The Sexual Health Peer Education Experience

The Office of Health Promotion and Education at Sindecuse Health Center offers male and female students a unique and valuable opportunity to receive training and serve as Sexual Health Peer Educators (SHPEs). By conducting classroom presentations, informal workshops, and personal educational sessions with individuals, SHPEs teach other students information and skills that will help them to make healthy choices about sex and relationships.

Training and serving as a Peer Educator is a rewarding experience—personally, professionally, and academically.

Benefits of Being a Peer Educator

  • Develop the ability to effectively present both complex and sensitive information to small and large audiences;
  • Develop the ability to facilitate group discussions on difficult topics;
  • Grow in self-confidence and poise;
  • Build your resume for graduate school and employment;
  • Receive formal documents for your portfolio;
  • Earn letters of recommendation;
  • Earn academic credit (optional);
  • Fulfill an internship or field experience requirement in your major;
  • Become knowledgeable about important health issues;
  • Make “connections” on campus: meet faculty and staff;
  • Make new friends: be part of a team that works closely together;
  • Make a difference: do meaningful work;
  • Become the go-to “sexpert” in your crowd!

 

What Do Peer Educators Do?

Sexual Health Peer Educators present educational programs about a number of issues and topics related to sexual health and sexuality—for example, the elements of healthy intimate relationships; what you need to think about and talk to your partner about before you have sex; basic reproductive anatomy and physiology; available methods of contraception; common sexually transmitted infections and how to protect yourself; and protecting yourself from regretted sexual experiences and sexual assault.

Peer Educators learn about these topics in a weekly Professional Development class. The programs they present are based on scripts and detailed outlines and are supported by PowerPoint slides. Peer Educators learn the programs section-by-section by first studying on their own, then presenting a section to their mentor, then in a group practice session. Typically, 2 to 4 Peer Educators work together when presenting a classroom program or a workshop for a residence hall or student organization. During their second semester, Peer Educators also do personal educational sessions with individual students who are required to participate prior to being prescribed contraception by the Health Center.

Last year, 20 Peer Educators presented 140 programs to almost 5,000 students at WMU, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and a few local high schools.

Basic Requirements

  • Willing and able to make a 2-semester commitment (Fall/Spring or Spring/Fall).
  • Able to give 6-10 hours per week to program-related work.
  • Minimum GPA 2.8.
  • Must have completed or be currently enrolled in a course that fulfills Area 8 Health and Wellness requirement.
  • Must be available for regularly scheduled weekly professional development class (usually scheduled for Wednesday afternoon).
  • Must be available for weekly practice session. At least 2 choices will be available. Usually scheduled between late afternoon and early evening, 1.5 hrs. long.

In selecting students to be Peer Educators, we attempt to achieve a diverse group that represents all students at Western. We encourage both men and women to apply, students of all sexual orientations, and students of all races, ethnicities, and nationalities.

Earning Certification

One reward for successfully completing your 2-semester commitment is earning certification as a Sexual Health Peer Educator. Certification gives you:

  • A formal certificate stating that you have successfully completed training and service as a SHPE during a specified period of time.
  • An official letter that states in detail the nature of your training, service, and skills. You can include this letter in your portfolio and use it when applying for grad school and/or employment.
  • A guarantee that the Coordinator of the SHPE Program and/or the Director of HPAE will promptly and thoughtfully respond to all requests by you for letters of recommendation or telephone reference interviews.

In order to earn certification and its components, you must (1) complete two full semesters as a SHPE and (2) fulfill all of the requirements established for SHPEs, to a level equivalent to a “B” grade.

You will be given a separate grade for each semester of your work as a SHPE. This grade will be stated in all written documents listed above and referred to in oral references given for you. The grade will be determined based on points given for your performance of each of the following:

  • Attendance and participation in the weekly Professional Development class.
  • Attendance and participation at weekly practice sessions.
  • Knowledge of the content of the scripted presentations.
  • Skill and effectiveness in presenting programs.
  • Attendance at scheduled office hours (2nd semester only, 2 hrs. per week).
  • Participation in outreach programs (1st semester=minimum 5; 2nd semester=minimum 10).

