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HE 031 162

Ryan, Barbara E.; DeJong, WilliamMaking the Link: Faculty and Prevention.Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other DrugPrevention, Newton, MA.Department of Education, Washington, DC.1998-00-0037p.

SS95013001Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other DrugPrevention, Education Development Center, Inc., 55 ChapelSt., Newton, MA 02158-1060; phone: 800-676-1730; fax:617-928-1537; e-mail: HigherEdCtr@edc.org; World Wide Web:http://www.edc.org/hec/Guides Non-Classroom (055)MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.Academic Achievement; Active Learning; *Alcohol Abuse;College Environment; College Faculty; *College Students;Departments; *Drug Abuse; Health Promotion; HigherEducation; Prevention; Student Adjustment; *Substance Abuse;Teacher Motivation; Teacher Participation; *Teacher Role;Teacher Student Relationship

The guide presents concepts and approaches to prevention ofalcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse among college students, focusing on therole of faculty in prevention efforts. Sections discuss why faculty shouldget involved, the impact of AOD abuse on academic performance, the rationalefor taking an environmental approach to prevention, helping students who areexperiencing problems, motivating faculty interest in prevention, ways inwhich academic departments can support prevention, active learningopportunities through service learning, and using academics to generatestudent involvement in prevention efforts. Lists of publications,organizations, and relevant World Wide Web sites that can be used as furtherresources are appended. (MSE)

********************************************************************************* Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made *

* from the original document. *

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iftrra0,4:-

MU S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Office //f Educational Research and ImprovementEDUDATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION

CENTER (ERIC)This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating itMinor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality

Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy

I\

PE

Barbara E. Ryan/William De Jong, Ph.D.

A publication of the Higher Education Centerfor Alcohol and Other Drug PreventionFunded by. the U.S. Department of Education

3

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the individuals listed below for reviewing draft manuscripts of this publication. Weappreciate the comments they provided to help us assure that this publication has a solid scientific founda-tion and contains clear messages. To the extent that we achieved that goal, the credit is theirs. To the extentwe did not, the fault is ours.

Mich Barbezat, Elgin Community CollegeNancy A. Gleason, Stone Center, Wellesley College

Ron Glick, Network for Dissemination of Curriculum Infusion, Northeastern Illinois UniversityJudy Hearsum, University of CaliforniaH. Wesley Perkins, Hobart and William Smith CollegesMatthew Toth, The College of the Holy Cross

For further information contact:

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Preventionhttp:/ /www.edc.org/hec/(800) 676-1730

Fax: (617) 928-1537

HigherEdCtr@edc.org

This publication was produced with funding from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number

SS95013001 with Education Development Center, Inc. Views expressed are those of the contractors. No official

support or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education is intended or should be inferred.

1998

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug PreventionEducation Development Center, Inc.55 Chapel Street

Newton, Massachusetts 02158-1060Cover design by Kay Baker

Making the

Contents

Preface

Introduction 1

Why Should Faculty Get Involved? 2

Impact of AOD Use on Academic Performance 4

Environmental Approach to Prevention 6

Helping Students Experiencing Problems 7

Motivating Faculty Interest in Prevention 11

Academic Departments That Can Support Prevention 15

Active Learning Opportunities 20

Using Academics to Generate Student Involvement 24

Making the Link

Notes 27

Resources 28

Center Publications 30

Making the

Preface

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention was established by the U.S.Department of Education in 1993 to assist institutions of higher education in developing and carrying outalcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention programs that will promote campus and community safety andhelp nurture students' academic and social development.

To accomplish this mission, the Center seeks to increase the capacity of postsecondary schools to develop,implement, and evaluate programs and policies that are built around environmental management strategies.Environmental management means moving beyond general awareness and other education programs toidentify and change those factors in the physical, social, legal, and economic environment that promote orabet alcohol and other drug problems.

Clearly, stemming the use of alcohol and other drugs is not something that college administrators alonecan achieve. Top administrators, especially presidents, must exercise leadership, but their success willdepend ultimately on their ability to build a strong coalition of both on-campus and community interests.The better AOD prevention programs are campuswide efforts that involve as many parts of the college aspossible, including students, staff, and faculty. For this reason, the Center emphasizes team-focused trainingand technical assistance work.

