ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Health Communications, Inc. (HCI), provider of the TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) Program, is pleased to announce that Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania has been awarded the 2015 TIPS Award of Excellence. Recipients of this award are chosen by an internal committee led by HCI's President & CEO, Adam Chafetz. Selection is based on the number of students certified as well as feedback from TIPS trainers, student participants, and community leaders. Three other campuses also received the award this year. "Lehigh University has worked tirelessly to make sure their students are safe. They have repeatedly demonstrated their commitment to preventing the misuse of alcohol on their campus and in their community by training their student in the TIPS Program," said Mr. Chafetz.
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Lehigh University first began using the TIPS for the University program in the 2014-2015 academic year. They began by targeting upper-class off campus students. Additionally, five fraternities and sororities voluntarily elected to have all members participate in the program. As a result, 485 students participated in the program. Lehigh also invited a TIPS Master trainer to campus in the Spring of 2015 to train eleven (11) University administrators so they would have on-campus facilitators.
Currently, Lehigh's Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs (OFSA) requires 80% of affiliated sophomores to participate in the program. OFSA just wrapped up training for the 2015-2016 academic year. Over a period of six days, from Sept. 8th through Sept. 13th, Lehigh University TIPS Trainers conducted 15 sessions resulting in 385 students successfully completing TIPS training. In all, over 1,000 students have been certified in TIPS since implementing the program. "We've found that our sophomores engage in the curriculum in a meaningful and authentic way more so than other programs offered in past years," according to Ash Baudouin, Lehigh's Interim Assistant Dean and Director at the OFSA.
About TIPS for the University
TIPS for the University is a two-hour program that helps students make sound choices when faced with difficult decisions about alcohol use. Working together with other students and administrators at their college or university, students address drinking behaviors specific to their school and develop intervention techniques appropriate to their campus. All sessions are taught by certified TIPS trainers, using video and printed materials to facilitate discussion of the course content. TIPS for the University provides students with the knowledge and confidence necessary to reduce high-risk drinking behavior among their peers. More than 1,200 campuses nationwide have implemented TIPS for the University. In addition, the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), a project of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), has recognized the TIPS for the University training program by awarding high marks for both the quality and effectiveness of the program.
For more information, you can visit www.tipsuniversity.org.
Contact:
Trevor Estelle
Health Communications, Inc.
703-524-1200 ext. 357
Email