Drug-Free Schools and Campus Regulations
Biennial Review, 2023-2024
Introduction
Southern Utah University's Health and Wellness Center is responsible for the drug, alcohol, and substance misuse prevention efforts on campus and does so through strategic programming and collaborative partnerships with campus departments to create a healthy, safe and resilient campus community. The efforts of the Health and Wellness Center actively focus on protective factors and reducing risk factors for DAAPP use.
The SUU Health & Wellness Program strives to promote holistic health and well-being of students through comprehensive programming, preventative education, peer education, the sharing of up-to-date accurate health information and resources, and providing support regarding their own or someone else's health and well-being. The Center seeks to engage students by informing and connecting them to resources available on campus and in their community. Through prevention efforts that inform, increase awareness, and educate the student body, the Health & Wellness Center seeks to positively impact the university environment through evidence-based social norm approaches and environmental strategies.
The University's efforts are headed up by an Assistant Director of Health and Wellness and supported by the Health & Wellness Team. The Center is supported by the Executive Director of Recreation and Wellness, The Office of the President, Dean of Students, Director of Housing, Executive Director of Belonging and Engagement, Director of Human Resources, Chief of SUU Police, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Student Health Educators, and Athletics. We share a common goal of student success, overall well-being and work to ensure compliance of the DAAPP campus wide.
The 2023-24 Biennial Review was carried by the following:
Report Coordinators
Madison McBride, Assistant Director of Health and Wellness
DAAPP Committee
Heather Ogden, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students
Brian Fullerton, Executive Director of Recreation and Wellness
Chris Ralphs, Executive Director of Campus Life and Assistant Dean of Students
Kevin Price, Assistant Vice President of Human Resources
Ashley Zimmerman, Executive Director of Belonging and Engagement
Curt Hill, Director of Counseling and Psychological Services
Carlos Medina, Chief of Police
Heather Callison, Director of Student Outreach & Support
The Health and Wellness Center prevention and programmatic efforts include:
- Engaging with students in a nonclinical environment to explore harm reduction strategies, communication skills, stress management skills and/or intervention skills
- Providing wellness education training for campus partners, student groups, student leaders, and University classes on harm-reduction, low-risk drinking or substance use behaviors, recognizing and, intervening in problematic situations, demonstrating healthy behaviors and more
- Supporting and collaborating with campus partners to unify messaging and increase outreach regarding dry campus regulations and DAAPP resources
- Supporting and implementing prevention and intervention programs that increase protective factors and reduces risk factors for substance misuse
University policy prohibits possession, consumption or distribution of hallucinatory narcotics or other illegal drugs & possession, consumption or distribution of alcoholic beverages on campus, including athletic events. Off-campus University functions are subject to state and local laws, and any student convicted of a crime committed on or off campus is in violation and may be subject to campus discipline. It is the duty of staff and students to report violations of campus regulations. Violations of the alcohol, tobacco & other drug policy will be coordinated through the Office of Vice President or Student Affairs. The sanctions taken may include but are not limited to: Referral for assessment to the Substance Misuse Program Administer, appearance before a University Student Conduct Office, probation, suspension, or expulsion. The purposes for disciplinary action are to educate students and inform students of the risks they are taking, maintaining the University's integrity, protect the rights of individuals, and to ensure compliance with the law. The policy, along with other information concerning Alcohol and other Drugs .
Distribution Plan
Student Distribution Plan
The Health and Wellness Center is responsible for sending a campus wide automated notification email sent through the university's secure IT department to all students to inform them about our University DAAPP program and policies. This email is distributed after the 3rd week of the semester to ensure all students enrolled in classes at SUU will receive this important notification. Sending this notification out after the 3rd week of each semester will ensure that this information is received by all students, including those who have enrolled after the initial semester start date. University Policy and Biennial Review are also posted to the Health and Wellness website for anyone to access and review.
