AlcoholEdu FAQs

AlcoholEdu for College uses research-backed information to:

• Encourage students to make safer decisions with alcohol and other drugs
• Prepare students to respond to risky situations related to substance use
• Know of resources on campus related to substance use and recovery
• Help students reach their personal and academic goals

It’s not a “just say no” program. AlcoholEdu is a personalized and interactive training designed to help students and communities stay safe.

All incoming first-year and undergraduate transfer students are required to complete this training.

Dangerous drinking and other substance use is a public health problem that affects nearly every college campus in the country. Many students choose not to drink or use other drugs, but will still be exposed to risky substance use situations in college. AlcoholEdu promotes community safety by teaching everyone skills for handling dangerous situations they may encounter in college.

If you have concerns about completing the training due to its content, a waiver can be confidentially requested through the PatientConnect portal.

You’ll receive an email and login link when it’s time to complete your training. Look for an email from “BU Wellness Courses”  at the following times:

• Fall students will receive an email in mid-August
• Spring students will receive an email in early January
• Summer students will receive an email in late May

You will need to have your BU login and Kerberos password to log into the training.

Part 1 of AlcoholEdu takes approximately 1.5 to 2.5 hours to complete. You don’t have to do the training all at once. Each section ends with a “Next” button. Be sure to click this button before you close the browser or you may have to repeat that section again the next time you log in.

Part 2 of the program takes approximately 15 minutes to complete. You can also take this section in multiple sittings.

Yes. Students’ individual answers to questions in the training will not be shared with BU. The University will receive information about the student body’s responses as a whole. This information will be used to better understand students’ knowledge of resources and inform future programming and policies.

The training includes certain accessibility features, including closed captions and content narration.

You can also change your preferred language for certain parts of the training. To do this, toggle the language option to the right of your email address within the training.

Part 1 of this training is a University Compliance requirement for incoming undergraduate and transfer students. Students who do not complete the training by the deadline will be withheld from using the course planner and registering for classes their second semester of coursework.

Fall-Start	Spring-Start
You will become non-compliant with the University on October 15 if you have not completed the training. Online students will become non-compliant with the University on November 15.	You will become non-compliant with the University on March 1 if you have not completed the training. Online students will become non-compliant with the University on April 5.

You will be able to access Part 2 about six weeks after you complete Part 1. You will receive an email when it’s time to complete Part 2 of the training.

You can confirm that you completed training and met your Compliance requirement on the MyBU Student Portal:

• Log into MyBU Student Portal 
• Go to “My Health & Wellbeing” on the top menu bar
• Select “Check Compliance Status” on the Quick Links list

Please Note: It it can take 24 hours for your compliance status to update

Part 2 of training will become available about six weeks after you complete Part 1. You will receive an email when it’s time to complete Part 2 of the training.

Most technical issues can be fixed through the following troubleshooting tips.

If you are accessing training from a computer:

• Restart your browser or try a different browser. Note: On a Mac you’ll need to fully quit the browser.
• Make sure you are using a recent version of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari. If you have any pending updates, they may need to be completed to move forward with training.
• Clear your browser’s cache & cookies, which are typically located under your browser’s history settings.
• It is possible that device-specific browser extensions and/or pop-up blockers may be interfering with your training. Try accessing the training from another browser to rule out this possibility.
• If you’re stuck within the training, your screen may be zoomed in too much – causing you to miss the prompt or navigation button. To zoom out on a PC or Chromebook, hit “control 0 (zero). On a Mac, hit “command 0 (zero)”

If you are accessing training from a mobile device:

• The trainings are compatible with many mobile devices; however, some students may have personal configurations that prevent certain courses from loading.
• Some custom and policy courses are best displayed on a computer. If you are experiencing difficulty loading our training on a personal device, try accessing the courses through a laptop or desktop computer

If you’re still experiencing technical issues, help is available through our training vendor, Vector Solutions:

• Submit an online ticket
• Call all 866-384-9062 (toll free)

Please note: Phone and online ticket support is available Monday through Friday between 8:00am – 6:00pm EST

A Kerberos account is a secure account used to access online services at Boston University. New and incoming students will receive special instructions for creating a BU login name and Kerberos password from the Registrar. If you need to set up a BU login, click here.

When you log into the training, you’ll be prompted to BU’s two-factor authentication service (i.e. Duo Security) to confirm your identity using your smartphone device. Fore more information and assistance with Duo, please visit the IS&T website.