyone needs to access them.

We rely on the speakers to provide us with copies of their presentations so that we can post them online – not all speakers give us anything, but we still have an ample selection. Please look through the archive next time you need more information on anything from concussions to benchmarking to emergency response and so much more.  Please note that the handouts and slide shows were accurate at the time of the presentation but may not contain up-to-date information, so it’s advisable to check current resources.

And if you attend a great session at the meeting, please encourage the speaker to send us a copy of their presentation so we can post it.  

Back in January, ACHA decided to jump into the blogosphere with its
Annual Meeting Blog. We thought it would be a great way to share meeting highlights and provide travel tips from the local members who know and love the city of Boston. Using the blog, we expanded on our usual channels of communications and invited our members to add their own contributions. 

We thought the blog worked pretty well! So well, in fact, that we’ve decided to change the blog’s focus from the meeting to all things ACHA and college health. 

We’ll be discussing ACHA’s programs and resources and how to get the most out of them, hot topics in college health, committee projects and affiliate meetings, and everything in between. And because we really believe in a “for members-by members” philosophy, much of what we will be sharing will come directly from our members. You’ll hear from board members, committee, coalition, and task force members, and affiliate leaders. You’ll also read posts by members who want to share their experiences with Healthy Campus 2020, ACHA-NCHA, the annual meeting, and other ACHA programs. 

This blog offers us a new, informal way to reach our members and for them to reach us. A good blog helps it readers, educating and inspiring them, and in turn, its readers can provide insight that just can’t be gleaned from traditional, static mediums like a printed newsletter or a website.

So, now that we’ve told you about our goals and what we hope to achieve, what do you want to read about? If you are interested in contributing to the blog, please contact Kristen Klimo at [email protected].

Special thanks to Eleanor (Nell) Davidson, MD, ACHA’s chair of the Continuing Education Committee and Continuing Medical Education Subcommittee for braving the uncertain waters of public transportation to find this easy way from Boston Logan International Airport to Boston Marriott Copley Place. The best part? It’s rush hour traffic free!
The following text is adapted from an email from Nell Davidson, MD.

I wanted to try public transportation in Boston when I visited for program planning in November. Since my flight arrived at Boston Logan International Airport during rush hour on a Wednesday evening it seemed like a perfect excuse NOT to take a taxi anywhere—why sit and suffer in traffic?

So instead I bought a $2.50 ticket for the subway inside the airport and then caught the bus headed to the BLUE line airport stop.

I caught a BLUE Line MTA (subway) towards Bowdoin to the State Street stop (three stops away) and changed to the ORANGE line.

Then I took the ORANGE Line subway headed towards Forest Hills to the Back Bay stop and got off (four stops). At each subway you need to make sure which direction train you are taking—there are plenty of signs.

You will then come up and out of the station across the street from Copley Place (a rather upscale shopping mall).

Enter Copley Place anywhere and start looking for signs to the Marriott, the Westin, or the Sheraton—they are all accessed through Copley Place. It’s only a five minute walk at this point.

At every step of the way, if I hesitated for even a moment or two, someone came up to me and said “can I help you find your way?” You can’t beat that!

Total travel time was about 30 minutes.

Can you believe the ACHA 2013 Annual Meeting starts next week? If you’re as excited as we are you've probably poured through travel websites and books looking for recommendations for must-see attractions. We've asked our wonderful local members for their suggestions.

Nancy Baker says: I would recommend a trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as well as a trip to the Museum of Fine Arts.

Jane Powers says: No better place to see the city skyline than from the harbor. Take a low cost cruise on one of the Boston Harbor Island Ferries. You can see the city, picnic, hike some of Boston’s historic outer islands, and ferry between islands. Plan your return for sunset, it’s magic!

Gerri Taylor says: The Boston Pops Orchestra is great fun. Get a table for a group of people and enjoy an evening. The Orchestra is only a few blocks from the Marriott, Westin, and Sheraton hotels. 

And who would miss a Red Sox game? See the famous Green Monster! 

Also, take a Swan Boat tour for a very short ride on the pond in the Boston Public Garden.

David McBride says: Don’t miss the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood.

Sharon Yardley says: How about a night out at the Institute of Contemporary Art on the waterfront? It is a great setting with great restaurants nearby and the waterfront is unbelievable.

Martha Farve says: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is a beautiful Italian villa that was built to hold the family’s personal art collection. It’s a wonderful small museum and is located a block away from the Fine Arts Museum, another city gem. 

Leah McKinnon-Howe says: Take advantage of Boston’s many musical and cultural offerings during your stay in Boston by checking out www.artsboston.org. Something for everyone can be found at this site.

ACHA 2013 Annual Meeting 

Boston is a unique city filled with history at every turn. It can be overwhelming! Here’s what the locals are saying about Boston’s history and guided tours. 

Gerri Taylor says: Shop and lunch on Newbury Street and stop at the New England Historical Society and check out your genealogy! Also, if you have a chance, go see the Adams House in Quincy. A neat place for history buffs!  

Mary Lou Walsh says: I also think the Holocaust Memorial is incredible. 

Catherine Meloche says: Take a Duck Tour, a fun way to see some of Boston’s historical places!  

Anne Patey says: Taking a Duck Tour is a fun way to get to know Boston. I loved that I was sitting up higher than all other vehicles and could see everything that I was learning about.

Gerri Taylor says: The Freedom Trail will help you relive the history of Boston!

Bruce Churchill says: The Charles Riverboat Company cruise from the Cambridgeside Galleria up to Harvard (and back) is a great way to see Boston and Cambridge.

ACHA 2013 Annual Meeting