What Up Wellness

The Ohio State University Student Wellness Center

April 18, 2014
Group 4
Ariel Cohen
Elizabeth Gesis
Hae Soo Na
Allison Roda
Amy Rosenburg
Kyle Sattler
Ciara Travis

Table of Contents
Situational and Organizational Overview3
Secondary Research.6
Primary Research...14
Key Publics20
Goals & Objectives....25
Overall Strategy.25
Messaging Strategy27
Tactics29
Budget32
Timetable...34
Evaluation Plan..36
Appendix A38
Appendix B........40
Appendix C41
Appendix D42
References..43

Situational and Organizational Overview

Situational Overview
Many college students believe that prescription drug misuse, particularly drugs such as
Adderall, Xanex and Percocet, is a commonality amongst their peers. Studies suggest that
prescription drug misuse is rising along with the misperception that most students are using these
drugs. According to the Ohio State Student Wellness Center (Student Life, 2012), 85% of people
think college students take drugs not prescribed to them, while in reality only 15% are actually
misusing drugs. Due to this strong misperception regarding norms for use, the Student Wellness
Center hopes to decrease widespread perceptions that prescription drug use is the norm. That is
the situation currently faced by the organization and it will be the focus of this campaign.
The Wellness Center has never implemented a large campaign of this sort, although, they
did partner with the Pharmacy School on the Generation Rx campaign. The Generation Rx
campaign tactics included posters on campus and in the residence halls, posts on their website
and the use of social media to present data. This campaign was intended to present the statistics
and facts surrounding the misuse of prescription drugs to college students, but was not extremely
effective. The information was not presented creatively, but rather it just offered bland statistics
through published papers. Due to the lack of interest and reliability sparked by the Generation Rx
campaign, the Student Wellness Center is looking to create a new campaign that will have a
greater effect on the student body. The current perception gap concerning the amount of students
misusing prescription drugs, which has promoted the need for this campaign, is caused by
misperceptions of social norm behaviors on college campuses.
When addressing a situation of significance and importance, particularly shifting the
perception gap, there will always be opportunities and obstacles for effectively communicating
3

with students. We have identified both opportunities and obstacles that are present in addressing
the situation. First, this campaign offers an opportunity to shift the norm by promoting a
healthier lifestyle while also having the chance to promote other campus services such as the
Younkin Success Center or the math and writing labs. Using these tactics to help shift the norm
will deem advantageous because it will offer the opportunity to show students there are other
ways to achieve academic success that do not include misusing prescription drugs. However,
obstacles such as having to shift student perceptions and encourage students to seek resources for
a healthier lifestyle, especially as a first-year who is exploring new situations, can pose
difficulties. There are a few reasons for these difficulties arising; not only are first-year students
unaware of the programs the Wellness Center offers or the tutoring or consultation services on
campus, they also want to fit in with their friends, making them less likely to seek the healthy
alternatives to prescription drug misuse. Both the obstacles and opportunities offer important
information for this campaign, which paired with the previous information in the situation
overview, will help build a successful campaign.
Organizational Overview
The Ohio State University Student Wellness Center promotes a healthier lifestyle to Ohio
State students through their nine dimensions of wellness. They utilize their professional and
student staff to conduct programs and meetings with students to address and help to prevent
unhealthy habits and lifestyles choices. The organization is physically located on the first floor of
the Recreation and Physical Activities Center (RPAC) on campus. Before 1995, the Student
Wellness Center was known as the Department of Health Promotion and was housed on the first
floor of the Student Health Center. It was in 2005 that the Student Wellness Center moved to the
new RPAC from the Wilce Student Health Center. The organization originated in 1982 dealing
4

with concerns such as AIDS education, although programs developed by the Student Wellness
Center have grown through the years. In relation to this campaign, in 1992 the substance abuse
program focus was established. In 2013, the Student Wellness Center underwent its most recent
renovation to offer more space for their employees and students (The Student Wellness Center,
2014).
Students at Ohio State, specifically first-year students, student-athletes and students
involved with Greek life are the major publics in this campaign. These groups are identified as
the key publics for the campaign because they are traditionally focus areas for the organization
as well as large groups on campus that are easily targeted. Additionally, these groups are
identified as being students who are more likely to misuse prescription drugs, specifically firstyears because they are new to the college environment. The only communication activity
focusing on prescription drug abuse that was provided by the Student Wellness Center has been
their Generation Rx campaign, in collaboration with the Pharmacy School. The organizations
future goals are mainly to reduce the perception gap, to prevent students from misusing
prescription drugs, while also decreasing the amount of students who already misuse prescription
drugs on college campuses through awareness promotion.
The internal environment of the Student Wellness Center is overall supportive of public
relations activities, and with the large number of appointments their staff has each week, they
appear to be producing quality and significant work. Through orientation programs and FirstYear Success series, the organization tries to reach out to the student body in various capacities.
According to Bryans presentation during the client visit, all of their programs are full and they
have around 27,000 interactions a year, such as presentations and weekly scheduled meetings
with their staff. First-year students are also given the opportunity to meet with the Student
5

Wellness Center during orientation to learn about their services. Unfortunately, even though the
Student Wellness Center is viewed positively, the external environment for the organization
often complicates matters. Students get bombarded with multiple activities and schoolwork, and
many overlook wellness. Additionally, a campaign of this sort may not necessarily be taken
seriously, especially if other students are telling their peers it is okay to misuse prescription
drugs.
Finally, the Wellness Center has both competitors and collaborators when it comes to
addressing the perception gap and prescription drug use on campus. Some of the collaborators
include Cardinal Health, who is providing the funding for the campaign to be developed, the
Ohio State Pharmacy School, the Younkin Success Center, the Office of Student Life and the
Wilce Health Center. These are the collaborators for the campaign because each offers services
and resources that will be beneficial and helpful when reaching out to students with alternatives
and statistics. The competitors are those who primarily promote the use of these substances as
acceptable and as a standard for college students.
Secondary Research
Purpose of Secondary Research
For our campaign, we identified a situation that has three key components. The first
component, and heart of the situation, was the existence of a large perception gap regarding drug
abuse at Ohio State. A second component we identified as being crucial to the situation included
stress among college students that can lead to increases in prescription drug misuse. Stress is
highly correlated with the misuse of stimulants as an academic steroid. A third component we
identified as central to the situation is the role of social norms as a critical factor in the misuse of
prescription drugs.
6

