Health Promotion
The Office of Health Promotion offers a wide range of comprehensive prevention approaches and education programming focused on mental health & well-being, suicide prevention, violence prevention, alcohol & drug awareness, hazing prevention, and sexual health education.
Our mission is to cultivate a safe and healthy campus environment where the community can thrive. We prioritize trauma-informed practices, ensuring that our prevention efforts are grounded in the real-life experiences of our students. By focusing on reducing harm and fostering resilience, we empower individuals to flourish and contribute to a supportive atmosphere for all.
Health Promotion Programs
The Green Dot Strategy is the office's primary violence-prevention framework, based on bystander intervention research and social-norms change theory. Staff and peer educators may be asked to help facilitate or support four training formats: a 60-90 minute Student Overview, a 60-minute Employee Overview, a 3-hour Student Bystander Training, and a 3-hour Employee Bystander Training. Session sizes are capped (50 participants for overviews, 30 for the bystander trainings) unless otherwise approved by Health Promotion.
The Peer Well-Being Network is a semesterly gathering for student peer leaders across campus (RAs, wellness ambassadors, org leaders, peer mentors) to connect and share strategies for supporting student well-being. Student employees supporting this program should be familiar with the network's mission and the recruitment process for new peer leaders, since staff may be asked to help facilitate sessions or promote involvement to other peer-leader groups on campus.
Bobcat Peer Educators are trained students who lead workshops, host events, and meet one-on-one with peers on topics including mental health, suicide prevention, substance use, sexual health, and campus resource navigation. It's important for staff to know: Peer Educators are not confidential and are mandated reporters. Students seeking confidential support should be referred to Counseling and Psychological Services or the Survivor Advocacy Program instead. Employees should also be aware of the workshop request process and current recruitment status when fielding student inquiries.
This is the office's core suicide-prevention and mental-health programming area, anchored by QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), a 90-minute nationally recognized gatekeeper training. Students and employees who complete QPR or Bobcats Who Care become eligible for the Green Bandana Project, a visible peer-support initiative. Staff should also be familiar with Thrive 5 (Connect, Keep Learning, Be Active, Take Notice, Give), the framework used across the office's programming, and know how to direct someone in acute crisis to immediate resources.