No matter what type of peer educators you have on campus, no matter what issue your student leaders are working with, one thing remains true. There are some core skills, such as listening and confrontation, presentations skills and stress management, that are integral to the success and personal growth of all peer educators.

The BACCHUS Network™ has created the Certified Peer Educator (CPE) Training Program to help campuses train their student leaders, whether they are health educators, Greek leaders, or residence life staff, on those topics at the core of the identity of peer educators.

Eight individual training tapes (each approximately 90 minutes long) make up the CPE program. Use all eight, or use them one at a time for a workshop series.

Training One: Caring and Helping Within Limits
Training Two: Listening Skills (Part One)
Training Three: Listening Skills (Part Two)
Training Four: Responding and Referral Skills
Training Five: Confrontation Skills
Training Six: Presentation and Programming Skills
Training Seven: Role Modeling and Ethics
Training Eight: Taking Care of Ourselves: Time and Stress Management

Everything You Need Is Included
Everything a facilitator or trainer needs is included in the CPE Program Kit. A 200 page Facilitator Manual outlines step by step interactive exercises, role plays with discussions and lectures on each topic. Each student receives their own Student Workbook to follow along with the training.

Facilitator's have two ways to present the lectures. Each lecture is on a videotape and can be shown to the audience or they may use the lecture outline to "give the lecture live." The same is true with the more than 20 role plays included in the CPE Training. Each role play is on videotape, ready to be played and discussed. In addition, the scripts for all role plays are included in the manual so peer educators can act them out as part of the training.

After The Complete Training, Students Are "Certified"
After completing the CPE Training, and passing a Post-Test, students can submit their test to The BACCHUS Network™ to be nationally "certified" as a peer educator by our organization. Students who are certified receive a membership card, and resume attachment stating that they have been trained in the core skills that will make them a better leader, role model, activist and friend.

Ways to Use the CPE Program
There seem to be four ways campuses have chosen to take advantage of the CPE training. These four ways are:

1. A One-Time Full-Length Training
To conduct the entire CPE Training takes somewhere between 10 and 12 hours, depending on whether you want to participate in all of the interactive exercises. Some campuses decide to create a "retreat-like" setting and conduct the training over the course of one very long day or a two-day weekend. The advantages to this are the amount of group bonding and team building experiences that also can be included to really bring the group together. This is especially true when the training is spread out over more than a day and conducted at an off-campus site.

The other advantage of a one-time training experience is everyone who commits to beginning the program completes it. You do not have to worry about schedule conflicts, etc. The group then becomes certified at the same time, from the same training.

2. Training Spread Out Over Eight Weeks
Each of the eight training modules are written as a 60-90 minute training. It is very easy to schedule each of the modules as it's own training. There are several advantages to conducting the training this way. First of all, your audience members will be more attentive and focused for 60-90 minute blocks than they could be for all day sessions. Also, because each module is its own topic, you can really zero in on the specific issue at hand. By spreading the training out there is more opportunity for retention and to see how the training can be applied in the work they are doing.

3. In the Curriculum
A few campuses have used the structure of the CPE and incorporated the learning objectives of each section into their academic curriculum. Campuses have used all or pieces of the CPE Training as part of First Year Experience courses, Human Services or Sociology practicums, or even as one-credit courses made up of just the eight CPE modules.

4. As In-Services or Individual Training Sessions
An important asset of the CPE Training is even though it is one complete training, it is made up of eight individual pieces that can stand alone. In addition to certifying peer educators for completing the entire eight-part series, many professional advisors and educators like having the eight trainings available for those students who may be interested in one or two of the trainings (listening skills, taking care of yourself, etc.) as individual in-services. The professional advisor can make the training modules available to all other student leadership organizations for them to "check out" as they see fit.

Designed to be Flexible
No matter what type of training regiment your campus feels is best, the CPE Program can be a part of that training. It is designed to be that flexible. Whether you want CPE for part of the curriculum, individual trainings, mid-year residence life training, Greek officers or student government leaders, or to nationally certify those peer educators working on your campus, the CPE Program can be part of your core skills training.

Here's what students say about CPE...

"The Certified Peer Educator Training has given me better people skills and I will be able to use these skills in almost any problem situation."

"I am applying for a Resident Assistant position and if I get the job, CPE training will help me perform it better."

"I'll use these skills to better help others as well as myself in dealing with pertinent issues."

Order Your Copy Today!
Call the Materials Center at 952-920-8999 to place your order (credit card and purchase order). Also visit The BACCHUS Network™ store!