Fall 2009: Students can take an e-mail survey and win free stuff!

Students should check their e-mail today, Oct. 7, for a health and wellness survey from the Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services (CBHRS). Those who respond will be eligible to win great prizes like a 12-credit tuition waiver, a round-trip ticket on Alaska Airlines, Alaska Aces hockey tickets, Moose's Tooth gift cards, UAA parking permits and much more.

Background Information. College students are a diverse, yet distinct, population with specific health risks and needs. Understanding those risks and needs is an important first step for any university campus to establish a healthy student body and campus environment. One way this can be accomplished is through a comprehensive student health and wellness survey. The National College Health Assessment (NCHA) is a nationally-recognized research survey conducted by the American College Health Association (ACHA) that collects extensive data about student habits, behaviors and perceptions across a broad spectrum of health topics. Assessing behaviors and attitudes on a broad range of health topics is important to gain a clearer and perhaps deeper understanding of many relevant health-related issues present in the UAA student body.

Survey Purpose. Data collected through the surveys will provide current and relevant data about the UAA student body across a broad spectrum of health issues. UAA will have the ability to compare its results to an aggregate national data set of comparable universities. This survey will help UAA administrators to prioritize and develop appropriate health promotion and risk prevention strategies and interventions based on the priority areas identified through the NCHA survey.

Survey Content. The purpose of the NCHA is to assess the most significant health trends, priorities, and needs of the UAA student body across six content areas: 1) health, health education and safety; 2) alcohol, tobacco, and drugs; 3) sex behavior, perceptions and contraception; 4) mental and physical health including suicide; 5) impediments to academic achievement; 6) and demographics.

How the survey will be conducted. The CBHRS at UAA, with the support of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Bruce Schultz, will supply the ACHA with the e-mail addresses of 4,000 randomly selected students to receive an e-mail invitation letter with a link to the online survey today, Oct. 7. CBHRS will obtain and process survey data from ACHA for distribution to relevant stakeholders at UAA.

For more information, contact Jodi Barnett at (907) 561-2880 or anjdb3@uaa.alaska.edu.