Building coalitions with local community leaders is also key. College campuses do not exist in isolation.AOD prevention planners need to collaborate with local leaders to limit student access to alcohol, preventintoxication, and support the efforts of local law enforcement. The Center therefore seeks to motivate andtrain academic leaders to work with local community representatives, while also joining with national orga-nizations that urge local coalitions to increase their outreach to academic institutions.

Specific Center objectives include promoting (1) college presidential leadership on AOD issues; (2) for-mation of AOD task forces that include community representation; (3) reform of campus AOD policies andprograms; (4) a broad reexamination of campus conditions, including academic standards and requirements,the campus infrastructure, and the academic calendar; (5) formation of campus-community coalitions thatfocus on environmental change strategies; and (6) the participation of individuals from the higher educationcommunity in state-level and other associations that focus on public policy. The Center also seeks toincrease the capacity of colleges and universities to conduct ongoing process and outcome evaluations ofAOD prevention activities, both on campus and in the surrounding community.

This publication represents one piece in a comprehensive approach to AOD prevention at institutions ofhigher education. The concepts and approaches it describes should be viewed in the broader context of pre-vention theory and the approaches affirmed by the U.S. Department of Education and promoted by theCenter in its training, technical assistance, publication, and evaluation activities.

For information on Center services, please contact:

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug PreventionEducation Development Center, Inc.55 Chapel StreetNewton, MA 02158-1060Tel.: (800) 676-1730Fax: (617) 928-1537Website: http:/ /www.edc.org/hec/E-mail: HigherEdCtr@edc 6

"The universities that will be

successful in the next century

will be those that place the

student experience at the

heart of their mission and that

become genuinely engaged

with their communities . . ."Judith A. Rama ley, president

of Portland State University

IntroductionAs parents struggle to pay ever-increasing college tuition bills and ashigher education critics challenge thetrue value of what college studentsare taught, public pressure is mount-ing for institutions of higher educa-tion to cut costs, increase facultyproductivity, and improve the qualityof the academic curriculum.1 Inresponse, college officials are scruti-nizing what they do and how they doit. Truly, reformation of higher edu-cation is under way.

However, institutions of highereducation (IHEs) cannot fully achievetheir educational mission unless theyalso take steps to establish an envi-ronment that discourages studentalcohol and other drug (AOD) use. Astream of bad news about problemsrelated to the alcohol and other druguse of college studentsfrom pooracademic performance and uncivil

r

Making the

behavior to violence, injury, and evendeathmakes it clear that moreneeds to be done to provide studentswith collegial, scholarly, and safeenvironments conducive to achievingtheir education goals.

The purpose of this guide is todescribe how faculty can be enlistedto participate in comprehensive AODprevention initiatives. Facultyinvolvement in prevention is key.Students come and go. So do IHEadministrators. But faculty, especiallythose with tenure, have continuity oncampus over the years. Recognizingthe importance of faculty, AOD coor-dinators on campuses across theUnited States have discovered waysto identify and approach facultymembers to engage their interest andhave collaborated with them in devel-oping prevention activities that canmake a difference in the community.This publication summarizes lessonslearned from those experiences.

INNOer:

7

' . . . drugs were clearly on my

students' minds. This is a complex

subject, open to clarification using

the intellectual tools that one

develops from the study of literature

and culture over all. The students

wanted to get a larger perspective

on drugs. They wanted it from me."

Mark Edmundson, professor ofEnglish at the University ofVirginian

Why ShouldFaculty GetInvolved?Teaching faculty at colleges and uni-versities have unique opportunities toinfluence campus health and safetythrough their involvement in alco-hol and other drug prevention.Faculty can exercise leadershipthrough a combination of curriculumreform, the application of interdisci-plinary approaches to prevention,and collaboration with studentaffairs professionals.

Alcohol and other drug prob-lems constitute a major challenge forcolleges and universities. This pointwas highlighted in the Ninth SpecialReport to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol

and Health, which was released inmid-1997 by the U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services.3 Recentstudies have indicated that morethan four in ten U.S. college studentscan be classified as binge drinkers.Binge drinking is generally definedfor men as the consumption of five ormore alcoholic beverages at one sittingduring the past two weeks, four ormore for women.4

Despite these statistics, some fac-ulty are reluctant to embrace preven-tion. Their reasons are wellknownpressures from their acade-mic duties; their immersion in whatmay seem to be unrelated academicspecialties; the belief that such matters

are not their responsibility. To

counter this reluctance, faculty can bereminded that alcohol and other drugprevention work is vital to their successas teachers.

