Millikin University Receives High Marks for Alcohol Education Program

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Communications, Inc. (HCI), the providers of the TIPS (Training for Intervention ProcedureS) Program, is pleased to announce that Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois has been awarded the 2012 TIPS Award of Excellence. This is an award bestowed by Health Communication's President & CEO, Adam Chafetz, and is chosen by an internal committee based on both volume of students certified and feedback from TIPS Trainers and student participants. There were nine (9) other campuses that received the award in 2012. According to Mr. Chafetz, "Millikin University trains 100% of its student population in the TIPS for the University Program. For over a decade, they have demonstrated their commitment to preventing the misuse of alcohol on their campus and in their community and have experienced impressive results due to this commitment."

Beginning in the fall semester of 2001, Millikin University committed to training all of its incoming freshmen in the TIPS for the University Program. Initially implemented to approximately 300 first-year students during orientation, TIPS is now required for all incoming freshmen. Each August, Millikin hosts a closed TIPS Train-the-Trainer Workshop to certify new upper-class orientation leaders and to re-certify existing leaders. In turn, these student leaders conduct TIPS sessions during freshmen orientation. The results include a decrease in student alcohol violations and an astounding 98% of Millikin students feel comfortable intervening when a peer is misusing alcohol due to being trained in TIPS.

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 recently 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 http://www.tipsuniversity.org.  

About Health Communications, Inc.

Health Communications, Inc. (HCI) was founded in 1982 by Dr. Morris Chafetz, founding director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Located in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, HCI is a nationally recognized expert in the field of alcohol training. Its flagship program, TIPS, was the first of its kind and continues to set industry standards for this type of training. Numerous public officials and government agencies have recognized and endorsed TIPS training as life-saving and critical to the progress made in reducing alcohol-related injuries and deaths. More information is available at http://www.gettips.com.  

About Millikin University

Millikin University is a private comprehensive university with a diverse student population of approximately 2,300 students set in an experiential learning environment that promotes hands-on opportunities in over 50 majors from the College of Fine Arts, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Professional Studies and Tabor School of Business. Millikin is a 75-acre residential campus, which affords its students the opportunity to live out their learning through performance, generating the confidence to succeed before and after graduation. More information is available at http://www.millikin.edu. 

Contact:         

Trevor Estelle
Health Communications, Inc.
703-524-1200 ext. 357
[email protected]

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SOURCE Health Communications, Inc.