What is a Health Advocate?
A Health Advocate (HA) is a student appointed as a health resource in their residence hall or apartment community, fraternity, or sorority. Health Advocates attend class every Tuesday from 2:30 p.m. to 4:25 p.m., where they are trained to respond to common health-related issues.
Health Advocates:
- Promote a safe, equitable, and respectful environment and provide appropriate and inclusive care to students
- Share information and prevention strategies with other students in their residence
- Refer students to health resources on campus
- Distribute cold and cough medicine, cough drops, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, bandages, gauze, condoms, dental dams, lubricant, and pregnancy tests
Why Be a Health Advocate?
There are many benefits to becoming an HA, including:
- First Aid and CPR certification
- Learning about health issues important to college students
- Leadership experience
- Being a health resource for residents in your residence
- Earning two credits each semester through the School of Public Health
- Enhancing your résumé or graduate school application
- Feeling a sense of community with other Health Advocates
- Gaining the knowledge, skills, and opportunities to be an agent of change in the lives of other University students
What Does It Take to Become a Health Advocate?
We’re looking for students who:
- Are excited about promoting health
- Are enthusiastic about a leadership opportunity that involves being a health resource for fellow residents
- Actively demonstrate respect for all cultures, identities, and people
- Plan to live in a residence hall or apartment building during the 2024–25 academic year
- Will attend class on Tuesday afternoons during the 2024–25 academic year
- Will commit to serving as a Health Advocate for the ENTIRE 2024–2025 academic year
Students with marginalized identities are strongly encouraged to apply.
Which Residence Halls and Apartment Buildings Have Health Advocate Openings?
We have Health Advocate positions open for the 2024–25 academic year in:
Housing & Residential Life
- 17th Avenue Hall
- Bailey Hall
- Centennial Hall
- Comstock Hall
- Comstock Hall Lavender House
- Frontier Hall
- Keeler
- Middlebrook Hall
- Pioneer Hall
- Radius
- Sanford Hall
- Territorial Hall
- Wilkins Hall
- Yudof Hall
Off-Campus Housing
- Argyle House
- Dinnaken House
- University Commons
- University Village
Fraternities and Sororities
If you are interested in serving as a Health Advocate for your fraternity or sorority, please contact Mikaela at [email protected] for more information.
Apply Today!
Interested? Just complete and submit this application!
We consider applicants on a rolling basis.
The first round of selection decisions will be communicated by April 8, 2024.
Training Sessions
Health Advocate Training will take place the week before fall semester classes begin. We will have two options:
- 8:00 am - 4:30 pm on Tuesday, August 27
- 8:00 am - 4:30 pm on Friday, August 30
Each HA will attend just one of these two training options. This training day will include first aid training. We will set up separate CPR training a bit later and HAs will have several options to choose from.
Testimonials
What do former Health Advocates say about the program?
“Helping my fellow students with everything from treating a cough to answering questions about mental health gave me a whole new concept of ’community service,’ a concept that I wish everyone can one day experience for themselves.” — Former Health Advocate
“Through the Health Advocate program, I have gained valuable leadership and teamwork skills and learned relevant, practical knowledge I apply in everyday life. This experience has given me the confidence to take leadership in daily situations, as well as taught me how to respond to people’s needs.” — Former Health Advocate
“The training I received in the fall semester helped me save a life today. An intoxicated and unconscious 16-year-old male was brought into [my] work by his friends. I recognized the condition he was in and immediately knew he needed medical attention…If I hadn't been exposed to such situations in class, I wouldn't have known exactly what I needed to do and a life could have been lost.” — Former Health Advocate
Questions?
For more information contact Mikaela Robertson at [email protected].