The StepUP program at Augsburg College strives to help students champion lives of recovery, achieve academic success, and thrive in a residential community of accountability and support.

Established in 1997, StepUP works with students ages 17-27 who have demonstrated their commitment to sobriety and wish to work towards a degree in a supportive recovery-based environment.

The culture of StepUP is shaped by its core elements: abstinence-based recovery models, mutual support groups, peer-to-peer recovery support, and other proven pathways to healthy recovery - along with the residential component of the program.

In addition to trained counselor support, StepUP is a community of over 100 students in recovery, with a designated residential space.

StepUP's holistic approach to recovery focuses around students developing healthy minds, bodies, spirits, and emotions.

Patrice Salmeri, LADC, is the Director of the StepUP Program and the President of the Association for Recovery in Higher Education.

The StepUP program staff:
Dr. Scott Washburn, LADC, Assistant Director
Timothy Brustad, LADC, Intake Coordinator
Kristin Wilcox, LPC

Students live in on-campus recovery housing, have individual support meetings with licensed alcohol and drug counseling staff, and participate in team and community-building activities. Students have access to academic skills specialists and other support services on campus in order to ensure their educational success. Participation in StepUP offers students leadership opportunities within the program, on campus, and in the greater Twin Cities community. Our students give back through leadership and service and thrive in an alcohol- and drug-free environment. In StepUP, students join together to form a community in which recovery is celebrated as a normal part of personal growth. Many of the friendships and bonds that students form while participating in the program last a lifetime.

In order to qualify for the program students must be committed to a 12-step or other proven, abstinence-based recovery program, have a minimum of six months of continuous sobriety, agree to abide by the StepUP student agreement, and live in StepUP housing.