final program 2005.qxp - American College Health Association

ACHA-National College Health Assessment
Get a Complete Picture of Your Students’ Health!
What is the ACHA-National College Health Assessment (ACHA-NCHA)
The ACHA-NCHA is a national research effort organized by the American College Health Association to
assist college health service providers, health educators, counselors, and
administrators in collecting data about their students’ habits, behaviors,
and perceptions on the most prevalent health topics: injury prevention,
personal safety and violence; alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; sexual
health; sexual assault and dating violence; weight, nutrition, and exercise;
and mental health. While other health surveys of college students cover a
single topic area, such as alcohol and drug use, the ACHA-NCHA offers the
broadest range of health issues, as well as the ability to map the results
over an extended period of time.
How the ACHA-NCHA Can Benefit Your Campus
You can use the acquired data to:
● identify the most common risks to academic performance and retention
● better understand your students’ health trends and determine the
health areas of highest priority
● report on campus behavioral norms
● allocate monetary and staffing resources
● design new health programs and evaluate current strategies
● compare your specific campus data with national, aggregate
ACHA-NCHA data
Who Has Already Participated in the ACHA-NCHA
More than 160,000 students at 274 colleges and universities have participated in
the surveys, providing the college health and higher education fields with a vast
spectrum of research on student health. Data from the ACHA-NCHA now spans
nine collection periods, from Spring 2000 through Spring 2004. The survey has
been used by two-year and four-year schools that represent the many
geographical regions of the United States, all Carnegie Classifications, and various
campus settings, ranging from large metropolitan areas to rural small towns.
What Types of Surveys are Offered
Participating schools have the option of using paper-based or web-based surveys.
With the web-based surveys students are invited to participate via an e-mail message and then complete and
submit the survey online. Two versions of the survey are available: spring and fall. The fall survey asks students
certain questions based on the time frame of “in the last 12 months. . . ”; the spring survey asks students certain
questions based on the time frame of “in the last school year. . . ”
Where to Go For More Information
Visit the Information Booth onsite, or visit the ACHA-NCHA home page at www.acha-ncha.org. The
website features complete, up-to-date information about participating in the survey, as well as selected
data highlights, a sample survey, FAQs, a user’s manual, and testimonials. For more detailed information,
call (410) 859-1500.
American College Health Association
Page 52