Running head: SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 1

Safe Sex Infos and Super Smash Bros.: A Report on an Outcome Based Assessment Program

Focused Around Safer Sex Practices

Lila Welsh

Western Carolina University

SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 2

Planning

Program Name: Safe Sex Infos and Super Smash Bros.

Program Purpose: The purpose of this program was to provide a space

where students can learn about safer sex practices in

a judgment-free environment as well as providing

an opportunity for students to connect with others in

the building through a Super Smash Brothers (SSB)

tournament.

Program Goals: 1) Students will gain an increased knowledge on

safer sex practices and be able to use this

knowledge when they next engage in sex.

2) Students will make a connection with one or

more other residents that live in Buchanan Hall.

3) Students will interact with me as the Graduate

Community Coordinator and learn who I am and

what my role is in Buchanan Hall.

Program outcomes 1) Students will gain increased knowledge of safer

sex practices through open discussions, handouts,

and infographics.

2) Students will make a connection with another

student that lives in the building through playing

against them in the game SSB.

SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 3

3) Students will make a connection with me as their

Graduate Community Coordinator and understand

what my role is in Buchanan Hall.

As stated above, the purpose of this program is to allow residents of Buchanan Hall to

engage in learning about safer sex practices while also encouraging them to meet new people and

make new connections through a SSB tournament. This program is sponsored by the Department

of Residential Living. When planning the Safe Sex Infos and Super Smash Bros, it is important

to understand and align with the vision of Residential Living. Below is the vision of the

Residential Living Department:

Department of Residential Living Vision

We strive to create living and learning communities where students feel valued as

individuals and where diversity and fellowship with others can be celebrated.

While maintaining a high level of quality service, we also encourage and provide

opportunities for personal growth and development of character, leadership,

honesty, respect, and pride.

(Western Carolina University, n.d)

Aspects of the Residential Living departmental vision statement were incorporated into

the program. These include: creating communities where students feel valued, where fellowship

with others is celebrated, and encouraging and providing opportunities for personal growth. This

program is a way for students to learn outside of the classroom and in a more relaxed

environment while still having fun.

Implementing
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 4

To begin the process of implementing a community-wide program, a proposal must first

be completed and submitted to the central office (Appendix A). As shown in Appendix A, a

proposal must detail when and where the event is taking place, the subject of the event, if the

event meets institutional priorities, if the event is in collaboration with campus partners, how the

event will be advertised as well as a proposed budget. In my proposal, I listed a budget of zero

dollars as the resources, such as: a Nintendo Switch, the game SSB, an HDMI cable, and the

fliers (Appendix B), I would be using for this program were either free or I already owned them.

I also stated that I would not be partnering with a campus partner. I did attempt to

partner with Health and Wellness Education, contacting Jaelyn Wynn, Assistant Director for

Health & Wellness Education, prior to the planning of the event. But after a brief in-person

discussion, it was concluded that they were unable to provide resources or assistance at the time.

The Buchanan resident assistants assisted me in this community-wide program not in the

planning of the program but in the implementation of the program the day of as well as in the

advertisement.

The proposal (Appendix A) also required that a method of advertising be listed. I chose to

use a flier (Appendix C) however there were possible other methods of advertising listed as a

possibility for advertisement. On the day of the program, I also sent out an email blast to every

resident in the building to remind them of the program happening that night, in addition to the

word of mouth advertisement by myself and my resident assistants.

In choosing the time for the program I had to take into account not only my own schedule

but the schedules of my resident assistants and when would be an optimal time frame for

students to come. As such, Thursday, November 21st at 6:00 PM- 8:00 PM was chosen. This

date was chosen also under the assumption that a majority of students would still be in the
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 5

building as those who planned on leaving early for Thanksgiving break would leave the

following day. The space chosen for the program was the large lobby area in Buchanan that had

a large TV, a pool table, a ping pong table, and many couches facing the TV on which students

could sit and play.

The night of the program my Resident Assistants and I set up the Nintendo Switch to the

large TV in the main lobby of Buchanan Hall using an HDMI cable. The Nintendo Switch

already had SSB loaded onto it and the informational fliers were laid out on the ping pong table.

On a whiteboard near the TV, a bracket was made for students to write their names in to play.

Alongside the informational fliers was a blank sheet of paper for students to sign their names and

student ID numbers (Appendix D) and a short quiz where students could test their new

knowledge about safer sex practices (Appendix E).

