Blog Posts
Week One
Hairy Dawg answering the question of the day at the resource fair!
June 8th
I started out today by gathering supplies for the orientation resource fair. I then brought everything over to Tate Student Center to set up the table for The Fontaine Center. At the resource fair, I talked to incoming students and their guests about the resources we offer, and I answered any questions they had. I then packed everything up and put it away when I was done.
When I got back to the office, I worked on partnerships with off-campus student housing. I sent out an email to the department asking them to send me content ideas from their area that we could share with residents at off-campus apartment complexes. These content ideas could be things such as handouts, tips to stay healthy, or activities. This will be a way to reach more students and share our resources.
I then read through some program proposals and worked on goal and objective setting for the rest of the day.
June 9th
I started today by continuing to read through program proposals and work on goal and objective setting. I worked through an activity to practice writing my own goals and objectives. I wrote down my questions and ideas to go over them with my supervisor on Monday. I then read through literature and best practices for the program proposals for the rest of the day.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 2.2.3, 2.2.4, 6.5.2, and 6.5.5.
2.2.3: Develop a vision, mission, and goal statement for the intervention.
2.2.4: Develop specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound objectives.
I met these competencies by practicing goal and objective setting. I read through multiple program proposals for the department for content areas such as sexual health and interpersonal violence. The activity I did required me to come up with a goal and activity for a health behavior and how this would be taught.
This is from part of the activity I did to practice goals and objectives. This part involved coming up with a goal for different levels of Bloom's taxonomy and then to come up with the type of instruction for that goal.
6.5.2: Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
Reflection
This week, I learned a lot about program proposals and writing goals. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on how to do this, but I do feel like it will be much more difficult when it comes times to write real goals and objectives. I have some questions on program proposals, but I will go over them with my supervisor on Monday. It was cool to see examples of real program proposals and goals/objectives after practicing writing these throughout my education.
As for the resource fair, it was challenging at times to talk to everyone and really give them one on one attention as a lot of people were coming up all at once. Overall, I kept up pretty well. I now feel like I have a good "elevator pitch" to give people who come up to the table to get a feel of what they're interested in. I can then further tailor the conversation to their interests and needs. A of incoming students are showing interest in the cooking classes that The Fontaine Center offers. I might create an additional pamphlet or QR code specifically for this since so many students asked questions about how to sign up. It was also fun to meet some future health promotion students. I was able to answer some of their questions about the program, and I could see their excitement!
Week Two
June 12th
I started today by gathering supplies for the orientation resource fair. I restocked on items we were low on and prepared items for tabling such as placing RSVP cards in the phone card holders that we give away. I then went to set up the table at Tate. Tabling was a little different today because the university wants to send the message of a united front for our wellbeing resources.
In the afternoon, I met with my supervisor to go over program proposals. She answered the questions I had about writing program proposals
June 13th
I researched Greek life to better understand the needs of this population. I read through different risk reduction programs for Greek life. The main program was FailSafe. I went through all of the modules for this program and pulled content that could be implemented into the program we are creating.
I then worked on writing a program proposal for the Greek life program we are developing.
June 14th
I continued to work on the program proposal for Greek life. A lot of this time was dedicated to writing goals and objectives. I then met with my supervisor and went over the program proposal with her. She made a few suggestions on rewording on the objectives.
I then worked on developing content for the program. I listed the needs of Greek life members and the specific needs of new members. I went through the different programs that I looked at before, and I pulled content that I liked. I tailored this content towards Greek life at UGA.
June 15th
I spent the morning continuing my work on developing an outline for program content. I then prepared for the staff meeting where I gave an update on the work I have been doing.
I spent the afternoon reading different sources to use for the program content, and I finished putting together the outline.
June 16th
I met with my supervisor first thing in the morning to go over the list of needs and content I put together for the Greek life program. She then assigned me the next step of putting together a Q&A style presentation for new Greek life members. I looked through different presentations our department already uses in programming. I pulled information from these presentations that could be used in the new member Greek life presentation, and I tailored it towards Greek life.
In the afternoon, I met with our AOD wellness coordinator to talk about updating the AOD part of the website. She gave me an overview of she wanted the site to look like. I spent the rest of the day going through the website and finding things that needed to be updated.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 1.2.1, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.3, 1.3.4, 1.3.5, 1.3.6, 1.4.2, 2.2.3, 2.2.4, 2.4.2, 2.4.3, 6.1.2, 6.5.2, and 6.5.5.
1.3.1 Determine the health status of the priority population(s).
1.3.2 Determine the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, skills, and behaviors that impact the health and health literacy of the priority population(s).
1.3.3 Identify the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors that impact health and/or learning processes of the priority population(s).
1.3.6 List the needs of the priority population(s).
1.4.2 Prioritize health education and promotion needs.
I met these competencies by researching about UGA Greek life to get a better understanding of this populations needs. I looked through the websites of all four Greek councils, and I read the recruitments publications for the Interfraternity council and the Panhellenic council. I also looked at presentations that my supervisor sent me. These presentations included some made by The Fontaine Center and some were presentations from conferences such as NASPA AODV. I also read through data on actual use within high risk student groups versus the group members perceived use. After reading all of this information and using my knowledge from talking to Greek life members, I was able to identify the needs of this population and what risk factors they faced. I also identified high risk days for these students groups such as recruitment, gamedays, formals, etc.
1.3.4 Assess existing and available resources, policies, programs, practices, and interventions.
1.3.5 Determine the capacity (available resources, policies, programs, practices, and interventions) to improve and/or maintain health.
I met these competencies by reading through the NASPA AODV presentation on "Student Organizations and High-Risk Alcohol Use: Addressing Group Risk-Taking through Focused Strategy", the CPN Summit on "Preventing High Risk Behavior in Fraternities and Sororities", and the CPN Summit on "How to Support AOD Prevention and Health Promotion Among Special Student Populations". My supervisor also sent me a super cool program called FailSafe. This program is a toolkit broken down into modules for student organizations to use to guide themselves in risk reduction. This program also guides student organization leaders to think about what message their organization is sending and if it allows with their values. I used this information to pull content that could be used to address the needs of the Greek life councils at UGA.
