Last year, the Trojan Health Report Card placed FAU at No. 53 nationwide in promoting safe sex. This year FAU moved up 22 spots in the new survey.
The seventh annual Trojan Sexual Health Report Card ranked 141 colleges and universities nationwide based on sexual health resources and information available to students on campuses nationwide. This year, FAU is ranked 31st, making significant gains from its spot at 53 last year.
Bert Sperling, a professional data analyst, provides information to students and school administrators on how they can improve their school rankings on sexual health through his crunching the numbers.
“We look at the hours of operation for student health centers, the availability and cost of contraceptives for both sexes, peer groups, STD testing, and how sexual assaults are handled,” according to Bert Sperling’s website.
This year, the survey graded college and university student health centers nationwide on 11 different categories.
The University of Illinois took the top spot in Trojan Sexual Health Report Card this year, “excelling in almost every category,” said Bert Sperling. UF dropped from eighth last year to 12th, at the same time FIU increased from 76th to 56th, and FSU has made the most sizable gain to 71st spot this year from 102nd last year. Columbia University found their place at number three spot, down from first place last year.
FAU’s ranking this year is better than what it was in 2011, and the school has made measurable changes that attributed to the rise in ranking for the university, according to Today and Beyond Wellness (T&BW) Director Christine Lynch.
“The expansion of the sexual health programs offered through our department, the multitude of campus events offered through our office that pertain to sexual health, and the inclusion of other departmental offerings helped to boost our ratings,” Lynch said.
FAU’s T&BW department this academic year is having a sexual health awareness week called “Sexual Responsibility Week,” which takes place Feb. 11 to 16 by hosting the Condom Olympics.
“This will be a week-long series of events covering many different topics of sexual responsibility,” Lynch said. “Student organizations or even just groups of friends can sign up to participate, earn points for each event, and have a lot of fun, while hopefully learning a thing or two.”
According to Lynch, T&BW has no plans for a sexual health blog at this point. However, FAU does have a website like the University of Illinois, which helps inform the student body on campus about promoting safe sex.
“We already have an Ask the Expert feature on our website, which allows students to ask anonymous questions pertaining to any health topic,” Lynch said.
Today & Beyond Wellness on campus provides free male condoms (latex and non-latex), free female condoms, free dental dams, free lubricant (water and silicone-based), and free HIV testing on certain Thursdays of the month to help FAU students obtain health services.
Lynch also says that for FAU’s ranking to reach the top, the solution would be for students to be more involved on campus.
“The best way for us to improve our ranking is for students to keep utilizing our services. Participate in the activities that Today & Beyond Wellness and the Peer Education Team host, take advantage of our free HIV testing, attend our workshops,” Lynch said. “And of course, it’s important for all students to promote and instill a sense of sexual responsibility both within themselves and our community.”
For more information, visit www.fau.edu/today/index.php.
