​​Addressing the Opioid Crisis in Maryland Today and Tomorrow: Accessing the Student’s Voice, a Public Service Announcement Competition   ​

The deadline to submit a PSA has been extended to March 6, 2020.

PSA Submission Link

The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC), with support from the Maryland Opioid Operation Command Center, invites all college students to compete in developing a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to educate the general public about the opioid epidemic in Maryland. Submissions must be on one of the following 4 topics:

  • Naloxone

  • Fentanyl

  • Maryland’s Good Samaritan Law

  • Before It’s Too Late state initiative & MD’s Suicide Prevention Program (Call 211 Press 1)

Contest winners will receive scholarship money. The state of Maryland may use the winners’ PSAs for a statewide campaign, including airtime on local and cable channels and social media distribution.

Submission Requirements:

1. MPT Technical Requirements: 

  • Video: - 1920x1080 - 29.97fps - ProRes HQ (220mbps) preferred, however, H264 @ 30-35MB OK - .mov or any wrapper

  • Audio: - 2 Channel Stereo LR - ACC (512) or PCM-LPCM

  • Captions can be embedded or .scc sidecar file is acceptable​

​If you need assistance with these technical requirements please contact our offices to provide assistance.

2. Attendance at one of the four retreats​. Students are expected to attend 1 of 4 regional retreats, which will include general education about the opioid epidemic. Resources that are offered throughout the state to address the opioid epidemic will be discussed. While students submitting proposals are required to attend, the regional retreats are open to the general public. If multiple students are submitting one PSA (i.e., a group project), at least 50% of the students must have attended a retreat.​

UPDATE: If you were unable to attend one of the retreats, you can meet this requirement by attending a naloxone training at your local health department or by an Authorized Training Entity.  We also encourage you to watch the below video presentation by Steve Shuh, Executive Director for the Opioid Operation Command Center, regarding the opioid epidemic in Maryland.​

3. Evidence that the individual student or student group has sought input and support from a content-relevant resource. Relevant resources may include campus resources (e.g., campus counseling/health centers, campus and student organizations, faculty, campus staff, and leadership), local organizations (e.g., local department of health, recovery center), state organizations (e.g., MedChi, Maryland Patient Safety Center), or national organizations (e.g., Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, American Psychological Association). This can be documented with a 500-1000 word description of how the resource was identified and contacted, the nature of their input, and how that input was or was not incorporated into the video submission.  

4. All videos must be submitted electronically by 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 15, 2020, March 6, 2020PSA Submission Link. ​

5. All submission guidelines must be met to be considered for the contest. 

6. All submissions are final and cannot be altered by the entrant after submission. 

7. Video submissions will not be returned and may be used for current or future opioid campaigns. 

8. A narrative on how the workload was distributed between all students must be included. For example, student 1 contributed 25%, student 2 contributed 30%, and student 3 contributed 45%. This will be used to determine the distribution of award money.

9. Only Maryland students at the undergraduate and graduate levels are eligible to participate in the contest.

Here are two examples of student-produced PSAs regarding the opioid epidemic.​
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