2.2.3 Develop vision, mission, and goal statements for the intervention(s).
2.2.4 Develop specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART) objectives.
I met these competencies by writing a program proposal for the new member Greek life programming. I used the identified needs and information I gathered to write goals and objectives and to fill out a program proposal.
2.4.2 Develop materials needed for implementation.
2.4.3 Address factors that influence implementation.
6.1.2 Identify the assets, needs, and characteristics of the audience(s) that affect communication and message design (e.g., literacy levels, language, culture, and cognitive and perceptual abilities).
I met this when creating the new members Greek life presentation. I tried to think of how a student would perceive the information and factors would influence this. My supervisor also sent me a presentation that the University of South Carolina started to do with their new Greek life members. Their presentation is Q&A style so new members can ask a panel of current Greek life members for tips. My supervisor wanted to incorporate this to give new members a chance to ask questions and to give the students more autonomy. I also incorporated some key AOD messaging that my supervisor wanted in it such as risk reduction strategies, identifying an overdose, etc. I tried to keep the presentation mainly Q&A and for the risk reduction stategies to come from the current Greek life members. My supervisor also had me include some questions for the Greek life members to give advice on how new members can approach them for questions and use refusal skills during the new member process. This was important to include because although there is a no hazing policy, hazing still occurs. There is also a power dynamic between older members and new members which might cause new members to be afraid to say no to something they don't want to participate in. While older members may not be forcing the new members to do these activities, new members may not know they can actually say no.
6.5.2 Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
Reflection
I really enjoyed the work I did this week regarding the Greek life programming and reading about best practices for different high risk groups! It was interesting to see the impact that perceived social norms within these high risk student groups has on their substance use. The data comparing actual use versus perceived use within these high risk groups was really cool to look at.
It was definitely a challenge filling out a program proposal, but I felt prepared and overall successful. I had to keep refocusing myself on what the needs were and what we really wanted to focus with the program. My supervisor was very helpful in answering my questions when going over the goals and objectives. She did a good job explaining how everyone does program proposals differently and that different places may have other formats. The Fontaine Center has a template that they use. I told her I had only ever written goals and objectives in a classroom setting. I noticed that the examples I read through of completed program proposals where no where near as specific as the ones I wrote in class. She gave me a lot of clarity on on this and helped me with some of the wording.
I think The Fontaine Center does a great job of staying informed and working with student groups to meet them where they're at. I like the FailSafe program because it allows the student groups to be in charge of defining their group values and rules while helping them correct misperceived social norms within the group. It is great to see how much autonomy it gives the student leaders. Student buy in is a huge component of successful programming, especially with these high risk groups. From my understanding, it sounds like UGA did not gather data on Greek life AOD use or do much programming until recently. Because of this, implementing some of this has been difficult due to students who knew the old way. My supervisor said they tried something similar but the student leaders were not as engaged due to being familiar with how it was before. My supervisor said that they were going to send the presentation and other programming content to Greek life student leaders beforehand to get their feedback.
I really like the idea of the new Greek life member presentation. I used QR codes in the presentation so students could anonymously ask questions. I think this serves as a great way for new members to ask questions they might otherwise be scared to ask. Recruitment can be overwhelming and most student go through it at the beginning of their college career when they're vulnerable to so many changes. A component I really liked from the presentation is that it asks the student leaders to identify behaviors Hopefully this presentation will provide some further guidance from the student leaders and give new members strategies for navigating substance use and utilizing refusal skills.
Here is example of the goals and objectives I wrote for the new Greek life member program.
Week Three
June 20th
I started out today by working on a presentation for Greek life programming. I then gathered supplies and printed items for orientation tabling. I headed towards Tate to get everything set up. I did tabling from 10-11:45, and then I packed everything up and headed back to the office. For the rest of the day, I worked on revamping the alcohol and other drugs part of The Fontaine Center's website. This involved me going through each part of the page, making sure information was up to date, and making suggestions on format and page layout. I also searched other university websites to see their pages on alcohol and other drug prevention to get ideas on content and to see what they provide.
June 21st
For the first part of the morning, I finished up making the presentation for Greek life programming. I then met with my supervisor to go over the presentation and have her make suggestions. I then attended a webinar for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) on fentanyl use prevention in youth and young adults. The webinar had speakers from SAMHSA, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. These speakers shared different evidence-based prevention approaches and resources to address the opioid epidemic and the rise of fentanyl. After the webinar, I worked on making changes to the Greek life presentation. I then sent it to the AOD wellness coordinator and the director of The Fontaine Center for their approval. I also made some buttons at the end of the day to hand out at the orientation resource fair.
June 22nd
I started out the morning by gathering supplies and printing handouts for tabling at the orientation resource fair. I then went around to everyone's office to ask them if they had any content or programming ideas from their area that they wanted to include in the programming we're planning for off-campus housing. I then left to go to Tate to set up the table for the resource fair and did tabling until 11:45. I then packed everything up and headed back to the office. Once at the office, I met with the AOD wellness coordinator to get her thoughts on the Greek life presentation. Afterward, I updated the presentation and sent it to my supervisor. I then drafted an email to send to apartment complexes to ask if they want to collaborate with The Fontaine Center to do some programming and messaging for their residents, and I sent the email draft to my supervisor to approve.
June 23rd
I spent the first part of the morning updating programming ideas for off-campus apartments. I then met with the healthy relationship/sexual health education coordinator to discuss an idea she has for the off-campus apartments programming. I then left with her and another staff member to walk around UGA's campus to look at new places to advertise The Fontaine Center and to find ideas for new messaging. This took about two hours. When we got back to the office, I spent the rest of the day calling apartment complexes to get an email that I can contact to ask about collaborating for programming.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 1.2.1, 2.4.2, 2.4.3, 6.1.1, 6.1.2, 6.3.3, 6.5.2, and 6.5.5.