Employee Distribution Plan
Southern Utah University's Human Resource office will be the campus entity to distribute University DAAPP policy and discipline to all Faculty and Staff upon hiring. An additional distribution of all provided DAAPP materials will go out as an important notification, once a year via email to ensure all employees receive accurate and updated disclosures.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program Elements
Southern Utah University is committed to providing a safe and caring campus community where students come to explore their interests and prepare for meaningful careers and life experiences. The DAAPP is a way for campus departments and partnerships on and off campus to work together to ensure safety for all students, faculty, and staff. The University recognizes that the most effective health promotion and prevention programs actively focus on the individuals and provide interpersonal, community, and social support to impact them in a healthy way. Many campus entities have observed limitations and areas of improvement with the current DAAPP plan and are making an active effort in those areas to continue building a robust program throughout our campus community.
The Drug Free Schools and Communities Act requires that an institution of higher education certify it has adopted and implemented a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol for students and employees on school premises and as a part of its activities. Southern Utah University strives to provide a safe and healthy environment for students, faculty and staff and is a drug and alcohol-free workplace and campus. Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention programs are set in place and are an effective way to ensure compliance with the federal Drug Free Schools, Community, and Workplace Acts. This biennial review is to show improvements and results of DAAPP programs and initiatives.
The University's approach to DAAPP prevention programs include, building strategic partnerships on campus and in the community, and intentional programming that addresses the risk of alcohol and substance misuse. All programs and events are related and can lower the risk.
Campus Outreach
Southern Utah University's main goal is to build awareness of the numerous resources available to students, faculty, and staff through strategic outreach and communication, helping individuals recognize inherent risks and providing preventative practices. This is achieved in two ways: Faculty/Staff and Student trainings and educational programming.
While not every opportunity to share information was specifically focused on DAAPP concerns, these platforms allowed The Health and Wellness Center to network with other campus departments, create awareness in the campus community, distribute educational information and engage with students about these topics and trends. The Health and Wellness Center developed or participated in the following events which either focus on or have a portion that pertains to drug and alcohol misuse:
- Narcan training and distribution across campus
- Take Back Days
- Substance Misuse Tabling
- Resource Fair
- Spring Break Pledge and Substance Misuse
- Alcohol, Tobacco, & Other Drugs Programming with Healthy T-Birds Coalition
- Movie Night with Healthy T-Birds Coalition
- Cannabis Education
- eCheckup To Go
- Health Fair
- Seasonal Affective Disorder Tabling
- QPR Suicide Prevention Trainings
- Suicide Prevention Programming
- Honor Beads
- Performances of Every Brilliant Thing: Suicide Prevention
- Supportive letter writing
- Educational Media Campaigns on Resources and Holistic Health
- Mental Health Resource Tabling
- Meet & Greet Health & Wellness Resources
- Stress Management Events for Finals Week
- Stress Management presentations
- Self Care Presentations
- Biofeedback
- Sun Therapy Lamps
- De-stress with VR
- Connection Events
- Paint the Town Red
- Welcome Week
- New Student Orientation
- Don't Cancel That Class presentations
- Disabilities Week
- Flu Shoot Out
- Destress with Art event
- Resource Bingo
- Personal and environmental sustainability
- Healthy Relationships
- Attachment Styles
- Consent
- Domestic Violence and Sexualized Violence Prevention
- Denim Day
- Sex Education
- Intuitive Eating
- Body Positivity
- Eating Disorder Awareness
- Spreading Kindness: Be a Buddy Program
- Bi-Tapp Presentations
- Wellness Room Open House
- Pregnancy Loss Awareness
Education and Intervention
The Health and Wellness Center is an open resource to the campus population that partners with and supports the community. The Center's goal aligns with the core theme of the university which is to engage students in proactive learning that will transform their mentality and choices in a lifelong pursuit of a holistic view of health and well-being. One of the main priorities of the Center is to educate and provide support for student populations through strategic programming, and offering trainings to faculty/staff, as well as nonclinical, personalized one-on-one student support. Topics include understanding the risk of DAAPP misuse, cultivating healthy mental/physical habits and behaviors, navigating Title IX, and supporting victims of sexualized violence.
The Dean of Students Office
The Dean of Students Office (DOS) works with various campus entities and organizations to provide an array of educational topics for student, staff, and faculty development. In the past two years, the DOS Office has provided the following programs that included elements of Alcohol and Other Drug Misuse (or closely related topic) training and education.