After identifying the situation, we conducted secondary research in order to better

understand the three components of this complex situation. We also conducted secondary
research in order to gain insights into past research that has been conducted, and to fill the gaps
in knowledge left by previous research.
As part of our secondary research, we wanted to gain knowledge about data that has
already been collected regarding prescription drug misuse on college campuses. Another
secondary research topic we investigated was the Student Wellness Centers statistics about
prescription drug misuse among Ohio State students. In addition, we looked at statistics about the
misuse of prescription drugs among college students across the country. We also investigated the
reasons college students decide to misuse prescription drugs in the first place. Finally, we
investigated both the physical and psychological causes and effects of prescription drug misuse.
Once these knowledge gaps were identified for the areas we targeted for secondary research, we
had a better vision for the many key factors, which play into our situation.
Ohio State Student Life Research
In order to obtain a better understanding of the problem that exists at our university, we
started by looking at the secondary research conducted by the Center for the Study of Student
Life. The purpose of the survey was to obtain a better understanding of the misuse of
prescription drugs on campus. The survey was conducted in 2011 and out of the 5,000 students
that the survey was sent to 975 responded (20%). The results found that the most commonly used
prescription drugs were stimulants (11.4%) and painkillers (10.5%). The majority of those who
abuse stimulants did not start using until their college years (67.5%) while those who abused
painkillers started abusing in their high school years (61.0%). The respondents reported it was
easy for them to obtain stimulants and most received the drugs from their friends. The survey
7

further asked why students abused prescription drugs and the top responses were to relieve pain
or anxiety, to get high, and to see what its like. Even though the study failed to ask
respondents if they were misusing prescription drugs as a study aid, additional questions showed
that students felt that prescription drugs had a positive impact on their grades. (Student Life,
2012).
The collected information shows students often obtain drugs from their friends and
demonstrated that it might be seen as a social norm to be prescribed stimulants and painkillers.
Using this source of secondary research help guided questions for our primary research.
This survey also asked students to estimate how often other students at Ohio State
misused prescription drugs. This is where we find the source of our issue and the biggest
knowledge gap in the situation; students perceive that 85% of students misuse prescription drugs,
when in fact only 15% reported misusing prescription drugs. This knowledge gap is the stem of
our issue because students believe a significantly higher amount of students misuse drugs. This
is prominent data for our research because the main focus of our campaign is to shift the
perceived knowledge gap of our university (Student Life, 2012).
Statistics on the Misuse of Prescription Drugs
Although the data obtained by the Wellness Center and by the School of Pharmacy was
useful, it is just a beginning to the research necessary for our campaign (Student Life, 2008). The
given statistics are instrumental to understanding the perception gap. They give background on
the demographics and psychographics of college students who misuse prescription drugs. These
given statics are also vital to the perception gap because they give strong conceptual knowledge
on the perception gap and why it is so large and growing. Because of the stress related to college,

these statics give insight on actual college students who misuse prescription drugs, which cause
the perception gap to increase.
Some students entering their first year of college already began to misuse prescription
drugs in high school and others are starting to misuse for the first time. It is estimated that on
some college campuses the misuse of prescription drugs is as high as 25% (Oregon State, 2012).
Seventy-one percent of colleges and universities surveyed by the Digital Citizens Alliance
Coalition stated prescription drugs were somewhat or very common among their
acquaintances and 31% said they or their friends had taken prescription medications to help them
study for exams (Weiss, 2013). A national study done in 2012 stated the 3% of students used
antidepressants, 0.9% misused prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction, 7.7% as painkillers,
3.8% for sedatives, and 8.1% for stimulants (Oregon State, 2012.) Many students began
misusing prescription drugs before college and nearly 1in 12 high school seniors reported nonmedical use of Vicodin, and 1 in 20 reported the misuse of Oxycontin (National Institute on
Drug Abuse, 2011).
When these students were asked how prescription narcotics were obtained for nonmedical use, 7% of the 12th graders reported a friend or relative gave them the drugs (National
Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011). After cannabis, non-medical use of prescription and over-thecounter medications accounted for most of the commonly abused drugs in 12th graders (National
Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011). Unfortunately, it is difficult to address the misuse of prescription
drugs because of the amount of students entering college who have already experimented with
prescription drugs. Up to 40% of college students misusing prescription drugs use intranasal
delivery, also known as snorting. Many might not even realize changing the delivery method of
a prescription drug can increase their risk of negative effects (Oregon State, 2012). Adderall is a
9

combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine and is used to treat attention deficit

hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
reported that college students were twice as likely to misuse Adderall as those of the same age
not in college (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012).
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2012 the rate of
current use of illicit drugs was 22.2% among full-time college students ages 18-22. Studies have
shown college students are more likely to misuse prescription drugs because of the stress related
to being a full-time student. Also, male full-time college students ages 18-22 are more likely to
misuse prescription drugs than females, 24.9%. For female college students the rate was 19.4%.
The survey also accounted for race; among full-time college students, the rate was 13.2% for
Asians, 22.7% for Hispanics, 22.7% for Whites and 25.6% for African Americans (U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). These results suggest the misuse of
prescription drugs does not affect one specific race or gender; it is cross-cultural and cross
gender.
There is no research confirming students are misusing prescription drugs to help keep up
with the demands of college. Despite minimal study being done, we can assume this might be the
case for many students. Because students are attending college full time, involved on campus,
work and have a social life, it is hard to keep up with all of the demands placed upon them. The
misuse of prescription drugs maybe directed to the sometimes-overwhelming demands of a
college students life. Furthermore, many students may not realize the harm in prescription drugs
because they are under the assumption if a doctor prescribed them they are okay to take, even
when it is not their own prescription. Because of this confusion, the misuse of prescription drugs
is increasing according to the Student Wellness Center and many college campuses are putting
10

forth more effort in educating their students on the misuse of prescription drugs. Using the
research we found on statics on the misuse of prescription drugs gives us good context and
background as we move on to the causes and effect of prescription drug misuse.
Causes and Effects of Prescription Drug Misuse
Furthering our research, we looked at what may cause students to turn to prescription
drugs in addition to the effects of taking prescription drugs. This relates to the perception gap
because to students, the desired effects of prescription drugs may outweigh the dangers
associated. Due to the fact that doctors prescribe the various ADHD medications, people tend to
believe that they are safe to take; however, this is far from the truth. Instead, these specific
medications can lead to overdose and addiction, as well as health problems such as psychosis,
seizures, and cardiovascular complications (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011).
Despite the numerous health risks associated with ADHD medications, Kentucky
University professor and researcher Alan DeSantis found that students see Adderall as slightly
more dangerous than Mountain Dew and nowhere near as dangerous as beer and smoking
(Cooper, 2011). This finding is worrisome because it shows the perception gap that exists
between students conceptions and the truth about prescription drugs. According to the Ohio
State Center for the Study of Student Lifes survey, students are misusing prescription drugs
because they feel it has a positive impact on grades; however, the survey does not ask whether
the students are aware of the health risks involved. Factors such as this may contribute to the
knowledge gap between the reasons students are misusing prescription drugs and what the actual
health risks associated with misuse are.
Another obstacle for prescription drug misuse campaigns is the accessibility of the
prescription drugs on college campuses. Organizations and researchers are finding that ADHD
11

medications are typically easier for students to get their hands on. Its easy not sketchy or
perceived in a bad way. Maybe a simple text or a phone call. Hey mind if I get some Adderall?
Ive got a long night ahead of me (Cooper, 2011). Alan DeSantis has tracked the use of
ADHD medication in a college setting. He stated, Its abused more than marijuana and easier to
get (Cooper, 2011).
Another thing to note is that DeSantis research found that half of all juniors and seniors,
and 80% of upperclassmen in fraternities and sororities, have used the drugs. This opposes the
study done by Ohio States Center for the Study of Student Life because their report found that
only approximately 10% of students actually use non-prescribed prescription drugs. Further, of
the 975 respondents for Ohio States survey, 91.8% of them were members of a fraternity or
sorority. This evidence does concur with DeSantis findings, thus creating various points
believed to be true.
Gaps in the Secondary Research
After conducting our secondary research, we found several holes in our knowledge about
the perception gap among college students. One of these holes was regarding why this perception
gap exists in the first place, and whether students agree with research findings regarding the
perception gap. Another critical piece of information that was lacking in the secondary research
was whether stress among college students has a correlation with prescription drug misuse. We
conducted primary research, through our survey, to address the general stress level of college
students, and whether this stress was more likely to lead to prescription drug misuse.
In addition to information about the general stress level of students, we also asked
questions regarding the social norms that students perceive about using prescription drugs. Our
secondary research gave us no indication about whether students are taking these prescription
12