1.2.1 Identify primary data, secondary data, and evidence-informed resources.
I met this by searching for evidence-informed resources while doing website revamping. This included finding sources for content we should put on The Fontaine Center's AOD page.
I also attended SAMHSA's webinar on preventing fentanyl use by youth and young adults. This provided a lot of new information since this is a current public health problem that needs to be addressed. The speakers each provided good resources such as the Arizona Youth Partnership Toolkit, the SAMHSA Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit, Screen4Success, and Find Treatment.gov.
2.4.2 Develop materials needed for implementation.
I met this by creating a presentation for new Greek life members. This presentation will serve as a way for new members of Greek life to ask questions and receive some helpful information about risk reduction strategies and how to say no to participating in activities that they do not want to.
2.4.3 Address factors that influence implementation.
I did this when making the presentation. New Greek life members receive a lot of information that is just given to them. We wanted to create programming that students could have more of an active role, we addressed attitudes, social norms
6.1.1 Segment the audience(s) to be addressed, as needed.
6.1.2 Identify the assets, needs, and characteristics of the audience(s) that affect communication and message design (e.g., literacy levels, language, culture, and cognitive and perceptual abilities).
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
I met these competencies when writing needs and creating content for Greek life programming. Although we have the same goal for the all of the Greek life councils, we will need to make modifications in how each one is addressed and identify the needs of each council. The new members will as also need to be addressed because they have different needs from established members.
6.5.2 Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
This is a slide from the presentation I made. I like this one because it is inclusive of those who might not use substances and helps reestablish perceived social norms.
Reflection
This week I finished up the new Greek life membership presentation. I received positive feedback on this and had some helpful suggestions. Everyone in the office has been good abut giving me constructive feedback when working on content, especially when it comes to wording. This is great because wording is so important to how the message is received. A big part of this for me when working on AOD content has been using wording that is inclusive to those who don't use substances. I at first found it difficult to write about risk reduction while staying inclusive, but I got better with practice.
It was also helpful to see how other universities approach AOD content and wording when looking at their websites. It was interesting to see the difference in what schools showed. Some had a lot of resources and information on all types of substances and others only had information on alcohol. I am so happy to see all the information that The Fontaine Center has on their page, especially with being a publicly funded university in the South. I know that these universities tend to face more limitations in this regard.
I also really enjoyed the SAMHSA webinar! The AOD coordinator has been super nice and including me in a lot of her work which is greatly appreciated. This webinar included some very important speakers such as Rich Lucey, the Senior Prevention Program Manager for the DEA, and Beth Connolly, the Assistant Director of the Office of Public Health. It has been great to see content from some important figures in public health. I have been writing down the names of people nd keeping a list so I can stay informed on their work. This webinar provided a lot of good information on current efforts to address the rise of fentanyl, but it was also scary to see the increasing numbers of substances containing fentanyl. Xylazine was mentioned some. It will be interesting to see what happens in regards to this as well.
This week I also really started to work on organizing content for off-campus housing. I went asked everyone in the office about their ideas or content from their topic area that they would like to include. Everyone had a lot of great ideas. I hope that off-campus apartments will be receptive and want to collaborate, but it seems as if there has not been great success with this in the past. I drafted an email to send to off-campus housing complexes, and I sent it to my supervisor for approval. This took me much longer than I anticipated because we don't have all the content put together. I sent the email to my supervisor. To my surprise, she only made a minor edit and said it was good to send. Unfortunately a lot of off-campus housing complexes do not have emails listed, so I called each place up to get a contact. Some places were very excited and gave me a specific contact of the manager while others just gave me a general email. I then sent the email to each contact I was given, and I tried to personalize the message for places we have worked with in the past.
On Friday, I went with the IPV prevention coordinator and the sexual health and healthy relationships coordinator to look at messaging around campus. These staff members are relatively new, so I was able to help them navigate campus. It was nice to get to spend some more time with these staff members and to get to know them more. It was also interesting to see what messaging is up and to look for places that we could put messaging. I showed them how to use the buses to get back to the health center and we talked about making messaging to go on the buses which I think is a great idea.
As for orientation this week, I now feel very confident in my ability to table and answer questions. Although it is a lot of talking and I'm not sure what questions will be thrown at me, it has been rewarding because a lot of parents express how happy they are to see that UGA is doing this work and that resources such as RSVP available to students.
Week 4
June 26th
I started out the morning by checking email and getting supplies ready for orientation. I then left at 9:30 to head to Tate and get set up. I tabled until 11:45, put everything back, and then headed back to the office. I then spent the afternoon calling the rest of the off-campus housing complexes to get contacts. I then emailed all of the places that I got a contact for. I then read through information my supervisor sent me about BASICS because the plan is for me to get some training in BASICS before the summer is over. I made some buttons as break from being on the computer.
June 27th
I started out today by getting supplies ready for orientation tabling. I restocked on give away items that we were low on, and I printed and cut handouts. I also cut out new button designs and made more buttons to give away at orientation. I then left at 9:30 to head to the Tate student center to set up the table. The resource fair went from 10-11:45am. I then packed everything up, and headed back to The Fontaine Center.
For the rest of the afternoon I read over all of the content for UMatter for our active bystander intervention program. I also took note on the UMatter program presentation, and I practiced facilitating the presentation. I then finished reading and taking notes on the information my supervisor gave me on BASICS. One of the staff members printed out a lot of buttons designs and asked me to cut them. I did this throughout the afternoon as I needed quick breaks from being on the computer.
