ARHE Year in Review 2023

2023 was an exciting and eventful year. As the year wraps up, we wanted to share with you some of our highlights, in case you missed them!

January:

• Exhibited at NASPA Strategies in Kansas City and also presented a 3-hour pre-conference workshop on starting a CRP attended by over 25 people.
• Presented as part of a collegiate recovery panel at the Peach Belt Conference for Student Athlete Leadership. (Learn more in our blog about the event!).
• Hosted a live webinar on TPN.Health on The Importance of Cultural Elements in Building Recovery Communities with Angelo Lagares.

February + March:

• Took a trip across Texas with Susan Packard to promote her book: The Little Book of College Sobriety. We travelled to Texas Tech, Texas A&M, and UT Austin to visit their collegiate recovery programs. Learn more about her book on our website!
• Hosted a 1.25 CE webinar on Translating Theory into Practice: Addressing Practitioner Assumptions About Collegiate Recovery Programming with Dr. Chelsea Shore through TPN.Health (free on demand here).

April:

• Collegiate Recovery Week: Highlighted collegiate staff, students, and programs throughout the week, and launched an anti-stigma social media campaign with a focus on growth and celebration in recovery.
  • Featured a live Q&A with the ARHE Board of Directors.
  • Featured a live event with Joseph Green titled “Our Stories Matter.”
  • Featured a recorded panel discussion titled “Enhancing Equity in Collegiate Recovery” (watch here).
  • Read a post by Declan Murphy on Collegiate Recovery Week here.
  • Read about why we celebrate collegiate recovery week here.
  • Watch the recording of a special presentation with Adam Petson from Recovery Connections UK here.
• Released the revised Standards and Recommendations.
• Released the Ethical Guidelines document.

(Read more about the launch of the Standards and Recommendations and the Ethical Guidelines document here!).

June:

• Published the new Collegiate Recovery Directory. (See the announcement here!).
• Hosted the ARHE/ARS/AAPG Annual Conference & HECAOD National Meeting.
  • 661 registered attendees
  • 146 speakers
  • 92 sessions
  • 26 sponsors / exhibitors
  • 10 entertainment and wellness activities
  • 8 on-site recovery meetings
  • 5 meals provided
  • 4 conferences in one
  • 3 countries represented
• Welcomed new board members to ARHE. (See announcement here!).
• Hosted a 1.0 CE webinar on the Neuroscience of High-Risk Behavior: Developmental Effects on Executive Functioning with Dr. Crystal Collier through TPN.Health (free on demand here).

August:

• Launched the Standardized Review for Collegiate Recovery Advancement (SRCRA) Accreditation Pilot with an initial 14 schools.
  • History of the development of SRCRA (from the report written by the ARHE Research and Evaluation Team (Yahya Abdullah Alnashri & Alexa Nieder):
    • Emergence of SRCRA: The SRCRA emerged from a growing recognition of the diverse and dynamic nature of CRPs. As these programs expanded, there was a clear need for a standardized framework that could adapt to the unique characteristics of different institutional environments while maintaining a consistent quality standard. The ARHE responded by crafting a tool that not only measures program effectiveness but also respects the individuality of each CRP.
    • Development Process: The development of the SRCRA involved extensive collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including educators, program administrators, students, and recovery community members. This collaborative effort was crucial in ensuring that the framework was comprehensive, inclusive, and reflective of the varied landscapes of collegiate recovery programs.
  • Pilot Process: During the pilot, each institution completed an internal evaluation, collecting the evidence to support each line item of the developed accreditation tool, structured around four primary domains: Program Infrastructure, Recovery Promotion (Culture and Climate), Recovery Promotion (Programmatic), and Collegiate Recovery Community Development. A team of 12 external reviewers were trained on the review methods, then assigned programs to review. Each external review team completed the review tool and wrote a full report to be delivered back to the program, outlining the details of the review and highlighting both strengths and areas for growth. An ARHE Review Board then created a final review tool and added comments to the final report before sending the designations back to the participating institutions.
  • Evaluation: The entire process was thoroughly evaluated by an external evaluator and will inform changes to the process prior to the full launch of accreditation next year.

September:

• National Recovery Month: Highlighted events being hosted by member schools and launched an anti-stigma awareness campaign on social media in alignment with SAMHSA’s Recovery Month Theme “Hope is Real. Recovery is Real.” (See blog post here!).
• Mack started in new role as Membership and Outreach Manager. (See announcement here!).
• Launched Introduction to Collegiate Recovery Training Course in partnership with HECAOD. You can find the link to access the course on our website, and members receive a discount to access this training.