drugs because of peer pressure, or to fit in with their friends. The survey question asked helped
to reduce these gaps in knowledge. Overall, paired with our secondary research, our primary
research helped us develop deeper insights into the problem of prescription drug misuse on
campus.
Primary Research
Purpose
We conducted primary research to fill in the knowledge gaps left from our secondary
research. These gaps included the cause of the perception gap and whether students were aware
that the perception gap exists. Our primary research helped us to better understand the reasons
why students misuse prescription drugs. It also allowed us to analyze social norms and attitudes
regarding prescription drug misuse. In order to fill these knowledge gaps, we distributed a
survey to students at The Ohio State University. Our survey questions addressed these
knowledge gaps, such as awareness and knowledge of the Student Wellness Center, the
perceived perception gap, perceived social norms regarding prescription drug misuse, and
attitudes and opinions regarding side effects of prescription drug misuse. The results of our
primary research help us to understand the cause of prescription drug misuse among students on
campus and will further help us to create a more effective campaign.
Methodology
We distributed an online survey using Qualtrics survey software. Survey questions
addressed topics such as students class and workload, awareness and knowledge of the Student
Wellness Center and its services, the perception gap regarding prescription drug misuse,
perceived norms, and perceived positive and negative effects of using prescription drugs.
We administered the survey online and recruited 95 students from our key publics (first
year students, student athletes and students involved in Greek life). Of these 95 students
13

recruited, 76 completed our survey. We also emailed the survey to Resident Advisors of first
year dorms to send to their residents and emailed the survey link to Greek Life chapter presidents
to be forwarded on to chapter members. We used a snowball sampling technique to recruit
participants (i.e., we asked that our survey link be forwarded on to as many members of our key
publics as possible). We also sent survey links to student athletes directly. In all of our emails,
we stated the purpose of our survey and that the survey would help us to create an effective
campaign on prescription drug misuse on campus. We also said that all responses were
anonymous and we gave a phone number in case anyone had any questions or concerns for
researchers. Participants were recruited from February 26-28, 2014.
Participant Demographics
Of our total sample, 20% were freshmen, 21% were sophomores, 18% were juniors, and
40% were seniors. Furthermore, 3% were Hispanic, 9% were African American, 5% were
Asian/Pacific Islander, 81% were Caucasian, and 2% were other. Of students, 34% lived in
residence halls, 2% lived in Greek Life housing and 62% lived off-campus. Regarding average
workload, 81% took 13 credit hours or more this semester and 67% had a job or internship.
Fifty-one percent were involved in one or two student organizations on campus. Thirty percent
were involved in three or four student organizations and 8% were involved in five or more.

14

Figure 1: Percentage of our Key Publics Recruited:

Primary Research Findings

Awareness and Knowledge of the Student Wellness Center
We asked several questions to assess whether students knew about the Student Wellness
Center and its specific programs and services. Of respondents, 92% knew about the Student
Wellness Center and 60% knew where it was located on campus. There were a wide variety of
responses regarding programs and services the Wellness Center offered. Many cited Condom
Club as a service and some mistakenly said that the center offered health check-ups. Of
respondents, 63% also have never used the Student Wellness Center before. These results
suggest that although students may be aware of the Student Wellness Center and know its
location, they may not know and understand fully the services they offer. Only 31% of students
stated that they had used services of the Student Wellness Center before. Therefore, because we
found that students are generally aware, our results suggest that we do not need to focus on
raising awareness for the Student Wellness Center and should focus instead on promoting the
services that the Student Wellness Center provides relating to drug misuse and healthy
alternatives.

15

Perception Gap
To gauge the perception gap regarding the perceived number of students that misuse
prescription drugs and the actual number, we asked survey respondents how many students they
thought used prescription drugs they do not have a prescription for. As shown in Figure 2 below,
our results show that 66% of respondents believed that 40% or less of the student population use
prescription drugs they do not have a prescription for. This finding suggests the perception gap
is not nearly as wide as we first thought based on our secondary research findings.
Figure 2: Perceived Prescription Drug Misuse Among Students on Campus

Norms
Regarding social norms surrounding prescription drug misuse, our survey results show
that only 21% of respondents agree or strongly agree that using prescription drugs will help with
academic performance. Seventy-two percent of respondents also strongly disagree or disagree
that others expect them to use prescription drugs. Only 8% of respondents agree or strongly
agree that most people they surround themselves with use prescription drugs without having
been issued a prescription. These results suggest that we do not have to focus as strongly on

16

changing social norms regarding prescription drug misuse, but rather reinforcing the personal
beliefs people already hold regarding prescription drug misuse.
Figure 3: Attitudes Regarding Norms of Prescription Drug Misuse

In order to gauge the attitudes students hold toward using prescription drugs without a
prescription, we asked students to choose between two adjectives that could describe prescription
drug misuse. As shown in Figure 4, our results show that most students believe prescription drug
misuse to be harmful, foolish and not useful, among other negative connotations. These results
further suggest that our campaign does not have to completely change opinions and attitudes
regarding prescription drug misuse, but rather reinforce personal attitudes and opinions that
using prescription drugs are harmful and not helpful.

17

Figure 4: Students Attitudes and Opinions Regarding Prescription Drug Misuse

Side Effects of Prescription Drug Misuse

In order to gauge the perceived side effects of prescription drugs, we asked students to
agree or disagree with statements using a Likert Scale. These statements included helping them
study, increasing energy levels, helping them to sleep and helping them to have a better time in a
social setting. As shown in Figure 5, we found that the majority of respondents agreed or
strongly agreed with every statement. This means that although students may perceive
prescription drug misuse to be bad and harmful, they also think there are various positive side
effects of using prescription drugs. For example, 51% of students agree or strongly agree that
prescription drugs will help them study. Of respondents, 36% agree or strongly agree that
prescription drugs increase energy levels and can also help to decrease stress. Sixty percent did
agree or strongly agree that prescription drugs have negative effects on ones health. Therefore,
we will need to highlight the negative effects of prescription drug misuse in our campaign.

