Reality Campaign
What is the Reality Campaign?
The Reality Campaign is a social norms campaign at Stetson that uses the National College Health Assessment Survey (NCHA) to expose students to misperceptions and behaviors of Stetson University students. Posters generally show a perception in behaviors (but not limited to) alcohol and other drugs, tobacco usage, sexual health, sexual assault, and various other health impediments. The campaign uses photos of Stetson University students nominated to participate in the campaign known as Social Influencers.
The students who were asked to be in the campaign were nominated through random surveys first conducted in the spring of 2008 and again through a university announcement to the entire student body in the spring of 2009. We were looking for student "social influencers," or students who are well-regarded on campus and responsible in their behaviors. Additional student "social influencers" will be nominated again in early spring 2014.
Visit the Reality Campaign's Facebook page.
Social Influencers - Who are they?
The students who were asked to be included in the Reality Campaign are known as Social Influencers. These students are voted by their peers as the "cool kids" of campus. Social Influencers are generally student leaders of campus organizations, role models for other students, and highly respected and popular by their peers. Students are nominated and voted on every fall semester, and those ranked highly are chosen to become social influencers.
What is the NCHA?
The NCHA survey is used by thousands of universities throughout the country. For more information visit http://www.achancha.org/. The data in the Reality Campaign is from 479 Stetson University students who responded to the confidential online survey. The return rate was 24 percent, which is considered to be a good response rate per institution of our size. Our data is representative of Stetson University students by ethnicity, on-campus/off-campus, age, full time/part time, Greek affiliation and athletic affiliation. Entrance into a contest for a shopping spree was offered to students for their time.
**The NCHA Survey will be administered Oct 21st-November 1st please make sure you participate! Several $75 gift cards will be raffled off to students who complete the survey**
What does the NCHA define?
Stetson University's NCHA data tells us that there are large disparities between perceptions held by students of other students' alcohol, drug, and tobacco use and usage that are actually reported. For example, "Perception: 86 percent of students drink three times per week. Reality: Only 46 percent do." NCHA data also displays health impediments that may affect a student's academic performance. For example, "32% of Stetson students report stress affected their academic performance."
Additional statistics will be revealed on Reality posters throughout the academic year.
What the NCHA is "NOT":
We do not claim that the data is perfect actual usage numbers that should be viewed as absolute. Data should never be directly applied absolutely to any individual student. The NCHA uses self-report data, and although students often say "they could have lied," the NCHA is considered to be highly reliable and valid as a self-report measure amongst college students (Higher Education Center, 1998). There was no direct motivation for students to lie. Please keep your doubts in mind the next time we repeat the data collection: encourage your friends to take the NCHA survey and to take it honestly.
If you would like to see a full report, or more statistics, please contact the assistant director of wellness and recreation, Terrance Harris, at tiharris@stetson.edu.