• Launched Access, Belonging, & Connection Monthly Book Club and Speaker Series. Participate in regular discussions pertaining to diverse range of important topics in order to build more inclusive communities. If you missed the book club discussions, consider participating in the ongoing discussion survey to add your voice and perspectives to the conversation and assist the development of new resources. Learn more on our website!
• Attended Mobilize Recovery in Washington, DC where collegiate recovery programs were featured and showcased.
• Attended Healing Appalachia in Lewisburg, WV, a music festival produced by Hope in the Hills that raises money to support recovery services throughout Appalachia, including collegiate recovery. Our Executive Director not only had a table as part of the Provider Tent throughout the festival, she also was granted the opportunity to tell her story and talk about collegiate recovery in front of an audience of approximately 7,000 people, just before the main act on the opening night.
• Participated in a DEA Podcast called “Prevention Profiles: Take Five” to discuss how the recovery movement has taken hold on college campuses over the past several years. (Watch the podcast here!)
• Presented to the National Association of State Drug and Alcohol Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) with over 120 attendees. This was a unique opportunity to educate Directors on collegiate recovery and to advocate for the use of State funds to support collegiate recovery programs in every US State.
• Presented at the International Rotary Convention about the importance of collegiate recovery and how Rotarians can support access to collegiate recovery programs in their area.
• Webinars:
  • Harm Reduction Discussion: Kloxxado 8mg Naloxone HCI Nasal Spray (watch here).
  • Harm Reduction Discussion Panel: Facilitating Support Meetings (watch here).

October:

• Presented at the IBX Foundation’s Recovery Ready Summit in Philadelphia, PA to discuss advancements in the collegiate recovery profession over the last year.
• Co-presented with Ericka and Nell from Augsburg for the Hazelden Betty Ford Partnering with Purpose series. (Watch the recording here!).
• Presented in a panel discussion with Shatterproof on how to have conversations with youth aged 18-26 regarding substance use and recovery.
• Guest blog writer, Michael Vela, wrote about recovery during National Hispanic Heritage Month. (See the blog post here!)

November:

• Presented for the second year in a row at the People’s Summit to educate attendees on the basics of collegiate recovery.
• Hosted the two-day Staff Summit in Philadelphia, PA., sponsored by the Independence Blue Cross (IBX) Foundation
  • 56 in-person attendees
  • 2 days of presentations and networking
  • 6 presentation sessions
  • 4 discussion and feedback sessions
• Hosted Recovery for the Revolution Part 1 Series with Carolyn Collado: Decolonizing Our Recovery in a Predominantly White Institution. (Watch the recording here!)
• Wrapped up the SRCRA Pilot with 10 schools completing the pilot process and becoming the first 10 reviewed/accredited CRPs by ARHE.
• Guest blog writer, Kit Emslie, wrote about recovery for Trans Day of Remembrance. (See the blog post here!).

December:

• Hosted Recovery for the Revolution Part 2 Series with Carolyn Collado: The Cost of Upholding Whiteness & Struggles with Substance Use. (Watch the recording here!).
• Made the decision to rebrand Equity & Belonging programming to become Access, Belonging, and Connection (ABC) to ensure that all schools and professionals could access the content regardless of political contexts in the state.

Throughout the year, ARHE also hosted:

• 43 Staff Chats (Tuesdays at 12pn ET except on holidays)
• 12 Recovery Research Collaborative Meetings (1^st Thursday of the month at 12pm ET; hosted externally through the collaborative)
• 12 Harm Reduction Discussion Groups (2^nd Thursdays of the month at 12pm ET)
• 11 Monthly Membership Meetings (last Monday of the month at 12pm ET)
• 5 Book Club Discussion Meetings with new books each month
• 4 ABC speaker series webinars

 

A HUGE thank you and shoutout goes out to our Collegiate Recovery Champions for 2023-2024, who donated $1000 or more to support our ongoing initiatives and programming:

• Susan and Bill Packard
• Aetna OhioRise
• Mike Ortoll
• Maureen Roden
• The JHW Foundation
• Kathleen Gibson
• The Jamie Daniels Foundation

And a special mention to HungryFriend for accepting ARHE as the first non-profit organization outside of San Diego to receive donations from users who sign up on the app every time they eat out at participating restaurants!

Lastly, ARHE would not exist without a robust membership base, passionate about collegiate recovery and supporting students on campuses across the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.! Our membership is growing and in 2023 we had:

• 5 new Corporate / Non-Profit Members
• 19 new Institutional Members
• 64 new Individual Members

We are looking forward to another exciting year in 2024!

A sneak preview of what we are working on includes developing a new membership portal, hiring a full-time (grant-funded) Technical Assistance Coordinator to directly support programs, launching the Standardized Review for Collegiate Recovery Advancement, hosting the annual conference in San Diego, CA in June/July, revitalizing the Resource Hub, launching a Research Hub, developing a Collegiate Recovery Professional Certification course, and so much more!

Regular programming will also resume in the new year, including Tuesday Staff Chats, the Access, Belonging and Connection (ABC) Monthly Book Club and Speaker Series, Monthly Membership Meeting, Monthly Harm Reduction Discussion Group, and Monthly Recovery Science Research Collaborative Meeting.

We wish you a wonderful end to 2023 and look forward to what the new year brings for each and every collegiate recovery program!