A focus on faculty makes goodsense. Tenured faculty and alumniare the two power sources to bereckoned with. Students graduatein four or five years, and top col-lege administrators seem to be con-stantly on the move. Faculty haveenormous institutional power, andwith that, of course, comes institu-tional responsibility.

There are a number of ways bywhich faculty can wield institutionalinfluence to enhance students' healthand safety, all of which are compatible

with their roles as teachers andresearchers:

Speak out as advocates forchange and for greater attentionto AOD prevention.

Participate on task forces andpanels to review admissions crite-ria, graduation requirements,policies regarding alcohol adver-tising on campus, and otherissues.

Develop new course work thatenables students to learn aboutalcohol and other drugs, includ-ing prevention, in the context ofcourses that meet the students'normal academic requirements.

Set norms and expectations for stu-dent behavior.

Making the

Asking Faculty to Speak Out

In a letter kicking off the 1997-98 academic year, the president of the University of Rhode Island urged faculty membersand administrators to speak out on the topic of alcohol and other drug use and to make it clear to students that the abuseof alcohol is not simply some rite of passage to be tolerated on campus.

ii iiii'

UNIVERSITY OFRHODE ISLAND

September 1, 1997

Colleagues:

The new semester is about to begin, and the Class of 2001 will begin moving in today. It is

an exciting class, about 200 students larger than last year, with average SAT scores that are up

some 12 or 13 points. It will also have the most racial and ethnic diversity we have yet seen in

Kingston. You have all worked hard to bring in this class, and I congratulate you. Despite thechallenges at URI with which we are all too familiar, these students and their families saw the

strengths of the University and made their decisions accordingly.

These first few weeks are obviously very important in setting the standards we expect these

students to meet and in setting the tone of campus community life. This is a class which expectsto be challenged, and I urge you to begin the semester in a way that provides that challenge. Theresearch on student learning is clear that high expectations by faculty and a corresponding stu-dent commitment of "time on task" are essential, as are having students actively involved in thelearning process and connected in meaningful ways to faculty in and out of class.

It is also during these first few weeks that local social norms are established. Among themost significant of these is the perceived norm regarding the use and abuse of alcohol and othersubstances. Alcohol abuse by students, especially binge drinking, is one of the most difficult

problems on college campuses around the nation. It is also a sufficient condition for most sexual

assaults and fighting. Despite recent progress at URI in nudging the norm of student behavior in

the right direction, we can expect to continue to see such abuse in the incoming class.

Again, the research is clear that the most progress is made in dealing with this problemwhen it is treated as a matter of "environment," rather than as an individual matter (althoughindividuals still must be held accountable for their own behavior). We need your help in makingclear to students that the abuse of alcohol is not simply some rite of passage we will tolerate.You can do that by speaking out on the subject, and I hope you will do that. You have far more

influence than you might imagine! You can also help by articulating your high expectations forwork completed in these first few weeks and by not accepting excuses for work not completedon a timely basis because of partying. We have made real progress in changing the notion thatthe work week is over on Thursday night, but you can reinforce that by assuring that studentshave assignments that carry through Friday and require their attention to academics during atleast some part of the weekend. Group work, for example, can often help keep them focused

and provide a positive social interaction at the same time.

In short, let's use these first few weeks of the new semester to affirm the culture for learn-ing to which we are committed. The entering class is strong evidence of the commitment of thisoutstanding faculty to our students, and we need to work together to ensure that they get off onthe right foot, have a successful year and return to us in the fall of 1998 with as little attrition as

possible. Thank you.

Robert L. Carothers, President

Reform the academic calendarand revise academic requirementsin order to keep students focusedon their studies.

Supervise service learning activi-ties, either as course requirements

or as extracurricular events.

Conduct research that can beused to inform campus policydevelopment.

Serve as advisors (and role mod-els) for students.

Identify students who may be introuble with alcohol and otherdrugs and refer them for inter-vention and possible treatment.