June 28th
I started out by going over the UMatter presentation again because my supervisor said I should be very familiar with the content and be able to facilitate the program. I then met with the sexual health and healthy relationships coordinator because she wants to update the tabling activities for her content area. We went over some of the activities and discussed what could improve. She gave me a boundaries activity to work on. This activity had a topic on a popsicle stick and students are supposed to pick a popsicle stick and name a boundary they could set related to the topic and how they would set that boundary. I spent most of the afternoon working on this activity by trying to find a way to make the instructions clearer to students. I got rid of some topics, and I brainstormed some new topics we could use. I tried to think of boundaries for all types of relationships including romantic, friends, roommates, family, and professional.
When I was done with this, I sent her my updates and then started to work on benchmarking for wellness coaching and the t-break guide. For benchmarking, I was given two Excel sheets with a list of universities. For one of the Excel sheets, I was asked to find information on wellness coaching such as if the school offers it, what it costs students, etc. I was asked to do this because The Fontaine Center offers wellness coaching to students for free, so my supervisor checks what other schools are doing every year to justify it as a free service for students. I was also asked to include other cool things universities are doing related to wellness.
The other Excel sheet was to find information on schools that offered the T-break guide. This is a guide by Tom Fontana from the University of Vermont supports people who want to cut down on their cannabis use. I was collecting information on all the universities that have the T-break guide on their website. I was also looking for other cannabis related content and programming that they have. The purpose of this is to support and justify UGA offering harm reduction information related to cannabis use.
Each of these Excel sheets had a list of about 40 universities. I was also asked to find additional universities that offered wellness coaching or the T-break.
June 29th
I started out the morning by checking my email and responding to off-campus housing complexes as necessary. I then got supplies ready for orientation and left at 9:30 to go to Tate. I set up and tabled until 11:45. I put everything away and then headed back to the office.
When I got back, I made safe sex bags for our sexual health and healthy relationship coordinator to take to UGA's Pride Center. I made 50 bags with a variety of different supplies such as dental dams, internal condom, external condoms, lube, and a pamphlet with information of safer sex.
When I was done with this, I continued to work my way through the list of schools for benchmarking by looking at their websites for wellness coaching and cannabis related information.
June 30th
I started out the morning by checking my email and responding to off-campus housing complexes. I then met with my supervisor to go over what times she could meet with the places interested and to go over what information she wanted me to give these places. We also discussed some programming content for the off-campus housing. She sent me a "playing cards" activity to go over. For this activity, each card had a question that residents could ask one another in order to get to know each other. The goal of the activity is to serve as an easy ice breaker and to help build connections. I also updated the document I made of ideas of other content we could use.
I then spent the rest of the day working on benchmarking. I realized quickly that I was going to have to contact most of the schools about their wellness coaching, so I started a list of universities to contact and their number. I made buttons when I needed a break from being on the computer.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 4.3.3, 6.3.3, 6.4.3, 6.5.2, and 6.5.5.
4.3.3 Use appropriate modalities to collect and manage data.
I met this competency by collecting information for benchmarking. Although it was not necessarily collecting data for our specific wellness coaching program, I did collect information on wellness coaching from other schools. I also searched for information on what information other schools have on cannabis. Collecting and tracking this information is important so The Fontaine Center can justify offering services for free and stay up to date on what other universities are doing.
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
6.4.3 Develop communication aids, materials, or tools using appropriate multimedia (e.g.; infographics, presentation software, brochures, and posters).
I met these competencies by working on the tabling activities with the sexual health and healthy relationships coordinator. My job was to offer a student's perspective on the current activities, and to brainstorm how to make it more relevant to students. I also looked over the playing cards activity that will be using in programming in the Fall.
6.5.2 Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
Reflection
I spent a lot of time this week reading over content and familiarizing myself with the material. My supervisor wanted me to spend a lot of time with the UMatter content so that I could be ready to present any of the material. I also read through information on BASICS and motivational interviewing to start getting familiar with this, but I did not spend nearly as much time with this material.
It was fun to work on the tabling activities, but it ended up being more challenging than I anticipated, especially for the boundaries activity. Unfortunately, tabling is not the ideal setting to discuss boundaries because boundaries could take a whole hour long presentation. However, it is still good to get students thinking about boundaries and to help them identify some relationships and boundaries they might not have originally thought of. The goal is also to get them to think about how they might set a boundary to work on that skill building. I made a list of ideas on my own and then I met with the sexual health and healthy relationship coordinator to make a final list. I feel like we did a good job capturing different types of relationships.
I started working on benchmarking this week for wellness coaching and the T-break guide. It was more challenging than I thought it would be to find the needed information on wellness coaching. I was hoping that universities could just give the information over the phone but a lot of the health promotion departments asked me to email a specific person in their department. This made me appreciate how informed and good the receptionist at The Fontaine Center is at her job. She can answer most questions that students call about on her own and if she doesn't, she immediately transfer the caller to someone in the department who does know. Despite these minor obstacles, it has been fun to see what other universities are doing. Searching for what programming universities are doing for cannabis has made me realized I am interested in this!
This week I also finished calling off-campus housing complexes to get contacts. I emailed everyone, and I started to hear back from places that were interested. It was exciting to see that a decent amount of places responded,
I also helped make safer sex bags this week for the Pride Center. This was super fun because I got to include a brand of condoms that has artwork on the wrapper.
Orientation has been going well and I enjoyed talking to the new students. A lot of students asked for advice and different ways they can get involved.
Here is an example of some of the safe sex supplies that were included in the bags for the Pride Center.
Here are some of the new buttons designs that I cut.
Week 5
July 3rd
I spent the morning continuing to work my way through the benchmarking for wellness coaching and the t-break and I made buttons when I needed a break. i also met with the sexual health and healthy relationships coordinator to go over the tabling activities to come up with a final list of topics for the boundaries activity.
In the afternoon, I met with my supervisor to check-in and go over things I had been working on. I then spent the afternoon calling universities to ask about their wellness coaching and updating the Excel sheet with information. A lot of universities gave me a contact to email, so I added the contacts to my list. I started to work my way through emailing universities with my questions.
