Longhorn Wellness Peer Educators

The goal of the Longhorn Wellness Peer Educator program is to actively engage students in building necessary skills to be effective health promotion leaders on campus. Longhorn Wellness Peer Educators work to empower fellow UT students to make well-informed decisions about their wellbeing and positively influence a healthy campus culture.

Meet the 2022-2023 Longhorn Wellness Peer Educators.

Become a Longhorn Wellness Peer Educator!

Applications for the next cohort of Longhorn Wellness Peer Educators will open in Spring 2024.

Please reach out with any questions to the Longhorn Wellness Center at longhornwellnesscenter@austin.utexas.edu.

There are many benefits of being a Longhorn Wellness Peer Educator, including:

Earning academic credit for public health experience
Gaining knowledge on a variety of health topics relevant to college students, which may include mental health, sleep, substance use, healthy sexuality and more!
Positively influencing your peers and UT campus
Helping students connect mental and physical well-being
Building public speaking and group facilitation skills
Advocating for a healthier campus and creating change in a meaningful way
Talking to fellow students about sensitive health and wellness topics
Developing leadership skills and engaging in professional development
Becoming part of a supportive team
Engaging in opportunities to practice self-care

Service Hours

In addition to academic learning, peer educators are required to complete service hours that include outreach, workshop facilitation, tabling, planning wellness programs, mentorship, participation in UT’s Wellness Network, and other support for the Longhorn Wellness Center.

Program Outline and Requirements

Peer educators must commit to three consecutive long semesters (fall-spring-fall).
There are no academic prerequisites for the Longhorn Wellness Peer Educator program.

Semester	Course Credit	Service Hours	Course Code	Course Description
1 (fall)	3 hours	10	HED 378I	Prepare to be a peer educator through discussions, lectures, readings, assignments, shadowing of senior peer educators and interactive exercises. Start the planning of a campus health initiative and learn about a variety of health topics.
2 (spring)	1 hour	20	HED 178G	Take the lead on conducting campus outreach through facilitating workshops, tabling and other events while continuing to develop your own campus health initiative. Learn about different resources and services available to students.
3 (fall)	1 hour	30	HED 178J	Continue to conduct campus outreach through facilitating workshops, tabling and other events as a senior peer educator while serving as a mentor to incoming peer educators. Complete the development of your campus health initiative and learn about community health resources and services.

*For those in the Bridging Disciplines Program, the first semester class (HED 378I) meets the requirement for credit in Ethics and Leadership (under the Ethics of Health Care strand); Social Inequality, Health, and Policy (under Public Health as well as Family, Fertility, and the Life Course); and Social Entrepreneurship and Non-Profits (under the Health and Health Care strand).

Questions? Contact us at (512) 475-8252 or email longhornwellnesscenter@austin.utexas.edu.