Engaging Other Campus Community Members in Our ATOD Work

Lauresa Wigfall from the UMES ATOD Center shared lessons she had learned from building relationships in the campus community. Her partnerships include:

• People who manage logistics for campus events
• School of Pharmacy
• Student organizations
• SGA leadership
• Local health department
• Chief of Police

Key Takeaways:

• Be polite! “Please” and “thank you” go a long way.
• Get out of your silo and be available to work on projects outside ATOD.
• Meet people in person and make eye-contact.
• Meet people where they are. For example, if trying to form community partnerships, go out into the community to talk to people.
• Think of people you would not normally think are interested in prevention work – they might end up being your biggest collaborators!
• Ask for help when you need it.
• Keep open lines of communication with campus and community
  partners and share information when you get it.
• Building partnerships does not happen overnight. Keep reaching out.
  Give it time.
• Do not give up. Someone is always listening to your message even if you are unaware at the time.
• Work on capacity building with everyone. No one is too big or too small to connect with.
• Do not be afraid to ask experts in other areas for help.
• Work smarter, not harder!

Other takeaways:

• Learn to say “No” if there is too much on your plate.
• Use MD-CAS data in setting your agendas. For example, rely on your strategic objectives when trying to decide which tasks to take on.