July 5th
I started out by checking my email to see if universities had responded about the wellness coaching or if any off-campus housing complexes were interested in our programming. I then met with the AOD wellness coordinator to go over updating handouts. She showed me some of the current handouts for examples of some information to include, what needed to change, and what good resources would be to include for the "ID and OD" and mindfulness handout trifold cards.
I then continued to work on benchmarking for the rest of the day. I continued to find information from university websites and get contacts. I also continued to work my way through calling and emailing universities. I made buttons when I needed a break.
July 6th
I spent the morning answering emails and continuing to work my way through benchmarking. We had staff meeting at 10 and this lasted about an hour and a half.
I spent the rest of the day continuing to work on benchmarking. I cut buttons designs that the sexual health and healthy relationship coordinator printed off. I also made buttons when I needed a break.
July 7th
I worked from home today due to having to take the afternoon off. I spent a few hours in the morning continuing to work my way through benchmarking. I started some work on the AOD trifold cards. I only worked for three hours in the morning.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 4.3.3, 6.3.3, and 6.4.3.
4.3.3 Use appropriate modalities to collect and manage data.
I met this by working on benchmarking.
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
6.4.3 Develop communication aids, materials, or tools using appropriate multimedia (e.g.; infographics, presentation software, brochures, and posters).
I met these competencies by working on the AOD handouts. I had to transfer information from larger handouts into a smaller trifold card. I had to think of how to get the necessary information on there but do so in a way that students would actually read it. I did not want it to be just a bunch of words because I figured most students would not care for that.
Reflection
This was a short week for me because of the fourth of July and because I had to take Friday afternoon off. I mainly worked on collecting information for wellness coaching this week. I realized that this was going to take me a lot longer than I originally thought, especially for the wellness coaching information. I continued to face a lot of obstacles with contacting schools about the wellness coaching, but working on the t-break and cannabis information made it more fun.
I did not spend as much time on the AOD handouts this week, but I kind of made a rough outline and plan for what I wanted. The AOD coordinator gave me a lot of freedom in what information and resources I could include. She gave me specifics of what content she wanted on there, but she said that she trusted my judgement on everything else.
Week 6
July 10th
I started the morning by checking my email and replying back to schools that responded about wellness coaching. I then met with the Interpersonal Violence Prevention and Well-being Coordinator to go over the program descriptions she wrote to go on the Involvement Network. The descriptions were for UMatter, our upstander intervention program, and Cinema Signals, a new program for healthy communication. She wanted a student's perspective and some additional ideas on how to word the descriptions. I then worked on benchmarking.
At 10:30, I went with my supervisor to Russell Hall for a presentation to the Thrive staff members on how to support the Thrive students' mental health. The presentation gave an overview of risk factors, what to look out for, and campus and online resources that would be helpful. The presentation also incorporated some alcohol and other drug messaging as well. I did not present. I just went along because I was interested in the presentation. I just observed and handed out resource cards and goodies such as fidget spinners and t-shirts to the staff members. It was nice to see how engaged the staff were with the presentation.
In the afternoon, I worked on the trifold cards. I made buttons when I needed a break. I was also briefly called in to help fill out a logic model for a grant that the Assistant Director of RSVP is applying for. This was a good refresher for me on logic models. It was challenging to think about what inputs and outcomes would be for a counseling program, but it was good practice.
July 11th
I spent the first part of the morning answering emails and preparing supplies for orientation. I then went to Tate to set up and table at orientation until noon. When I returned, I sent an email with information on orientation and what to say for tabling to staff members who would be taking over tabling sessions in the second half of July. This also included pictures I took of the table to show the location of our table and how I usually set it up.
I then met with the Interpersonal Violence Prevention and Well-being Coordinator to go over the edits and suggestions I made for the program descriptions. For the rest of the afternoon, I continued to work on benchmarking. I made buttons when I needed a break. I also went to look for more of the front pieces to the buttons. When I was in the resource room, I made note of what supplies we were low on and I let my supervisor know.
July 12th
I started the morning by going through my email. I decided to prioritize the AOD handouts, so I worked on that first. I had some questions for the AOD coordinator so I met with her to go over what I had so far. She said everything looked good so far and told me to just continue playing around with the designs. I made multiple versions of the ttrifold cards so that she could have options. I continued to work on the handouts throughout the day. In the afternoon, I worked on updating benchmarking some. I made buttons as I needed a break from working on the computer.
July 13th
After checking my email, I looked over the AOD cards to make sure they had everything they needed, and I checked the format and spacing. I then sent these to the AOD coordinator with an explanation of the changes I made.
I then briefly worked on benchmarking until staff meeting at 10. After staff meeting, I continued my work on benchmarking for the rest of the day. I had a scheduled phone call at 12:30 with someone from the health promotion department at the University of Colorado. This phone call did not take long because I was just getting information for the wellness coaching benchmarking. The phone call went well and she was very interested in learning more about UGA's wellness coaching as well. She asked some specifics about wellness coaching that I did not know. I let my supervisor know and then sent the contact information of the Colorado staff member to my supervisor so they could get in touch.
July 14th
I started out by checking my email for schools that had responded about wellness coaching. I then met with the sexual health and healthy relationship coordinator to go over messaging. She had received some messaging designs and social media posts back from communications. She wanted a student's perspective and asked for any suggestions I had.
After this, the AOD coordinator asked me to check the order of ONEboxes that came in to make sure they were all charged and that none of the screens were broken. They planned to start rolling out more ONEboxes in select locations on campus and more location such as the library were asking. She wanted me to check the ONEboxes so that there weren't any complications as we started to roll them out. There were about 100 ONEboxes that I went through. As I checked each box, I organized and repacked them into larger boxes. I labeled the ones that needed to be charged.
