April 8, 2008 — The APPLE Conferences, the University of Virginia-led program to promote student-athlete health and wellness, has won the 2008 Silver Excellence Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

U.Va.'s Center for Alcohol and Substance Education annually hosts two APPLE conferences, which have become the leading national training symposiums dedicated to substance abuse prevention and health promotion for student-athletes and athletics administrators. The goal of the conferences is to assist schools in promoting student-athlete health by empowering teams of student-athletes and administrators to create institution-specific action plans.

The conferences introduce new participants to the APPLE ("Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education") model and provide returning schools with tools and ideas to enhance previous work. U.Va. provides free technical assistance to colleges who participate in the conference and communicates with team contacts at least twice over the following year.

U.Va.'s NASPA award is in the category for Athletics, Recreation, Physical Fitness, Non-Varsity Sports and Related areas. NASPA is the leading organization for student affairs administration, policy and practice, and affirms the commitment of student affairs to educating the whole student and in integrating student life and learning.

"It is clear that [the U.Va.] program stands out among the best in the country," said NASPA Executive Director Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy.

Since 1992, the National Collegiate Athletic Association and U.Va. have partnered to disseminate the APPLE model at minimal cost to NCAA-member institutions. To date, 925 prevention teams representing  442 NCAA-affiliated institutions have replicated the APPLE model by participating in these conferences.

For information, call Susie Bruce, co-director of Center for Alcohol and Substance Education, at 434-924-5276, or visit the Web site, www.virginia.edu/case/apple.