 

Receiving Academic Credit

1. Students with certain academic majors and minors may choose to use their work as a SHPE to fulfill a requirement of their major or minor. This arrangement has been approved by certain departments, as indicated below.

2. Other students may need elective credits for their major or minor or need additional credits to graduate, which they can earn from approved elective courses. In some cases, SHPE can be used to fulfill an approved elective (see below).

3. If #1 and #2 above do not apply to you but you need and want general elective credits, you can get credit for SHPE by enrolling in FCS 590 (1-3 cr.); see below.

If you do this internship for credit, you will need to obtain the appropriate form and approval from the appropriate department (not from the SHPE program). In most cases, the SHPE program coordinator will need to sign it. The completed form is returned to the departmental office, and they register you for the relevant course. The SHPE program coordinator must have a copy of this form as a reminder to submit a grade for you to the department faculty member in charge of the relevant course.

Finally, some students serving as SHPEs do not need or want academic credit for this internship. You do not need to register for credit to participate in the program.

However, all students who serve as SHPEs are treated the same. They are all expected to do the same things. And they are all evaluated and given a grade.

Following is a list of departments that grant credit for SHPE.

• Family and Consumer Sciences Department
Family Studies major with Family Studies emphasis:
May use to fulfill FCS 202 Field Experience requirement, 2 credit hours.
May use to fulfill requirement for related electives, choose FCS 429 Internship, may register for 2 - 6 credit hours total.

Family Studies major with Child Development emphasis:
May use to fulfill FCS 202 Field Experience requirement, 2 credit hours.
May use to fulfill required FCS 429 Internship, total 6 credit hours required.

Any student with any major may enroll in FCS 590 Special Projects for 1-3 credits and receive credit for SHPE.

Obtain form and approval from FCS administrative office, 3326 Kohrman Hall.

• Psychology Department
Psychology majors: May use to fulfill required 3 credit Practicum; enroll in PSY 397, Specially Arranged Practicum, for 3 credits. May also use to partially fulfill required 9 hrs. of electives; enroll in PSY 398, Independent Study, for 3 credits.
Psychology minors: Department requires 6 hrs. of electives; 3 hours of PSY 397 Practicum can substitute for 3 hrs. of approved electives.
Obtain form from Psych Dept. Undergrad Advising Office or from Psych Dept. website.

• Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department
School Health majors and Community Health majors:
Department requires minimum 4 credit hours of electives from approved list. SHPE may be used for HPER 300 Seminar Series: Health Competencies, 2 credits per semester,4 total.

.• Lee Honors College
Honors College students may choose to receive credit by enrolling in HNRS 399 Field Experience. You may choose to receive up to 3 credits per semester, for 2 semesters. Obtain form from Honors College academic advisor.

• College of Education
Education majors or minors may receive credit by enrolling in ED 398 Special Studies in Education. Check with your academic adviser to learn whether your Education major or minor requires elective credits that ED 398 may be used to fulfill.

• Sociology
Sociology majors are not required but may choose to do an internship; enroll in SOC 4960 (2-3 cr.).
Obtain form from Dr. Ronald Kramer, Sociology.

• Communication
Communication majors and minors can get credit for SHPE through COM 398 Independent Study (no more than 3 cr.).
Obtain form from Communication academic advisor.

Application Process

  • Download application form (see link below), complete, and submit
  • We select approximately 10 new Peer Educators each November and March and they begin training the following January or September. The next application deadline is indicated on the application form.
  • Applicants who meet minimal requirements will be called and scheduled for a 30- minute interview the following week with a group of current Peer Educators.

If you have specific questions about being a Peer Educator, call

Rebecca Klott
Sexual Health Coordinator
Sindecuse Health Center
shc-shga@wmich.edu

Download 2008 Application Here!

 

Sindecuse Health Center
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 5445 USA
(269) 387-3287 | (269) 387-3204 Fax
shc-webmail@wmich.edu