When done with the ONEboxes, I continued to work through benchmarking and made buttons. The sexual health and healthy relationships coordinator also sent me the finalized messaging to look over. We talke through the changes, but I did not have any fuirhter suggestions.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 4.3.3, 6.3.3, 6.4.1, 6.4.2, 6.4.3, 6.5.2, and 6.5.5.
4.3.3 Use appropriate modalities to collect and manage data.
I met this competency by working on benchmarking.
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
6.4.1 Differentiate the strengths and weaknesses of various communication channels and technologies (e.g., mass media, community mobilization, counseling, peer communication, information/digital technology, and apps).
6.4.2 Select communication channels and current and emerging technologies that are most appropriate for the audience(s) and message(s).
6.4.3 Develop communication aids, materials, or tools using appropriate multimedia (e.g.; infographics, presentation software, brochures, and posters).
I met these competencies by helping make program descriptions for the IPV prevention coordinator, helping the sexual health and healthy relationship coordinator with messaging, and by helping make AOD trifold cards. I offered the perspective of a student and helped tailor the information to students. For the program descriptions, I helped make some of the language clearer to students and I offered suggestions such as adding a link to the UMatter description since the description will be online.
6.5.2 Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
Reflection
In creating my own content, I realized that the more knowledgeable you are in a subject, it can make writing descriptions or doing creative work for that program difficult. This has made me realize the importance of having others look at your work to make sure you are using language that could be understood by most students. Wording is so important in public health and this internship has really made that clear.
This week I dedicated a lot of time to the AOD trifold cards. I ended up creating multiple options for the AOD coordinator to choose from. I really enjoyed doing some creative work.
This week my supervisor let me join her for a presentation she did for the Thrive staff. It is great that the staff asked her to come present and that they're trying to help the Thrive students. They asked for her to present mainly on mental health, but she incorporated some AOD messaging as well because the Thrive students are usually a high risk group of students. Although I did not present, it was great to see my supervisor's presentation style. The Thrive staff were very engaged and they asked some good questions.
I continued my benchmarking work this week. I had a scheduled phone call with someone from the Unviersity of Coloardo's Health Promotion department. The phone call went well. I gave her contact information to my supervisor for them to talk further about wellness coaching. Although the phone call was just to collect information on wellness coaching, it was cool to kind of practice cultivating relationships with other universities.
The AOD coordinator asked me to go through the ONEboxes this week to make sure they were all working and in good condition. It is really exciting to me that UGA is starting to roll these out in strategic places on campus. Hopefully in the future, UGA will be able to do more harm reduction work with substances. I think this will be really important to advocate for, especially with fentanyl and xylazine on the rise.
Here is an example of part of the AOD trifolds. This is not the final product but one of the edits along the way.
Here are images of some of the ONEboxes.
Week 7
July 17th
I started out the morning by checking my email and getting supplies ready for orientation. I then left for orientation at 9:30. I set up and then tabled until 11:45. I then packed up, put everything away, and headed back to the office.
When I got back, I briefly met with my supervisor. She gave me additional information on BASICS and motivational interviewing to read through. I spent the afternoon working through this material and taking notes. I wrote down questions to ask my supervisor, and then I practiced motivational interviewing. I also updated the benchmarking Excel sheets with information from universities that had responded.
July 18th
I met with my supervisor in the morning to go over BASICS and motivational interviewing. She went over the differences in the two sessions of BASICS and what each session involves. I asked her all the questions I had, and then we practiced some motivational interviewing together. She would give a scenario or statement and I have to respond with an open ended questions, an affirmation, rephrase the statement, and summarize.
After we met, I practiced motivational interviewing some more in my office. I also went through the notes I took on BASICS to make sure I understood the components for each session. My supervisor also printed out a case study for BASICS for me to go over. I went through this and made notes. I then worked on benchmarking and updating the Excel sheets. I contacted some universities that were not on the original benchmarking list that I found. I made buttons as I needed a break.
July 19th
I started out my morning by checking my email and getting supplies ready for orientation. I left for orientation at 9:30. I set up when I arrived at Tate, and I tabled until 11:45. I then packed up, put everything away, and headed back to the office.
When I got back, I went over my notes on BASICS and I read through part of a BASICS book that the AOD coordinator let me borrow. This was helpful to clarify the definition of a "hook" in BASICS and it made it easier for me to identify the hooks in the case study I was given.
When I was done with this, my supervisor asked me to start working on gathering wellness coaching data for all the sessions from 8/1/22 - 7/21/23. She logged me into her PNC on my computer, and then she helped me set up an Excel sheet of the information she wanted. I then started to work my way through all the wellness coaching sessions for each provider. I read through each session to identify if the student was an undergrad or a graduate student, their wellness category, wellness goals, and their referral source. I then entered this information into the Excel sheet.
July 20th
I got to the office at noon today. I had my supervisor log me into her PNC so I could continue to work on wellness coaching data. Around 2, The Fontaine Center director took me and some staff members to get slushies from Pelicans :) I then worked on wellness coaching data until I made it through the initial visits for all of the providers. I briefly met with the IPV prevention coordinator to go over which slides I would be doing for the UMatter presentation for Thrive. I went over the content again to refamiliarize myself with it.
July 21st
Orientation started at 8 AM today, so I got to Tate around 7:45 to set up. I tabled until 9, packed up, and then headed back to the office.
Once at the office, I checked my email and updated the benchmarking Excel sheet. We got in a large order of t-shirts that needed to be rolled and secured with a rubber band, so I rolled t-shirts until my supervisor was able to sign me into her PNC. Once she was able to, I continued working on wellness coaching data. I started to work on collecting data for the follow up visits. I read through the notes of each session to track what goals the student worked on during wellness coaching. I also counted the amount of sessions the student did to track the their number of visits.
In the afternoon, my supervisor showed me how Qualtrics works and she let me play around with making surveys. We then met with the nutritionist to go over a survey for the PNE programs. I then updated the survey in Qualtrics and sent the new survey to the nutritionist and my supervisor.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 4.3.3,6.5.2, 6.5.5, and 8.1.5.
