Peer Education and Advocacy Student Groups

Peer Education and Advocacy Council

Overview of Council

The focus of the University of Richmond’s peer education and advocacy student groups is to educate our campus community on health and well-being topics through dedicated programming, service, and advocacy efforts. In representing different facets of wellbeing, the Peer Education and Advocacy Council assists the Health Educator in funding recommendations and allocation for outreach and events.

The Peer Education and Advocacy Council is comprised of staff and student leaders from each eligible peer education or advocacy group, the Health Educator, and the Director of Health Promotion. The Council will meet monthly to decide on pertinent funding matters.

Organization Eligibility

  • Each Peer Education or Advocacy group that desires funding must meet the following eligibility criteria:
    • Receive peer educator or advocate training and certification from an advisor from the Health and Well-Being Unit
    • Promote and program events for health and well-being related topics, with an emphasis on education, prevention, and/or advocacy

URWell Peer Educators

URWell Peer Educators serve an important role at University of Richmond to engage their fellow Spiders in promoting healthy behaviors through outreach and educational programs.

URWell Peer Educators are trained in facilitation skills, active listening, and health promotion content areas such as: violence prevention (ex: bystander intervention, consent, healthy relationships, etc), sexual health, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD), mental health, cultural sensitivity, and more.

If you’re interested in being a URWELL Peer Educator, please email urwellpeereducators@gmail.com.

Peer Sexual Misconduct Advisors

The Peer Sexual Misconduct Advisors (PSMAs) are UR students who serve as confidential peer advisors trained in Title IX policy, procedure, and emotional support resources. PSMAs are Richmond College, Westhampton College, or Law School students who are selected through an application process and complete extensive training from the Title IX Coordinator, URPD, CAPS, St. Mary’s Hospital, Safe Harbor, Spiders for Spiders, the Virginia Anti-Violence Project, and Common Ground. All contact is confidential because the PSMAs are not employees of the University. PSMAs can: provide students with information on reporting options, processes, and procedures; attend meetings students have throughout their reporting processes; connect students to resources; connect students to funding options as needed (transportation, health care needs, etc); help students report sexual misconduct violations to appropriate officials; communicate with Title IX Coordinators on behalf of a student as an emotional support; fill out reporting forms with students upon request; and accompany students to St. Mary’s Hospital or other medical providers. A Peer Sexual Misconduct Advisor is available at all times and can be connected with a student through emailing psma@richmond.edu or contacting any of the following: URPD, a Dean’s office, their Resident Advisor (RA), their Area Coordinator, CAPS, or the Greater Richmond Regional Hotline.

Law PSMAs

The Law School Peer Sexual Misconduct Advisors (Law PSMAs) are UR Law students who serve as confidential peer advisors trained in Title IX policy, procedure, and emotional support resources. Law PSMAs are selected through an application process and complete extensive training from the Title IX Coordinator, URPD, CAPS, The Center for Awareness, Response & Education (CARE), St. Mary's Hospital, Safe Harbor, Spiders for Spiders, the Virginia Anti-Violence Project, and Common Ground. All contact is confidential because Law PSMAs are not employees of the University. PSMAs can: provide students with information on reporting options, processes, and procedures; attend meetings students have throughout their reporting processes; connect students to resources; connect students to funding options as needed (transportation, health care needs, etc); help students report sexual misconduct violations to appropriate officials; communicate with Title IX Coordinators on behalf of a student as an emotional support; fill out reporting forms with students upon request; and accompany students to St. Mary's Hospital or other medical providers. Law PSMAs are available to respond within one business day of a student reaching out while classes are in session. Students be connected with a Law PSMA through emailing lawpsma@richmond.edu, or calling or texting 804.347.9586.

CAPS Interns

CAPS Outreach Internship. Outreach Intern duties and responsibilities center on various outreach and educational programs (for UR students) on issues related to college student mental health and wellbeing, under the supervision of Dr. Charlynn Small. These issues may include positive psychology, stress management, relationship issues, CAPS services, online mental health screenings, and wellness issues (i.e., exercise, sleep, nutrition, etc.). CAPS interns are encouraged to collaborate and co-program with other groups and organizations (e.g. Active Minds, Images, WEB Bandits and PSMAs). The CAPS interns are involved in planning a "Stress Out" event near the end of each semester (usually in partnership with Chaplaincy staff). About a half dozen students are typically selected for this internship.

CAPS Summer Research Internship.  Students interested in this 10-week full-time summer internship should contact the CAPS Director by the end of January of the current year.  If selected, the Research Intern is encouraged to apply for a UR Summer Fellowship by Feb 15 (see https://as.richmond.edu/student-research/summer-research/index.html) to support their work.  The Research Intern will work with the CAPS Director, Dr. Peter LeViness, to create and analyze appropriate datasets available to CAPS that pertain to college student mental health. The work may include data entry, converting Excel files into SPSS, merging SPSS files, running analyses in SPSS (i.e., means, frequencies, Chi-square, etc.), creating charts, tables, and files displaying results of various analyses. There may be opportunities to co-present aspects of data analyzed to appropriate audiences on campus. An interest in statistics and data analysis is required for this internship. Some experience using Excel and SPSS is also very valuable. One student will be selected for this internship.

Disability Student Ambassadors (DSAs) 

The Disability Student Ambassadors are a diverse group of students working to promote accessibility, inclusivity, and empowerment of disability identity. The group promotes disability as a valued aspect of diversity through student-led education and outreach efforts. Interested in learning more about the DSAs? Email disability@richmond.edu. 

CARE (Center for Awareness, Response & Education)

Peer Educators serve an important role at University of Richmond to engage their fellow Spiders in preventing interpersonal violence (EX: sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, hate- and bias-motivated violence, etc.) CARE Peer Educators facilitate programs, trainings, and awareness campaigns on topics such as: recognizing red flags of violence, consent, healthy sexuality, healthy relationships, and bystander intervention, including Spiders for Spiders training. Students who are interested can complete the form at tinyurl.com/URPeerEducators or email ktingle@richmond.edu