- New Student and Transfer Student Orientation on Student Code of Conduct
- International Student Orientation on Student Code of Conduct
- Greek Life Presentations on Student Code of Conduct, and Bystander Intervention
- Athlete Orientation on Student Code of Conduct)
- Clubs and Organization President's Training
- Southern Utah University Student Association Training
- Assistant Coaches for Excellence student leader Training
- Intervention and Crisis Response Training for University Colleges and Academic Departments
The Dean of Students Office has continuous goals to:
- Provide education and training opportunities: virtual; in-person; on-campus; and through off-campus community partnerships.
- Ensure awareness of and compliance with university policy.
- Promote awareness of health risks.
- Connect campus community members to treatment and recovery opportunities.
- Provide Safe Harbor from discipline to students who voluntarily self-report substance abuse struggles.
Human Resources
The Human Resource office provides all benefited employees with a medical insurance plan that offers coverage that provides counseling benefits for individuals struggling with alcohol or drug misuse.
Continuing forward, the Human Resource office will be the campus entity to distribute University DAAPP policy and discipline to all Faculty and Staff upon hiring in the on boarding process, and also distribute an important notification once a year via email to ensure all employees receive accurate disclosures.
Office of Student Outreach and Support
The Student Outreach and Support (SOS) Office provides support, non-clinical interventions, advocacy, and referrals for students experiencing challenges in their personal and academic lives. SOS team members can assess students for health risk factors and assist students in making connections with resources that can offer treatment and higher levels of care to help students overcome obstacles to their academic success.
- Presentation and Workshops:
The Health and Wellness Center has partnered with the SOS (Student Outreach and Support Office) to offer a wide variety of educational trainings and discussions, each customized to the needs of the request.
Student Engagement
Southern Utah University recognizes that student engagement and involvement is critical to providing a successful DAAPP prevention program. Students engaged in positive and healthy extracurricular activities have a lower risk of DAAPP behaviors. The University continues to improve their DAAPP prevention programming to target certain DAAPP trends that are relevant to the campus environment and culture, and provide students with support and engagement opportunities.
Health and Wellness Center
The University's Health and Wellness Center's main responsibility is assisting in all student wellness needs. The Center provides opportunities for students to become involved in wellness related programming through volunteering and internship programs. The Health and Wellness Center promotes health awareness through nonclinical one-on-one mentoring, and intentional programming. In the last academic year, the Health and Wellness Center has conducted over 77 programs and trainings, 20 related directly to DAAPP prevention, and had over 1,000 students attend these programs. Current data collection includes tracking which specific resources students are being referred to within Health & Wellness. The Health and Wellness Center also offers a free Student Self Care Station where all students can stop and pick up supplies or items that they are in need of while on campus. The Self Care Station provides DAAPP educational pamphlets, information on local resources, and other supportive resources for students in recovery.
The Health and Wellness Center is responsible for sending a campus wide notification email to all students to inform them about our University DAAPP program and policies. This email is distributed after the 3rd week of fall semester to ensure all students enrolled in classes will receive this important notification. University Policy and Biennial Review are also posted to the Health and Wellness website for anyone to access and review.
Recreation and Wellness
The Recreation and Wellness Department, where the Health and Wellness Center is housed, provides opportunities for students to get involved with wellness related programs and engage in extracurricular activities as a healthy alternative to DAAPP use. Services available include; rock climbing, running track, racquetball, basketball, volleyball, wallyball, pickleball, fitness classes, and a swimming pool. For additional fees, students also have access to activities such as intramural sports and weight equipment. These activities create positive social connectedness, wholesome environments, help to reduce stress, and lower the risk for DAAPP use. Throughout the school year, our SUU Outdoors program provides a range of adventures for current students to ignite a passion in the outdoors. They host various free local trips in the school year for students to go hiking, mountain biking, canyoneering, climbing, rafting, paddleboarding, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing throughout the Southern Utah region. All trips offered through SUU Outdoors prohibit the use of drugs and alcohol, and focus on positive leadership and skill building.
Strategic Partnerships
Partnerships are critical in building a cohesive DAAPP prevention program across campus. Intentional collaboration with other campus and community partners increase funding opportunities and are a useful way to share resources. Campus departments continue to actively seek out new opportunities to network, knowing that it will strengthen our outreach, programming, campus wide communication, and community.