4.3.3 Use appropriate modalities to collect and manage data.
I met this competency by working on benchmarking and by collecting wellness coaching data.
6.5.2 Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
8.1.5 Use evidence-informed theories, models, and strategies
I met this competency by learning about and practicing BASICS and motivation interviewing. Both of these are based on best practices and evidence-based theories.
Reflection
This week had a heavy focus on BASICS and motivation interviewing. My supervisor did a good job in giving me enough material to help me feel prepared. However, there were multiple moments where I felt very prepared and then I thought of a bunch of questions or scenarios where the approach to BASICS might look different for that student. She did a great job answering all of my questions.
When it first came to motivational interviewing, I felt good about the open ended question because I had practiced a decent amount on my own but the rephrasing and summarizing was a bit challenging for me. This is something that I know will come easier with practice.
It was fun to work on the wellness coaching data and see all the different reasons that students came in for wellness coaching. There were a lot of students who wanted to work on time management and motivation. Based on the session notes, it seemed like the providers also did a good suggestion self-care and stress management strategies for these students. I even wrote down some strategies that the providers had in their notes.
It was cool to play around in Qualtrics to create a survey since I have taken MANY Qualtrics surveys in my time at UGA. It was good practice to discuss with my supervisor what questions we wanted to use on the survey to measure the objectives for the PNE programs.
It was also super nice that the director took me and some of the staff members to get snow cones!
Here is the back of the new t shirt and an image of some of the shirts I rolled. I just like how satisying it looks :)
Week 8
July 24th
I started out the morning by checking my email and preparing supplies for orientation. I left for orientation at 9:30. I set up when I got to Tate and I tabled until 11:45. I packed up and headed back to the office.
When I got back, I wrote notes for the UMatter presentation and practiced. I then updated the benchmarking sheet and made button until it was time to leave for the presentation. The IPV prevention coordinator and I left at 3:30 to head to Tate to give a UMatter presentation to the Thrive students.
July 25th
I started out the morning by checking my email and updating the benchmarking Excel sheet. I met with one of the staff members to go over orientation information. The staff member and their intern were tabling at orientation for the first time tomorrow, so they wanted to know how to set up and what to give in their spiel.
I then met with the AOD coordinator to go over programming descriptions for the Involvement Network. I read through the descriptions and made comments and suggestions. I met with her again to go over my suggestions.
In the afternoon, my supervisor logged me into her PNC so I could continue working on wellness coaching data. I surprisingly finished around 4, and then rolled t shirts for the last hour.
July 26th
I started out the morning by answering emails and preparing supplies for orientation. I left for orientation at 9:30. I tabled until 11:45. I then packed up and headed back to the office.
When I was back, I made graphs in Excel for the wellness coaching data. I then made safer sex bags for the sexual health and healthy relationships coordinator.
The AOD coordinator then asked me to look over some messaging and social media content for the Fall. I made some edits and suggestions and briefly went over them with the AOD coordinator before she met with communications.
Then I met with my supervisor to go over the graphs for the wellness coaching data. We then discussed making some content for off-campus messaging. I started to work on putting together a handout for tips on how to be a good neighbor and build a relationship with your neighbor. My supervisor also asked me to make a handout for "hosting hacks". This is supposed to be tips and risk reduction strategies for hosting a party.
Later, I helped the AOD coordinator with a presentation at 7 PM for the Thrive students in Russell Hall. The Thrive staff asked for the presentation because they were worried about some activity they had seen going on with the students. I did not present. I just helped with the activities, handout out resource cards, and helped set up and clean up. It was a good presentation, and the AOD coordinator did a good job of keeping the students engaged. The students did a great job answering questions and participating.
July 27th
In the morning, I worked on the off campus content and searched for content from other schools that could be incorporated. I then attended staff meeting at 10.
After staff meeting, I worked on content some more. I also read though another BASICS case that my supervisor printed out for me. I rolled t shirts when I needed a break.
July 28th
In the morning I met with my supervisor to go over BASICS and the case studies. I then went to the intern office to plan out how to do a first and practiced. I then worked on off campus housing content. I made buttons and rolled t shirts as I needed a break.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 4.3.3, 4.4.3, 6.3.3, 6.4.3, 6.5.2, 6.5.5, and 8.1.5.
4.3.3 Use appropriate modalities to collect and manage data.
I met this competency by working on benchmarking and the wellness coaching data.
4.4.3 Identify limitations and delimitations of findings.
I met this competency by working on the wellness coaching data and talking through the findings with my supervisor. We were discussing some of the limitations of the data.
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
6.4.3 Develop communication aids, materials, or tools using appropriate multimedia (e.g.; infographics, presentation software, brochures, and posters).
I met these by going over messaging with the AOD coordinator and by working on content for off-campus housing. I suggested edits from the persepctive of a student for the AOD messaging. For the off-campus housing content I researched similar content that other schools had. I tailored the message to students and I made sure to use language to include those who might not be UGA students or use substances.
6.5.2 Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
I also met these competencies by helping give the UMatter presentation and the AOD presentation to the Thrive students.
Reflection
It was fun to see the graphs for the wellness coaching data. This data collection was not perfect, but it is good to support the continuation of offering wellness coaching to students and to show other universities reasons that UGA students utilize wellness coaching. The graphs are misleading makes it look like a lot of students were self referred but this was because she said the providers will sometimes put that when they don't know the referral source. We also discussed how the data was not perfect because the goals from the session notes were categorized by only me. We discussed how ideally with qualitative data you would have multiple people categorize the data and then compare and discuss.
I had a great time helping give presentations to the Thrive students this week. The first UMatter presentation was on the smaller side, but the students were very engaged. After the presentation, I stayed around to chat with students and a few of them thanked us and said they think it's important to talk about upstander intervention. These students identified as male and they said that they hope to create a culture where men hold other men accountable for their actions. This group of students also had some great thoughts to add to our discussion on gender and identities in regards to interpersonal violence.
