The Virginia Higher Education Substance Use Advisory Committee (VHESUAC) is pleased to report on coordination of college alcohol and other drug education, prevention, recovery and intervention programming in the Commonwealth of Virginia. VHESUAC partners include public and private institutions of higher education (IHEs), student leaders, state agencies and statewide organizations committed to reducing student substance use and promoting effective policies and practices.

VHESUAC aims to create an environment and culture that values student health and safety and supports prevention and intervention efforts on campuses across the state. VHESUAC hopes to accomplish this by promoting a collaborative and coordinated effort among Virginia’s colleges and universities to advocate for prevention programming and treatment services, implement researchbased approaches and facilitate a network for information sharing and action planning.

Virginia ABC Education and Prevention coordinates VHESUAC. The structure includes two tiers: the Executive Council and Workgroup.

During this reporting period, Executive Council and Workgroup members met to begin implementation of the Virginia Higher Education Substance Use Prevention Strategic Plan. The members also had many conversations at the beginning of the fiscal year about potential funding options for the committee, resulting in a state budget line-item proposal. While the committee was not able to secure funding from the state budget in the end, the conversations held during the exploratory process will prove helpful in future efforts to identify and secure funding. This report intends to detail these meetings, as well as explain the formation of VHESUAC, its current structure and its vision moving forward. This report will also describe the touch points VHESUAC has with the various institutions of higher education across the Commonwealth through the VHESUAC Campus Newsletter.