The Virginia Higher Education Substance Use Advisory Committee (VHESUAC) is pleased to present its first annual report prepared by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (Virginia ABC). VHESUAC has made considerable strides in establishing structure and connecting with necessary partners since beginning its work on July 1, 2018. Such partners include public and private institutions of higher education, state agencies, and statewide partners in substance misuse prevention.

VHESUAC aims to create a campus, community and statewide environment and culture that values health and safety and supports substance misuse prevention efforts among colleges and universities. Through this, VHESUAC will promote a collaborative and coordinated effort among Virginia’s colleges and universities to advocate for prevention programming and recovery support, implement science-based approaches, and facilitate a network for information sharing and action planning.

The structure of VHESUAC is based on best practices from other states and includes two tiers: the Executive Council and Workgroup.

The Executive Council of VHESUAC formed and is planning its first meeting for 2019. The Workgroup of VHESUAC also formed and held its first and second meeting during 2018. Agency and institution representatives were presented with an environmental scan to give pertinent knowledge on the status of college student substance use and campus prevention efforts, and were provided the opportunity to network and plan next steps. A data collection plan to inform a Virginia status report on substance use behaviors and perceptions among college students and substance use prevention programming across campuses was also presented to agency and institution representatives. This report intends to detail these meetings and key findings of the environmental scan, as well as explain how VHESUAC came to be, its current structure, and its vision for the future.