UW Receives National Award for Commitment to Student Wellness

For the fourth straight year, the University of Wyoming’s Half Acre Recreation and Wellness Center has been named a recipient of the 2023 Campus Prevention Network (CPN) Seal of Prevention.

Presented by Vector Solutions, the CPN honor is awarded to institutions of higher education that have demonstrated leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being and inclusion.

Recipients have taken steps to create a safer, more inclusive campus through comprehensive, evidence-based digital prevention education on issues such as sexual assault, alcohol use, mental health and discrimination.

The CPN Seal of Prevention establishes guidelines for discerning quality online prevention education and implementation practices and positions prevention as central to key institutional outcomes.

The courses evaluated for the award are managed at UW through the HOPES (Healthy Options for the Prevention and Education of Substances) Program. HOPES takes a positive approach and focuses on harm reduction.

“We are grateful to have received this award for the fourth year in a row. Within the last year, we have made significant updates to our online prevention programming approach to further tailor the experience for our students,” says Aleah Biertzer, HOPES Program coordinator. “We want to thank our partners, especially UW Information Technology, for helping us build a streamlined process. Online prevention programming is just a piece of our comprehensive approach to prevention, which is crafted by many partners throughout the UW community.”

The CPN Seal of Prevention recipients reflect the top 10 percent of colleges and universities nationwide that have demonstrated their commitment and investment to not only academics, but also the well-being of their students and the overall college experience.

According to Vector Solutions research, 34 percent of high school seniors are more likely to attend colleges or universities that have achieved the CPN Seal of Prevention than those that have not, and 77 percent of current students feel it is important that their institution has achieved the standard. Recipient institutions, on average, have an 8 percent higher first-year retention rate and 9 percent higher on-time four-year graduation rate than those that have not achieved the honor.

The criteria for the CPN Seal of Prevention are based on the Principles of Effective Prevention Programs.

For more information about UW’s HOPES Program, call Biertzer at (307) 766-6776 or email aleah.biertzer@uwyo.edu.

About Vector Solutions for Higher Education

Vector Solutions for Higher Education is the industry leader in postsecondary safety and prevention training, serving more than 2,000 of the nation’s most widely recognized and prestigious institutions and organizations for more than 20 years. Its programs help drive large-scale change on campus issues that matter most, including alcohol and other drugs; sexual assault and harassment; diversity and inclusion; and mental health.

Online safety, prevention and compliance programs available through Vector Solutions reach more than 10 million higher education students, staff and faculty each year.

For more information, visit www.vectorsolutions.com/HE.