Peer Recovery Student Employee

Position Title:  Peer Recovery Student Employee

Organization:  Division of Student Affairs

Department:  Health and Wellness Promotion

Hourly Wage:  $11.00

Average Hours/Week:  5-10 hours/week

Supervisor:  Assistant Director, Substance Use Intervention Services

Questions:  recovery@iu.edu 

Unit Description:

The Collegiate Recovery Community is a non-clinical support program for students in recovery from substance use and behavioral addictions. The program is based out of the Office of Health and Wellness Promotion (HWP), which is an education and outreach office within the Division of Student Affairs that facilitates educational presentations, wellness events, and healthy behavior campaigns for topics like stress, nutrition, sexual health, sleep, physical activity, and alcohol. 

General Purpose:

The Peer Recovery Student Employee works to promote a healthy, safe, and recovery-friendly campus environment. They serve as a bridge between the student body and the Collegiate Recovery Community, and play a key role in developing, sustaining, and growing the recovery community through programming, outreach, and student-led initiatives.

Essential Duties:

The Peer Recovery Student Employee assists in hosting peer support meetings and planning substance-free social activities that foster connection and belonging. They conduct periodic check-ins with students, provide outreach education and stigma reduction, and support recruitment efforts to expand awareness of recovery resources on campus. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Peer Support & Meeting Facilitation: Attend and help facilitate peer recovery support meetings and create welcoming spaces for students in recovery.
• Event Planning & Community Building: Plan and support substance-free social activities and recovery-focused events that strengthen connection and belonging within the recovery community.
• Outreach, Education & Recruitment: Conduct outreach to students, classrooms, and campus organizations to raise awareness of recovery resources and encourage engagement in the Collegiate Recovery Community.
• Student Check-Ins & Resource Referral: Provide peer-to-peer check-ins and support, and refer students to appropriate campus or community resources when additional support is needed.
• Role Modeling: Serve as a positive role model by demonstrating recovery-affirming behaviors, inclusive language, and healthy coping strategies.
• Administrative & Program Support: Assist with office administration, attend required meetings and trainings, track outreach efforts, and support general program operations. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Knowledge of and commitment to a holistic approach to wellness and health, including understanding of addiction recovery support 
• Ability to work independently in deadline-sensitive environment and consult when appropriate.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Skills in multi-tasking, organization, and prioritization of project tasks.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Gained in this Role:

Get hands on experience in public health and health promotion. As a result of employment, the team member will be able to demonstrate each of the Learning Profiles. Below are example learning outcomes students should expect to develop during employment with Health and Wellness Promotion.

Profile 1: Communicator

The student conveys ideas effectively and ethically in oral, written, and visual forms across public, private, interpersonal, and team settings, using face-to-face and mediated channels. Communicators are mindful of themselves and others, listen, observe, and read thoughtfully, ask questions, evaluate information critically, create messages that demonstrate awareness of diverse audiences, and collaborate with others and across cultures to build relationships. The communicator:

• Demonstrates active listening skills when working with co-corkers and meeting with students
• Complete self-reflections and organize thoughts and feedback for staff meetings
• Engage others respectfully and present information clearly in classroom presentations and at resource tables

Profile 2: Problem Solver

The student works individually and with others to collect, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to implement innovative solutions to challenging local and global problems. The problem solver:

• Draws on understanding of health promotion to develop creative and engaging program ideas
• Modifies program elements based on evaluation responses and makes recommendations to staff members
• Collaborate on group projects with Peer Health Educators and Program Assistants
• Identifies connection between health interventions and broader public health priorities

Profile 3: Innovator

The student builds on experiences and disciplinary expertise to approach new situations and circumstances in original ways, is willing to take risks with ideas, and pose solutions. Innovators are original in their thoughts and ask others to view a situation or practice in a new way. Innovators are good decision makers, can create a plan to achieve their goals, and can carry out that plan to its completion. Innovators use their knowledge and skills to address complex problems to make a difference in the civic life of communities, and to address the world’s most pressing and enduring issues. The innovator:

• Creates benchmarking reports after investigating best practices in health promotion 
• Identifies underlying factors for broader health behaviors, and uses knowledge to inform program decisions
• Identifies connection between health interventions and broader public health priorities

Profile 4: Community Contributor

The student is an active and valued contributor on the campus and in communities locally and globally. They are personally responsible, self-aware, civically engaged and they look outward to understand the needs of the society and their environment. They are socially responsible, ethically oriented, and actively engaged in the work of building strong and inclusive communities, both local and global. The community contributor:

• Leads grassroots awareness campaigns, recruits volunteers, plans strategies, and leads vocally
• Hosts community resource tables with sign-up sheets, awareness pledges, and stigma reduction campaigns