18

Figure 5: Students Attitudes and Opinions Regarding Effects of Prescription Drug Misuse

Conclusions
Major findings from our primary research include that most students are aware of the
Student Wellness Center, but do not have knowledge regarding the specific programs and
services the center offers. These findings have implications for our campaign because they
indicate that we do not need to focus on raising awareness for the Student Wellness Center, but
rather focus on promoting the services that the Student Wellness Center provides relating to drug
misuse and healthy alternatives. Another major finding is that contrary to our secondary
research findings the perception gap is much smaller than we thought. This suggests that our
campaign does not need to focus on closing the perception gap as much as we first thought and
instead can focus on highlighting healthy alternatives to prescription drug misuse.
Other major findings are that students mostly perceive prescription drug misuse to be
harmful and not useful. They also mostly think that people do not expect them to use
prescription drugs and most do not surround themselves with people that misuse prescription
drugs. These findings have importance in our campaign because they suggest we do not need to
19

focus completely on changing perceived social norms, attitudes and opinions regarding
prescription drug misuse, but rather reinforce personal beliefs and attitudes people already have
that using prescription drugs are bad and not helpful. We found that many students agreed that
using prescription drugs has various positive side effects, such as helping them study, decreasing
stress or increasing energy levels. Although most did agree that prescription drugs could have
negative effects on ones health, we will need to highlight the negative effects of prescription
drug misuse in our campaign.
Key Publics
Our key publics include first-year students, student-athletes and students involved with
Greek life on campus. These three publics were chosen because they are the most likely students
to misuse prescription drugs as illustrated in prior research.
First-Year Students
The 2013 OSU class of first-year students is composed of 7,083 students and 5,078 are
from the state of Ohio (Undergraduate Admissions Quick Facts, 2013). There were 1,271
(17.9%) students of color and the male to female ratio is 50:50. Fifty-eight percent of admitted
first-year students were ranked in the top 10% of their high school class and 92% were ranked in
the top 25% of their high school class (Undergraduate Admissions Quick Facts, 2013). They
accumulated an ACT composite score range of 27-31 and a SAT score range of 1180-1340.
There were 500+ students from Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, California and Michigan, 300499 from New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, and Florida, 100-299 from Indiana,
Massachusetts, Georgia, North Carolina Wisconsin and Kentucky and students from every state
and territory (Undergraduate Admissions Quick Facts, 2013). There were also a total of 3,345

20

international students representing 73 countries. This class is also composed of students with 175
different majors and 475 specializations (Undergraduate Admissions Quick Facts, 2013).
First year students are our largest and youngest key public and are important for our
client because they are the easiest of our publics to access. They are required to attend first-year
student events, orientations and live in residential halls. They are also important because they are
new to campus. It could be easier to share information about the effects of the misuse of
prescription drugs with them because, as noted in our secondary researching findings, they have
very minimal experience with them. Because of these key advantages of first-year students, we
should be able to have the most influence over them. First-year students have very little power or
influence on campus and have not had the opportunity to get involved. They are easy to
influence but do not possess any influence, power or prestige. The best channel to reach them are
through social media and email, according to previous research. Social media is an ideal channel
because a lot of people have access to social media through their phones. Email is another idea
channel because everyone is assigned an email address when they arrive on campus, which
means all first-year students can be accessed through email.
Students Involved with Greek Life
There are currently 65 active Greek sororities and fraternities on campus composed of
four different councils: Interfraternity Council (IFC) Multicultural Greek Council (MCGC),
National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), and the Panhellenic Association (PHA) (Office of
Student Life Sororities and Fraternities, 2014). The IFC is the coordinating and governing body
for all of The Ohio State Universitys general and social male fraternities and is composed of 33
chapters. MCGC serves as the governing body for cultural and service oriented Greek-lettered
sororities and fraternities and is affiliated with the National Multicultural Greek Council
21

(MCGC) and is composed of nine chapters (Office of Student Life Sororities and Fraternities,
2014). NPHC serves as the governing body for all partnered organizations at The Ohio State
University and all nine organizations belonging to the NPHC are represented at Ohio State
(Office of Student Life Sororities and Fraternities, 2014). PHA serves as the governing council to
16 national female sororities at The Ohio State University. The council consists of over 2,000
sorority women and is responsible for promoting positive relations between sororities,
coordinating council-wide activities, formal recruitment, and informal recruitment (Office of
Student Life Sororities and Fraternities, 2014). In 2009, The Ohio State University Student Life
Research and Assessment conducted a Greek Life Survey. The survey included all 3,066
students who were active or new members of OSU Greek life during Spring Quarter 2009. Fortynine percent felt very connected to the OSU community compared to 0.8% who felt not
connected at all (Student Life Research and Assessment Greek Life Study, 2009). Sixty-three
point eight percent felt very satisfied with their experiences as a member of a Greek
Organization compared to 1.2% who felt very unsatisfied. Twenty-three point six percent are
employed on campus, 30.0% are employed off campus and 35.6% are not employed at all
(Student Life Research and Assessment Greek Life Study, 2009). Twenty-four percent agreed
that it was difficult to keep up academically during the new member process and 34.7%
somewhat disagreed. Seventy-five percent of sororities and 68.6% of fraternities agreed that the
academic performance of Greek life students was the same as other undergraduate students
(Student Life Research and Assessment Greek Life Study, 2009). Fifty-five point three percent
strongly agree that their chapter enforces the councils alcohol and drug policies and 42.7%
somewhat agree that there is a substance abuse problem among students at OSU. Thirty-nine
point nine percent somewhat agree that the Greek community places too much emphasis on
22

partying. Fifty point seven percent agree that they drink more than they did before they came to
OSU (Student Life Research and Assessment Greek Life Study, 2009).
Students involved with Greek life are important because they are typically not only
involved with Greek life, but are also involved with other organizations on campus. They can
assist in helping us achieve our goals and objectives because most sororities and fraternities host
a great deal of events on campus and a lot of students attend these events. Our study indicated
students who are involved with Greek life typically would experiment with prescription drugs for
recreational purposes. Given this fact, by targeting them, we can teach them the effects of
misusing prescription drugs, even for recreational purposes. Students involved with Greek life
have a lot of prestige and influence on campus, and by targeting these students they can help
change behaviors and social norms about the misuse of prescription drugs. They are also a
powerful group on campus and their power lies in the vast amount of sororities and fraternities
we have. Based on past research, the best channels to reach them are social media and attending
their events. They are easily accessible through social media because majority of the chapters
have Facebook and Twitter accounts. Attending their event is a great way to reach them because
they are all conjugated in one area so you can have more influence over that specific group.
Student-Athletes
In the winter of 2013 The Ohio State University Center for the Study of Student Life
conducted a profile of Ohio State Student Athletes. There are 1,342 student athletes at Ohio State
and 693 are female and 649 male competing in 36 varsity sports (A Profile of Student Athletes,
March 2013). 1,013 are white, 168 are black, 34 are Hispanic/Latino, 31 are Asian, and 81 are
undisclosed. 102 are honors students and 88 are scholar students (A Profile of Student Athletes,
March 2013). Seventy-three percent of student athletes aspire to become a leader in their field
23

and 67% want to establish a career where they can manage other employees (A Profile of
Student Athletes, March 2013). Seventeen percent feel that anxiety is an impediment to their
academic performance and 33% feel participation in extracurricular activities are an impediment
on their academic performance. Twenty-five percent feel that stress and 17% feel that sleep
difficulties are an impediment to their academic performance (A Profile of Student Athletes,
March 2013). Fifty-five percent feel they are in very good health compared to 4.3% who feel
their health is fair. The average cumulative GPA for student athletes was a 3.08 (A Profile of
Student Athletes, March 2013).
Student athletes are our last key public and are important because studies show that they
suffer from anxiety (A Profile of Student Athletes, March 2013). They are important because not
many of them are involved in other capacities on campus (i.e. student organizations, leadership
positions) besides their sports. Because they are not as involved on campus as other students,
they may be more difficult to target due to their inaccessibility. They are an easily recognizable
group of people, and may have a lot of influence on students on campus. They have a lot of
power because some of them will go on to play professional sports in their fields and are local
celebrities, which means people are tuned into their actions. When speaking with student
athletes, they stated the easiest channels to reach them are social media, email and their coaching
staffs.
Goals & Objectives
We developed two goals, which apply to all three key publics identified in the campaign.
Goal 1: Narrow the perception gap concerning students misusing prescription drugs.
Objective 1: To have an effect on students, specifically to increase their awareness by
20% that a perception gap exists by May 2015.