As for the AOD presentation, the AOD coordinator did a grat job keeping the presentation fun. This was a much larger group of about probably 60 students. It was great to see that many students show up but we were not aware it was going to be that many. We focused on doing activities with the students and incorporated some key AOD risk reduction strategies along the way. The students were shown what a ONEbox is and given information on that. We also asked the students to draw what a night for a UGA student would be. A lot of drawings had substance use in them which the AOD coordinator used to talk about risk reduction strategies, but many drawings were of other activities not involving substances such as watvhing a movie or getting cookies. It was good to see students include these drawings and we used it to reestablish social norms and the healthy majority. We also did the drink pouring activity which the students were very engaged with. I was super proud to see some students from the UMatter presentation speaking up and answering questions on upstander intervention! After the presentation, we had a lot of students come up and ask questions about the presentation and resources. The director of Thrive was very happy and asked the AOD coordinator for some more events in the Fall. As a student, it makes me so happy to see how the AOD coordinator went about the presentation. She did not just lecture at the students, but instead did activities with them that led the discussion. The students came up with strategies and were able to educate each other this way which I think has much more impact.
This week in the staff meeting, someone brought up trends on social media about misinformation around birth control and college aged students buying a new straw that holds liquor. I added to the conversation by saying I have seen a trend of college aged girls taking bee pollen in hopes of their boobs increasing in size. Many people have had adverse reactions to the bee pollen but this has not stopped others from trying. The nutritionist added to this by bringing up the current trend of "girl dinner" versus "guy dinner". He said he wants to incorporate some social media posts to correct this and suggest ways to create a balanced dinner for anyone. This led to the idea of maybe doing a weekly post of picking a social media trend that is spreading misinformation and correcting it.
Week 9
July 31st
I started out the morning by going over my BASICS notes for a second session. I then met with my supervisor to go over the case study for the second session and to practice facilitating the second session.
After this, I worked on off-campus messaging content and wellness coaching benchmarking. I added the final information that I had from the last of the responders to the benchmarking Excel sheet. I made buttons in the afternoon as I needed a break.
August 1st
I started by preparing supplies for orientation and briefly working on content. I then headed to Tate at 9:30 for orientation, and I tabled until 11:45. I then packed everything up and headed back to the office.
When at the office, I met with the early intervention program manager to talk about how to facilitate BASICS for a student with a substance use disorder. I then practiced facilitating a first BASICS session with my supervisor pretending to be a student with a substance use disorder. I met with my supervisor and the early intervention program manager to discuss how the practice session went.
After this, I worked on off-campus content for the rest of the day and made some buttons.
August 3rd
I went through BASICS information for how to facilitate a second session for a student with a substance use disorder and I mapped out how I would approach a session for the student in the case study I was given.
For the rest of the day I worked on finishing up the off-campus content. I also cut a lot of button designs that the sexual health and healthy relationship coordinator printed out for me, and I cut handouts that the AOD coordinator asked for. I also tried to make as much buttons as possible so they would not have to worry about making buttons once the Fall semester started.
Summary
This week I met the competencies 6.3.3, 6.4.3, 6.5.2, 6.5.5, and 8.1.5.
6.3.3 Tailor message(s) for the audience(s).
I met this by creating content for off-campus housing and by practicing BASICS sessions for different types of students.
6.4.3 Develop communication aids, materials, or tools using appropriate multimedia (e.g.; infographics, presentation software, brochures, and posters).
I met this by creating content for off-campus housing.
6.5.2 Use public speaking skills.
6.5.5 Deliver oral and written communication that aligns with professional standards of grammar, punctuation, and style.
I met these competencies by working the table at the orientation resource fair. I had to speak to new students and their guests about The Fontaine Center and other resources at the university health center. This required speaking to both individuals and at times groups of people depending on who came up to the table. I did this in a professional manner and adjusted each discussion based on the student's interests in the resources we offer.
Reflection
I spent a lot of time on BASICS this week. I realized that facilitating a first session is much easier than a second session. I honestly felt pretty confident after the first session and my supervisor gave good feedback. The second session was much more challenging because I was trying to help a student who did not use substances come up with a risk reduction plan for substance use. In this case study, a female first year student was sanctioned to attend BASICS due to going to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. The student did not drink before the incident and reported not wanting to drink after the incident. My supervisor and I talked about how this is the ideal student for BASICS because they do not want to use substances, they just need the skills to help them accomplish this. Because of this, I focused on refusal skills and other strategies the student could use when around alcohol. I had to keep reminding myself to try to facilitate the conversation where the student came up with these ideas and to only offer advice if given permission by the student. The session felt awkward, but I felt good overall. I know with more practice I would be a lot more confident.
The other case study was for a student with a substance use disorder who came from a family with a long history of substance use disorders. I felt good about facilitating the first session but the second session was much more challenging. This student would benefit more from counseling, but they were sanctioned BASICS for an incident with the police. This student did express wanting to change their substance use, but had failed with prior attempts. I tried to focus on this aspect when planning the second session and allowing the student to define their experience and what would work for them. I also tried to think of ways to encourage the student and affirm the positive work they have done.
I was able to talk to our substance use counselor about how to handle a student with a substance use disorder. He gave me a lot of great insight and how to approach from a social work aspect. This was great because the student would benefit more from this approach instead of an educational approach.
When working on other tasks throughout the week, I also tried to make as many buttons as possible to get a good stash going into the Fall. I have no idea how many buttons I made over the summer but it was hundreds. I honestly really enjoyed my button making.
Orientation was slow this week because it was one of the last sessions. It is crazy to look back at how fast the summer went by. I remember being nervous my first few orientation tabling sessions and being scared I was going to mess up. I became a tabling pro by the end of the summer.