UT’s S.E.E. Center has received national recognition for “Alcohol and You,” an online interactive alcohol education module created for First Year Studies 100, a course required for all freshmen.
The S.E.E. (Safety, Environment and Education) Center won third place and a $10,000 award in a competition sponsored by Challenge.gov and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
“‘Alcohol and You’ is a piece of the University’s growing commitment to prevention and harm reduction in the area of alcohol,” S.E.E. Center Director Ashley Blamey said. “Although there are multiple products being marketed to institutions of higher education that provide alcohol education for incoming first year students, the S.E.E. Center saw a need for a brief, cost-effective program tailored to UT students.”
The S.E.E. Center worked with Designsensory to research and develop “Alcohol and You.”
The lesson, which students access via Blackboard, takes only fifteen to twenty minutes to complete. It incorporates UT-specific data collected from students through the annual UT health and wellness survey, as well as national data and statistics. It is based on current research and provides students with accurate, nonjudgmental information that encourages them to consider their own drinking decisions and those of their peers. With sections on alcohol facts, alcohol and health, alcohol and the law, alcohol and academics, and alcohol and social life, the lesson illustrates the connection between academic experience and health and wellness behaviors.
The first-place winner was Syracuse University, and the second-place winner was the University of Central Florida.
Challenge.gov is an online competition, administered by the US General Services Administration (GSA) in partnership with ChallengePost, which rewards people and agencies for coming up with ideas to combat the nation’s biggest problems. SAMHSA is an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation.
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C O N T A C T :
Ashley Blamey (865-974-5725, ashleyblamey@utk.edu)