24

Objective 2: To have an effect on the acceptance of students, specifically to increase

positive attitudes toward a substance free lifestyle by 20% by May 2015.
Objective 3: To have an effect on the action of students, specifically reducing the
perception gap by 5% by May 2015.
Goal 2: Raise awareness of Student Wellness Center programs and services among students at
Ohio State University, ultimately increasing the usage of their programs and services.
Objective 1: To have an effect on the awareness of students, specifically to increase
student's knowledge of the programs and services the Student Wellness Center offers by
10% by May 2015.
Objective 2: To have an effect on the acceptance of students, specifically to increase
positive attitudes toward the programs and services offered by the Student Wellness
Center to students by 10% by May 2015.
Objective 3: To have an effect on the action of students at Ohio State, specifically to
increase students intentions to use the services offered by the Student Wellness Center if
they needed them by 10% by May 2015.
Overall Strategy
To meet our goals and objectives, we will take a proactive approach that engages our
publics by implanting ideas that work with the organization by generating publicity, creating and
newsworthy information. We think that using a proactive approach would be most beneficial in
reaching all of our key publics because we are aiming to actively change perceptions regarding
prescription drug abuse and to increase their involvement with the Student Wellness Center. We
will use specific proactive action strategies focusing on organizational performance, building
alliances, and engaging our audience engagements. Our specific action strategies include the
following.

Audience Engagement. We will engage with students at events such as Buck-I-Frenzy,

First-Year Welcome orientation and Social Media Contest. We will provide flyers and
other promotional material as well as conduct a social media contest for freshmen. We
will participate in the involvement fair as well as Buck-I-Frenzy to continue our efforts to
promote alterative options to prescription drug misuse.

25

Special Events: We will host a Celebrate Wellness event to promote various services
that the Student Wellness Center offers, and we will provide giveaway items such as
stress balls for students with our slogan and tagline so they have a reminder of the
message at home.

Alliances and Coalitions. We will form alliances with First-Year Experience, RPAC,
Ohio Student Union, and Greek Life in order to reach larger audiences and spread our
campaign further. We will use the Ohio Union TVs and the RPAC to distribute campaign
messages, and will work with First-Year Experience to conduct events and information
sessions during orientation and welcome week.

In addition to action strategies outlined above, we will also include two proactive
communication strategies focused on generating news and publicity.

Generating News: We will provide The Lantern with statistics about drug misuse to help
generate news for our campaign. We will also provide them with newsworthy stories
about the risks of drug misuse and the alternative options that the Student health Center
offer.

Publicity: We will also use the news media to generate publicity for our Celebrate
Wellness Event on campus.

We believe that using a proactive strategy to reach our goals and objectives would be most
successful because we are focusing on establishing salient views on the Student Wellness Center,
while shining a light on the issue of prescription drug misuse. Our overall message strategy is to
promote valuable information about alternatives to prescription drug misuse; our key message
will focus on the negative effects of prescription drug misuse, and what misuse actually means.
In our messaging campaign we will focus on promoting three overall areas of wellness on our
posters, handouts, and orientations. We will focus on promoting intellectual, emotional, and
social wellness. We chose these specific areas because our survey suggested that students believe
the main reasons for prescription drug misuse were using it as a study aid, for anxiety, and
because of curiosity. In order to achieve our goal about narrowing the perception gap of drug
misuse, we will be conducting a social media campaign on Twitter to engage our target audience
with statistics about drug use on campus, the legality of misusing prescription drugs, and other
26

key messages. We feel that social media will be most effective because it can reach large
amounts of people in a short amount of time; it also provides the opportunity to retweet or
favorite tweets, which allows viewers to share the message or save it for later recall.
Our campaign slogan will be What Up Wellness. We believe this will provide a
positive tone for our campaign and be catchy enough for people to easily remember. This slogan
also encourages our publics to explore wellness and see how it can benefit them. Below our
slogan we will include a tagline reading finding the healthy alternative for prescription drug
abuse we will be consistent in our promotional materials and use the same logo and tagline
throughout our campaign to make the message as easily recognizable as possible. Examples of
our logo and promotional material can be found in Appendix A.
Messaging Strategy
Our primary research showed that the majority of students know that drugs are bad and
can have negative consequences; yet, many still believe they can help reduce anxiety, help with
sleep, and assist in studying. By providing statistical information through various media
channels, we will be able to highlight the negative consequences of prescription drug misuse.
Our research also showed that many students dont understand what the term misuse actually
means. We will take this opportunity to provide information of what misuse is, how to recognize
it, what to do if you think someone you know is misusing drugs, and alternative options instead
of misusing prescription drugs. Further, we will focus on promoting services of the Student
Wellness Center to help students deal with common stressors that cause prescription drug
misuse. We will use social media to inform our publics about study sessions, various workout
programs to relieve anxiety, and other programs that the Student Wellness Center offers.

27

In order for us to communicate our key messages, we plan to use various rational
approaches such as those listed below.

During welcome week, we plan to have a social media contest. During the contest, firstyear students will be invited to follow us on Twitter where we will post various questions
in regards to prescription drug misuse. This will help to engage our key publics as well as
provide them with information about the consequences of prescription drug abuse. By
providing such material to first-year students before they begin college, the message will
be more salient and more likely that the students will remember it. An example of a tweet
that students would respond to is below.
o Taking an Adderall from my friend to help me study for a midterm would be
considered drug misuse? #Whatupwellness (True/False)

During the weeks of Buck-I-Frenzy, the Involvement Fair, and Greek week we will set up
booths to provide students with information regarding the consequences of prescription
drug misuse, we will provide a salient definition of misuse to our publics, and provide
them with healthy alternative options to combat prescription drug misuse. We will give
out stress balls as well as flyers at these events with our logo, slogan, and tagline on
them. During these events large amounts of students from many different demographics
are present, which will help spread our message throughout the OSU community.

By using various media outlets, social events, and alliances we will be able to not only reach
large audiences but it will also make the information that we are spreading to be more concrete
within the student body. To make our message salient we will provide students with information
such as the consequences of drug abuse, how to identify prescription drug misuse and the healthy
alternatives that are available to them at OSU. We plan to have our campaign last for 1-year
hoping that if students are seeing/hearing about the effects of prescription drug misuse during
various times of the year the information will eventually become more salient and accessible. We
believe that the Celebrate Wellness Event will be most successful in providing students with
alternative options to coping with different issues that cause prescription drug misuse. We plan
to begin promoting this event at the start of winter semester, we will use the OSU Lantern
newspaper to place advertisements, we will hang posters around campus, and we will chalk the
sidewalk and to provide students with the time and location of the event. During this event, we
28

plan to engage the student body with various activities, food sponsors, and giveaways to promote
specific services of the OSU Student Wellness Center and encourage students to choose healthier
alternatives to prescription drugs. By providing students with statistics about prescription drug
abuse and exposing them to different ways to cope with stress, study-anxiety, sleep-deprivation
and other common causes of drug abuse, we will be able to reduce the perception gap and
promote the services offered by the Student Wellness Center.
We will use representatives from the Student Wellness center from the specific areas of
wellness we will be covering, intellectual, social, and emotional wellness, to promote our
campaign. We will have representatives from the writing center, tutoring, student disabilities
office, recreational sports department, and psychological services amongst others talk with our
student body about the services offered at the wellness center, and how these services can benefit
them. They are educated on the campaign and the services that the center offers, they have
experience in speaking to large groups and promoting specific events, and are able to gear
messages and tones to specific audiences. They would be most effective in promoting the
campaign because they are the ones that stand behind it and they are the ones that would be able
to answer specific questions that the audience may have.
Tactics
Overview of Goal 1 Tactics
Goal 1: To narrow the perception gap concerning first-year, Greek Life, and student-athletes
misusing prescription drugs.
Tactics:

Educational flyers in orientation folders, residence halls, and classroom buildings that
entail common misconceptions about prescription drugs and the truth about misuse

15-minute information session that focus on statistics during day one evening orientation
activities led by members of the Student Wellness Center. Articles & information pieces
in the Lantern and U-Weekly focusing on alternatives to prescription drug use

Dates & Data Student Planner advertisement focusing on alternatives

29

Information session/speaker at fall and spring athlete meetings and Greek Life organized
events
Campaign advertisements on Campus Area Bus Service busses
Creation of a Celebrate Yourself! Event that will promote the Student Wellness Center
and alternatives to prescription drug misuse

Justification of Goal 1 Tactics

Our high-level goal is to narrow the perception gap concerning students misusing
prescription drugs, therefore, we will implement various interpersonal, organizational, news
media, and promotional tactics to spread awareness and accurate information to students. First,
we will place flyers in students orientation folders and residence halls. These will provide firstyear students with information to make better decisions regarding prescription drug misuse,
specifically, common misconceptions and the actual truths associated with the issue. They will
be colorful and simple in order to properly reach students. We will also have an interactive
information session during day 1 of orientation. Like the flyers, this too will target first-year
students and generate awareness about prescription drugs, narrowing the perception gap and
bringing negative side effects to light. The information session will be led by members of the
Student Wellness Center in order to convey accurate information from those associated with the
resource. The next tactic that will be used is pitching an article and information piece to the
Lantern and U-Weekly newspapers. While we are targeting first-year, Greek Life, and studentathletes, these newspapers will reach a variety of students and work on narrowing the perception
gap. Another thing we plan to use is an information exchange at the fall and spring athlete
meetings. The exchange will include a guest speaker present all athletes with information
regarding the perception gap and prescription drug misuse. The Student Wellness Center will
also use advertisements and promotions to create awareness of the realities of prescription drug
misuse around campus. Through advertisements on all Campus Area Bus Service, students will
30

see facts about prescription drug misuse, which may help change perceptions and narrow the
existing gap even more. Lastly, our Celebrate Wellness! event will reinforce the informational
pieces students will be encountering throughout the year. This is designed to be a fun event put
on by Ohio States Student Wellness Center to not only promote the campaign, but also promote
campus resources and provide students with an outlet to get away from the books and come have
a good time. The event is primarily attempting to promote prescription drug misuse awareness
and decrease the existing perception gap.
Overview of Goal 2 Tactics
Goal 2: To improve the organizations relationship with students on Ohio States campus,
ultimately increasing the usage of their programs and services.
Tactics:

Student Wellness Center tables at the fall and winter Involvement Fairs and Buck-iFrenzy

Welcome week social media competition

Informational lessons in first-year success series for all majors

Advertisements focusing on the Student Wellness Center services and alternatives to

prescription drug use on media screens in the RPAC and Ohio Union

Student Wellness Center programs in collaboration with RAs in the residence halls
to get students involved with the Wellness Center while learning about its services
Justification of Goal 2 Tactics
This campaign is also designed to improve the Student Wellness Centers relationship
with students on Ohio States campus, ultimately increasing the usage of their programs and
services. We plan to do this through a series of interpersonal and news media communication
tactics. First, the Wellness Center will have tables at the fall and winter Involvement Fairs as
well as Buck-i-Frenzy in order to establish a presence with students on campus. These are
events that members of our key publics will attend, as well as students in many different
organizations. The tables will have information about the many services that the Student
Wellness Center provides. Another tactic we will use is to host a social media competition
31

where students will be challenged to create their own advertisement for the Wellness Center.
This will be implemented to further spread awareness about the many things Ohio States
Student Wellness Center does, while getting members of our target audience involved via
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Next, we will include informational lessons in all of the firstyear Success Series courses for all majors. These will target first-year students specifically and
explain all the things the Wellness Center can do for them. In order to further target first-year
students, the campaign will also hold programs in collaboration with residence hall RAs to
increase awareness with the Wellness Center. Lastly, advertisements in the RPAC and Ohio
Union promoting the services of the Wellness Center via message boards will be implemented in
order to reach all students on campus. These places will help to reach the maximum number of
students. While these are the direct tactics involved with building a relationship with students,
we will also promote the Student Wellness Centers many services in the information sessions
mentioned in Goal 1. Through the visible tactics our campaign will implement, we will reach
first-year, Greek Life, and student-athletes in order to ultimately narrow the perception gap by
20% and improve the relationship between students and the Wellness Center.
Budget
The figure below outlines our budget and expenses for this campaign. Our table is split
up into four categories; total items ordered, the price per item, the item name, and the projected
dollar amount for the purchase. We then list our projected costs as well as our projected revenues
in order to show our spending in detail. Overall, our campaign is going to cost $10,000.00, with
it being split up amongst three key areas. We are focusing on promotional items, advertisements
and our culmination event.
In the budget, we have included various promotional items such as stress balls, pens,
32

massagers, t-shirts and magnets. We will use the magnets for students to hang on their fridge
units in the residence hall and in Student Life Offices across campus. Additionally, we have
indicated the cost of advertisements including the CABS bus advertisements, the Dates & Data
advertisement, orientation flyers and flyers for around campus. The Dates & Data advertisement
will be printed in the student planner released by the Ohio Union Activities Board that is sold to
Ohio State students. The orientation flyers will be put in every incoming students orientation
folder in order to promote the issues of the campaign surrounding one of our key publics. We are
spending the majority of our money on our final event with the additional half going to
promotional items and advertisements combined. The reason we are able to spend such a large
amount on the final event is because we are able to save money and offset costs in other areas.
By hosting events on campus through the Office of Student Life, they were free of charge,
resulting in us not having to spend excess money on space rentals or equipment fees. We are also
able to use the graphics department free of charge and the Student Wellness Center staff for free
for our programs. For our promotional items, we bought a larger quantity of the cheaper items
and are just using the expensive items sparingly in order to lower costs. Overall, our budget is
being used in all essential areas and we were able to purchase items and advertisements at lower
prices in order to use the money we were allocated the most effectively. A detailed table
explaining the budget can be found in Appendix B.