Assessment

The method through which I assessed the goals of the program (Appendix E) was

primarily focused on the learning outcome of increased knowledge of safer sex practices as this

was the primary goal. Students were expected to take the quiz by filling out a blank answer sheet

as seen attached to the end of Appendix E. However, I also used the sign-in sheet (Appendix D)

as another form of assessing the efficiency of the program through evaluating how many students

attended and noting where they respectively live in the building to see how much interaction they

likely would have had previously. The sign-in sheet also addressed their levels of interaction

with me as the Graduate Community Coordinator, if they are residents who have previously

frequented community-wide programs then they have had previous interactions with me as their

Graduate Community Coordinator and understand my position. To do this I compared this

program to my previous community-wide program (Appendix F).

SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 6

The following chart details the outcome delivery alignment matrix, what the learning

outcomes of this program were and if the outcomes were evaluated and met:

Learning Outcomes Safer Sex Materials Super Smash Graduate Community

and Quiz Brothers Tournament Coordinator
Participation

Students will gain

X X
increased knowledge
of safer sex practices
through open
discussions,
handouts, and
infographics.

Students will make a

X
connection with
another student that
lives in the building
through playing
against them in the
game Super Smash
Bros.

Students will make a

X X
connection with me
as their Graduate
Community
Coordinator and
understand what my
role is in Buchanan
Hall.

Results
In the Residential Living Department, after a community-wide event, an attendance

tracking form must be completed (Appendix G). The event had 8 residents in total attend with 3

uniquely new residents in attendance when compared to a previous community-wide program

(Appendix F). Of these 8 residents one lived on the ground floor of the building, two lived on the
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 7

first floor, three lived on the second floor, one lived on the third floor, and one from another

residence hall. The diversity of where the residents lived in and outside of the building shows

that the program encouraged interactions between people who do not traditionally interact. This

was verified by the building roster. As the program had 3 residents who did not previously attend

a community-wide program this allowed for these residents to get to know me as their Graduate

Community Coordinator as I facilitated the discussion as well as played SSB with the residents.

Of the eight students, six completed the safer-sex quiz and of these six students the average score

on the quiz was an 85% (Appendix H).

When comparing the assessment used for this program to the traditional method of

program assessment that the residential living department implements, see Appendix G, this

method shows an engagement with the program rather than just a headcount.

Reflection and Recommendations

I think that one of the more interesting outcomes was that students came to the program

that traditionally did not attend community-wide programs. Most of my decisions leading up to

the implementation of this program were in an attempt to optimize the attendance of this

program. So it was rewarding to see this pay off in the attendance of different residents than

those who typically attend programs. Also in my implementation of the program I attempted to

have gender and sexually inclusive discussions on safer sex practices, going beyond the initial

departmental initiatives stated and including diversity into the program.

In future implementations of this program I would try to have more than one console and

game going at a time. While the residents who played the game enjoyed their time playing, they

would often have to wait and watch others play and grow bored. I would also recommend a prize

for the tournament winner as this may help in raising attendance of the program. In the future it
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 8

would be helpful in assessing the effectiveness of the program by doing a pre-survey on safer sex

practices before the program and then after the program. While verbally the students told me that

they learned, there is no hard evidence that the scores they got on the quiz were influenced by

what they had learned or if it was knowledge that they had coming into the program. It would

also be beneficial in the future to have safer sex products there to distribute and demonstrate

with, though as my department does not allow this I was unable to do so at the time.

In conclusion, overall I do view this program as a success as typically educational

programs in the residence halls have a lower turnout. However, the residents who attended said

that they had fun and learned from the program. This is a program I intend to use again in the

future though I will be adjusting my program based on the reflections that I have completed

through this process.

SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 9

Appendix A
Safe Sex Infos and Super Smash Bros. Program Proposal
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 10
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 11
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 12

Appendix B
Informational Fliers Used for Sex Education
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 13
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 14
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 15

Appendix C
Flier Used for Advertisement
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 16

Appendix D
Student Sign-in Sheet (Student IDs removed per FERPA)

Appendix E
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 17

Quiz Administered at the End of the Program

SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 18
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 19
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 20
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 21
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 22

Appendix F
Previous Sign-in Sheet (Student IDs Removed per FERPA)
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 23

Appendix G
Community-Wide Attendance Form
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 24
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 25

Appendix H
Safer Sex Quiz Results
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 26
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 27
SAFE SEX INFOS AND SUPER SMASH BROS 28

References

Western Carolina University.(n.d.). About Residential Life: Vision. Retrieved from

https://www.wcu.edu/experience/life-on-campus/residential-living/about/index.aspx