Campus Partnerships
Prevention programming is a campus wide goal and we realize that one office alone cannot address all DAAPP related concerns. The Health and Wellness Center has coordinated with numerous campus departments and resources, and will continue to increase partnerships and programming to address DAAPP related concerns with the following campus entities: SUU Counseling and Psychological Services, Student Outreach and Support, Student Involvement and Leadership, SUU Police, Greek Organizations, Recreation and Wellness, University Housing, Athletics, Disability Services, Human Resources, Student Affairs Office, International Affairs, SUU COMPASS Program, New Student and Transfer Student Orientation, First Year Experience Office, and the Aces Peer Mentor Program. These partnerships have increased awareness, expanded our audience, addressed trends specific to SUU's cultural environment, and reduced overscheduling of programming.
Community Partnerships
Southern Utah University works diligently to develop and maintain relationships with the community in their efforts for drug and alcohol prevention and protection. These partnerships include Canyon Creek Services, Intermountain Healthcare, Southwest Utah Public Health Department, Southwest Behavioral Health Center in conjunction with the Horizon House, and Four Points Health. Each of these resources are distributed to students and employees through our University policy notification.
Assessments/Evaluations
Southern Utah University utilizes data collection methods to assess the needs of our student population, establish priorities, and develop intentional programming. Through our data collection we determine the effectiveness of our DAAPP efforts and reassess for the upcoming year, targeting trends we see in our data. The following assessment and evaluation sources were used:
- Healthy Minds Study- An evaluation of students' holistic health that provided detailed data to aid in programming efforts.
- Peer Educators - We utilize the Health and Wellness Centers peer educators, (including interns, student employees, and Psychology Doctoral students) to collect data on the needs of the students that come into the Health and Wellness Center.
- CAPS - Counsels with students and offers therapeutic support for those seeking assistance.
- Conduct Office - Aid in referring students to alcohol assessment and evaluation through online substance use/misuse programs.
- Timely Care- Offer virtual counseling for students and full time employees and offers therapeutic support for those seeking assistance.
- National Conferences - Attend national conferences to stay current with best practices and further the knowledge of correct and useful data collection.
Annual Security & Fire Safety Report
In compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, SUU publishes the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report annually and distributes it to current/potential students and employees of the university.
As part of the Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, arrests and disciplinary referrals are listed related to drug abuse and liquor law violations. In 2022, there were two drug abuse violations and nineteen liquor law violations resulting in arrests on campus, and there were eight drug abuse violations and twelve liquor law violations that led to disciplinary referrals on campus. In 2023, there were four drug abuse violations and seven liquor law violations resulting in arrests on campus, and there was one drug abuse violation and sixteen liquor law violations leading to disciplinary referrals on campus.
Evaluation of Drug and Alcohol Prevention Program
Program Strengths
- Naloxone training has been implemented and Naloxone is available across campus.
- Use of HMS results to inform programming needs and track trends.
- Strategically timed campaigns about the risks and consequences of substance misuse.
- Multiple partnerships across campus working on the same goal.
- Development of the Thriving Thunderbirds comprehensive campus strategy team.
- Several programs and events focusing on or including drug and alcohol prevention initiatives.
- Group of dedicated students serving as interns and educators in the Health and Wellness Center throughout the entire academic school year.
- The task force Key Leaders meet regularly to review policy, student needs, and coordinate and enhance programming efforts.
- Clear and consistent policies and regulations that deter alcohol and drug use/misuse (e.g., prohibiting alcohol use and sales on campus, standardized conduct matrix).
- Compliance with DFSCA requirements and a convened task force.
- Increased collaboration amongst the task force and other offices in regards to programming and policy review.
- Compliance with the annual distribution of DAAPP to all students, faculty, and staff.
- SUU's conduct model focuses on educational sanctioning rather than punitive. This has been effective in decreasing the rate of repeat offenses by individuals.
Areas of Improvement
- Increase messaging specifically surrounding opiate misuse
- Training for full time personnel on best practices in DAAPP programming and further involvement with national trends in DAAPP issues.
- Increase ongoing funding in the Health and Wellness Center to increase quality and quantity of programming offered.
- Increase marketing and attendance at DAAPP events to increase awareness.
- Increase community based partnerships and resources for DAAPP treatment and awareness.