33

Timetable
The figure below describes our timeline for this campaign. We have split our campaign
up into four quarters, the first being June to August, the second September to November, the
third December to February and the fourth March to May. In the first quarter of 2014, we expect
to predominantly create awareness amongst first-year students through flyers and programming
at orientation in the months of June and July. Beginning in August we plan to extend our
campaign to a larger audience during Welcome Week and the first few weeks of classes. We will
launch our updated website, create a social media push, create awareness regarding the misuse of
prescription drugs and the Student Wellness Center during both the Involvement Fair and Bucki-Frenzy and produce a media kit for the campus newspapers. In addition, the pre-campaign
survey needed for the evaluation plan will be administered to all key publics.
Looking at the second quarter, our efforts will focus on targeting each of our three
publics as well as advertisements around campus to promote the campaign and the Student
Wellness Center more broadly. During September we plan to hold an information session for all
fall athletes, as well as publish a news release in the Parent and Family Relations monthly
newsletter, which goes out to predominately first-year students parents. Additionally,
throughout the months of September, October and November, we will have the Student Wellness
Center staff facilitate informational programs for the first-year success series as well as advertise
in the RPAC, Ohio Union and common eating areas across campus. Next, during the month of
October, we will target first-year students by putting up flyers in the residence halls as well as
classroom buildings around campus. During the fall Parent and Family Weekend we will have an
information table for parents and students and as our first target for our Greek Life public, we
will host the standards of excellence informational presentations regarding prescription drug
34

misuse during Homecoming Week. All members of the public are required to attend an event
targeting safety, health and wellness to meet their requirements, which is why the Office of
Student Life uses Homecoming Week to host the speaker. Homecoming Week is a weeklong
festivity for the Greek Life community ranging from social events to community service. Our
last push for the second quarter is placing advertisements in the Ohio Union Activities Board
Dates and Data Planner as well as advertisements on CABS busses.
During the third quarter, things will slow down slightly. December will just have one
event during finals week where the Wellness Center will pair with the Office of Student Life to
promote healthy studying and stress relievers. We will then begin in January with a table at the
Winter Involvement Fair and an additional two weeks of CABS busses advertisements. In
February we will host another information session for Spring Athletes, by putting up additional
flyers in the residence halls for first-year students as well as collaborate with RAs to host
programs in the residence halls promoting awareness.
Lastly, during the fourth quarter we will bring all of our efforts together. We will begin in
March by holding our last standards of excellence presentation for the Sorority and Fraternity
Life community during Greek Week. Similar to fall semester, we will collaborate with the Office
of Student Life to promote healthy studying during finals week. We will then finish out our
campaign with an event called Celebrate Wellness!, held on the RPAC plaza. This will not only
continue to promote awareness but be our final push for the campaign. As the quarter comes to
an end, we will use April and May to collect data in order to evaluate the functionality and
success of the campaign and share our results. In May 2015, we will administer the postcampaign survey needed for the evaluation plan. A detailed table of our timeline can be found in
Appendix C.
35

Evaluation Plan

Our campaign has two overall goals with three objectives for each goal. We will evaluate
the effects of our campaign using a pre- and post-evaluation survey. We will administer the preevaluation survey to key publics in August 2014. We will then administer the post-evaluation
survey to key publics in May 2015
Goal 1: The high-level goal is to narrow the perception gap concerning students misusing
prescription drugs.
Objective 1: To have an effect on first-year students, student-athletes, and students in
Greek Life specifically to increase their awareness that the perception gap exists by 20%
by May 2015.
We will evaluate this objective by surveying students in key publics in Aug 2014 to see if
they believe a perception gap for college students exists regarding the misuse of
prescription drugs The answers on the survey will be on a 5 point Likert scale with
answers ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. We hope to see a 20%
increase in the number of key publics who answer, strongly agree or agree by May
2015.
Objective 2: To have an effect on the acceptance of first-year students, student-athletes,
and students in Greek Life, specifically to increase positive attitudes toward a substance
free lifestyle by 20% by May 2015.
We will evaluate this objective by asking key publics at the beginning of the campaign in
August 2014 if they believe fewer students use prescription drugs without a prescription
than most students realize. The answers on the survey will be on a 5 point Likert scale
with answers ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. We hope to see a
20% increase in the number of key publics who answer strongly agree or agree.
Objective 3: To have an effect on the action of first-year students, student-athletes, and
students in Greek Life, specifically reducing the perception gap by 5% by May 2015.
We will measure this objective by asking key publics in August 2014 what percentage of
college students they believe are misusing prescription drugs. We will then calculate the
average percentage students give as an answer. In May 2015, we will re-administer this
question. We hope to see a 5% decrease in this average percentage between Aug 2014
and May 2015.
Goal 2: Another important goal is to raise awareness of the Wellness Centers programs and
services with students on Ohio States campus, ultimately increasing the usage of their programs
and services.

36

Objective 1: To have an effect on the awareness of first-year students, student-athletes,

and students in Greek Life specifically to increase the student's knowledge of the
programs and services the Student Wellness Center offers by 10% by May 2015.
We will evaluate this objective by asking students in key publics in August 2014 to
make a list of 5 programs and services the Student Wellness Center offers. We will
count the number of students who have 4 or more correct answers on their list. We will
then re-administer the survey in May 2015. We hope to see a 10% increase in the number
of students in key publics who can list 4 or more correct answers.
Objective 2: To have an effect on the acceptance of first-year students, student-athletes,
and students in Greek Life, specifically to increase their positive attitude toward the
programs and services the student wellness offers to students by 10% by May 2015.
We will evaluate this objective by asking students in key publics at the beginning of the
campaign in August 2014 if the Student Wellness Center offers programs that are
valuable to students. The answers on the survey will be on a 5 point Likert scale with
answers ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. We hope to see a 10%
increase in the number of student who answer strongly agree or agree by May 2015.
Objective 3: To have an effect on the action of first-year students, student-athletes, and
students in Greek Life at Ohio State, specifically to increase students intentions to use
the services offered by the Student Wellness Center if they need them by 10% by May
2015.
We will measure this objective by asking students in key publics in Aug 2014 whether
they plan on using Student Wellness Center services if they ever have the need. We
will then re-administer the survey in May 2015. We hope to see a 10% increase between
the number of students in key publics intend to use Student Wellness Center services in
Aug 2014 and the number of students in key publics who intend to use Student Wellness
Center Services in May 2015.
A summary of the campaign evaluation as well as further detail can be found in Appendix D.

37

Appendix A Campaign Materials

This first logo will be our main design. It will be used on all merchandise and promotional items
that are handed out as well as on the bottom of flyers and other advertisements.

This is our first flyer. It will be put up around campus as well as a part of our advertisements and
promotional handouts during our larger events.

38

This is our second and third flyer. They will also be put up around campus and for the CABS bus
advertisements and orientation flyers.

39

Appendix B
The table below gives a detailed outline of the campaign budget.
Ohio State Student Wellness Center Campaign Budget Summary
2014-2015
Total Items

Price Per Item

Item Name

Projected Amount
(US$)

Project Costs
Promotional Items
1500
2000
1000
100
500
Advertisements
80 (4 weeks)
1
7500
2550
Events

$0.75
$0.27
$0.80
$5.50
$1.50

Stress Balls
Pens
Massagers
T-Shirts
Magnets

$1,125.00
$540.00
$800.00
$550.00
$750.00

$1.00

CABS Bus Ads

$80.00

$150
$0.10
$0.10

Dates & Data Ad

Orientation Flyers
Campus Flyers

$150.00
$750.00
$255.00

Spring Semester Celebrate Wellness! Event

Food
Actives & Games
Giveaways
Equipment
Speakers and Guests

Event Total: $5,000.00

$2,000
$1,000
$750
$250
$1,000

Subtotal
Project Revenues
Subtotal

$10,000.00

Net Project Cost (Project Cost-Project Revenues)

40

$$10,000.00

Appendix C
The table below gives a detailed outline of the timeline for the campaign.
Ohio State Student Wellness Center Campaign Timeline Summary
2014-2015
Date

Task/Activity

Category

June & July

Flyers in all first-year students orientation folders.

Direct Information Subsidy

June & July

15-minute quick statistic information session during all Day 1 evening orientation activities.

Information Exchange

August

Student Wellness Center table at Fall Involvement Fair and Buck-I-Frenzy.

Special Event

August

Launch updated website with all new information on misuse of prescription drugs.

Digital Media

August

Welcome Week Social Media Competition

Social Media

August

Lantern/U-Weekly Article and Information Piece

Newspaper

August

Administer Pre-Campaign Survey

Research

Quarter 1 (June - August)

Quarter 2 (September - November)

September

Information Session/Speaker at the 'Fall Athletes' semester meeting.

Information Exchange

September

News release in the Parent and Family relations monthly Newsletter.

Direct Information Subsidy

September - November

Facilitation of informational programs for the first-year success series for all majors.

Information Exchange

September - November

Table tents with statistics and information placed in North/West/South Commons.

Out-of-Home Advertising

September - November

Advertisements on media screens in the RPAC and Ohio Union.

Electronic Media Advertising

October

First round of flyers put up in all residence halls and classroom buildings.

Out-of-Home Advertising

October

Sorority and Fraternity Life Homecoming Week standards of excellence presentation.

Information Exchange

October

Information table during Parent and Family weekend.

Special Event

November

Place advertisement order with Ohio Union Activities Board Dates and Data Planner.

Print Advertising

November

2 weeks of advertisements on all CABS busses.

Out-of-Home Advertising

December

Student Wellness Center partnership with Office of Student Life for Reading Day Events

Special Event

January

Student Wellness Center table at Winter Involvement Fair.

Special Event

January

2 weeks of advertisements on all CABS busses.

Out-of-Home Advertising

Quarter 3 (December - February)

February

Information Session/Speaker at the 'Spring Athletes' semester meeting.

Information Exchange

February

Second round of flyers put up in all residence halls and classroom buildings.

Out-of-Home Advertising

February

Student Wellness Center programs in collaboration with RA's in the residence halls.

Personal Involvement

March

Sorority and Fraternity Life Greek Week standards of excellence presentation.

Information Exchange

April

Student Wellness Center partnership with Office of Student Life for Reading Day Events

Special Event

April

Celebrate Yourself! Event

Special Event

April & May

Collect data to evaluate functionality and success of campaign.

Research

May

Evaluate campaign and data collections. Administer post-campaign survey.

Research

Quarter 4 (March - May)

41

Appendix D
Summary of Campaign Evaluation
Key Public
First-Year Students,
Student-Athletes,
Students in Greek
Life

Goal
Objective
Narrow the perception Awareness
gap concerning
students misusing
prescription drugs.
Acceptance
Action
Raise awareness of
the Wellness Centers
programs and services
with students on Ohio
States campus,
ultimately increasing
the usage of their
programs and
services.

Awareness

Acceptance
Action

Measurement
Pre-Post campaign
survey *

Pre-Post campaign
survey*
Pre-Post campaign
survey*
Pre-Post campaign
survey*

Pre-Post campaign
survey*
Pre-Post campaign
survey*

*Further details about pre-post campaign survey:

The pre-campaign survey will be administered using the same methodology as our primary
research. We will administer the survey through Qualtrics and use the same types of recruiting
tactics as we used in our primary research.
The pre-campaign survey will be administered August 2014 in order to ask the questions needed
for our evaluation plan, as well as to gain more thorough details about the key publics we will be
targeting in the 2014-2015 school year. For the post-campaign survey, we will be returning to the
same people that we surveyed in the pre-campaign survey to ask them the same questions as we
used on the pre-campaign survey. The post-campaign survey will be administered May 2015.
In the pre-campaign and post-campaign surveys, basic demographic data will be collected on
variables such as age, race, gender, and whether the student is a member of any key public. In
addition, students will be asked questions regarding the measures of the evaluation plan listed
above which require pre-post campaign surveys.

42

References
Author Not Listed. (2011, December). Topics in Brief: Prescription Drug Abuse. National
Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/topicsin-brief/prescription-drug-abuse
Compton, W. M., & Volkow, N. D. (2006). Abuse of prescription drugs and the risk of
addiction. Drug and alcohol dependence, 83, S4-S7.
Cooper, Aaron. (2011, September 1). College students take ADHD drugs for better grades.
Cnn.com. Retrieved from
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/01/health/drugs-adderall-concentration/
Dresner, Brett. (2013, October 23). Prescription drugs pose a serious epidemic on college
campuses. The Pitt News. Retrieved from
http://www.pittnews.com/opinion/article_a8522632-3c54-11e3-a9c8-0019bb30f31a.html
Heartquist, Erica. (2013, November 4). ADHD drug abuse rises on college campuses. Kwg.com.
Retrieved from
http://www.kgw.com/news/ADHD-drug-abuse-on-college-campuses-230593251.html
Help for Prescription Drug Abuse. Retrieved from
http://smu.edu/smunews/liveresponsibly/prescription-drug-abuse.asp
Hersh, J. (2012). Prevention and Treatment of Prescription Drug Abuse on the College Campus.
Retrieved from http://www.acha.org/AnnualMeeting/webhandouts_2012/TH2129%20Hersh_J.ppt
Join Together Staff. (2012, June 13). Study Links Prescription Drug Abuse and Depression,
Suicidal Thoughts in College Students. Drugfree.org. Retrieved from
http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/mental-health/study-links-prescription-drug-abuseand-depression-suicidal-thoughts-in-college-students
Keeler, Meredith. "Adderall Addiction: Students Misuse Drug to Gain Boost While Studying."
Iowa State Daily. Iowa State Daily, Dec. 2012. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
Kuta, S. (2013). CU-Boulder Launching Adderallproblems Campaign to Curb Prescription Drug
Abuse. Daily Camera. Retrieved from http://www.dailycamera.com/cunews/ci_24719042/cu-boulder-launching-adderallproblems-campaign-curb-prescriptiondrug
Office Of Student Life. "Student Athletes: A Profile of Ohio State Student
Athletes." Cssl.osu.edu. Center for the Study of Student Life, Mar. 2013. Web.

43

"Results from the 2012National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National
Findings." Results from the 2012 NSDUH: Summary of National Findings, SAMHSA, CBHSQ.
N.p., 2013. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.

"Student Health Services." Prescription Drug Abuse. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2014.
Student life, O. O. (2008). Drug survey descriptive statistic. (Master's thesis, The Ohio State
University)Retrieved from cssl.osu.edu
Student life, O. O. (2012). Non-medical use of prescription and non-prescription mediations.
(Master's thesis, The Ohio State University)Retrieved from cssl.osu.edu
Student Life Research and Assessment. "2009 Greek Life Study." Cssl.osu.edu. N.p., Summer
2009. Web.
The Ohio Union." At Ohio State University. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
The Student Wellness Center. (2014, January). Student wellness center, about us. Retrieved from
http://swc.osu.edu/about-us/
"Topics in Brief: Prescription Drug Abuse." Prescription Drug Abuse. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 06
Feb. 2014.

44

What Up Wellness

45