The role that faculty can play inprevention has been largely untriedand untested. In the fields of publichealth and medicine, physicians,nurses, and lawyers have contributedto great changes in smoking behaviorand injury prevention. People work-ing in these professions used theirknowledge, status, and influence inthe community to be advocates forchange. Faculty members can play asimilar role. They, more than manyothers on campus, can see theimpact of AOD use on students' aca-demic performance. They, more thanmany others on campus, have thepower to demand that policies andpractices change.

1 C

Impact of AODUse on AcademicPerformanceAcademic administrators and facultyhave little doubt that alcohol andother drug use has a damaging effecton academic performance. Efforts toretain students in college typicallyinclude programs to identify andintervene with students who are introuble with alcohol and other drugs.

One national study showed that,at four-year institutions, college stu-dents with an "A" average consume3.3 drinks per week, whereas stu-dents with a "D" or "F" average con-sume 9.0 drinks per week. Attwo-year institutions, "A" studentsconsume 2.6 drinks per week, and"D" or "F" students consume 5.7drinks per week. The same studyshowed that sizable percentages ofcollege students also report havingdone poorly on a test or project orhaving missed class because of theiralcohol or other drug use in the previ-ous twelve months (see table 1).5

Another national study conduct-ed at four-year colleges and universi-ties by Henry Wechsler of theHarvard School of Public Healthfound that, since the beginning of theschool year, nearly one-third of bingedrinkers had missed class and 21 per-cent had fallen behind in their schoolwork because of their drinking.Among frequent binge drinkersstu-dents who had binged three or more

12-

10

as

6

04

0

-E2

0

Average Number ofDrinks Per Week by GPASource: Core Institute, 1996

4.8

3.3

6.1

9.0

0

B C D or FGrade point average (GPA)

times in the previoustwo weeks-over 60percent had missedclass and 46 percenthad fallen behind inschool because of their

drinking.6

It is not just thosewho use alcohol andother drugs who areaffected by that use.The Harvard studyfound that, on cam-puses where morethan half the students

were classified as binge drinkers, 68

Making the

percent of non-binge drinkers report-ed that, since the beginning of theacademic year, their studying or sleephad been interrupted because of otherstudents' use of alcohol.?

Addressing this problem needs tobe a priority. Students deserve tohave a safe environment that is con-ducive to study and personal growth.Parents deserve to know that academ-ic officials are exercising their respon-sibility to create a safe environmentfor their children. Taxpayers deserveto know that their money is beingspent wisely and not being used tosubsidize a four-year bacchanal.

Percentage of Students Reporting Consequences Resultingfrom Drug or Alcohol Use in the Previous Twelve Months

Frequency of Consequence

Consequence 0 1 2 3-5 6-9 10+

Performed Poorly on aTest or Project

Two-Year Institutions (a)Males 70.2 10.7 7.5 6.8 1.8 3.1

Females 80.4 8.1 5.1 4.3 1.2 0.9

Four-Year Institutions (b)Males 74.4 10.5 6.2 5.5 1.7 1.7

Females 91.7 8.8 4.4 3.5 0.8 0.7

Missed a Class

Two-Year Institutions (a)Males 69.9 7.9 7.3 7.4 2.9 4.7

Females 82.2 6.1 4.5 4.2 1.5 1.4

Four-Year Institutions (b)Males 65.1 8.2 8.1 9.4 3.5 5.8

Females 74.9 7.8 6.4 6.5 2.2 2.2

(a) N = 8,679; males = 3,767, females = 4,912

(b) N = 32,902; males = 13,781, females = 19,121

Table 1. Sc5urce: Presley, C. A.; Meilman P. W.; Cashin, J. R. (1996). Alcohol and Drugs on AmericanCollege Campuses: Use, Consequences, and Perceptions of the Campus Environment. Carbondale, IL: The CoreInstitute, Southern Illinois University.

11

'ff

li

EnvironmentalApproach toPreventionHistorically in the United States wehave been accustomed to thinkingabout alcohol and other drugs as theproblem of individuals who cannotresist temptation. People differ, ofcourse, but there is no denying thatindividual behavior, including alcoholand other drug use, is profoundlyinfluenced by social and physicalenvironments, which we can takeaction to shape.

Institutions of higher educationhave relied on fall orientation andother educational programs to urgestudents to turn away from alcohol

and drug abuse. Such pro-grams are essential, butthey are unlikely to havegreat impact on studentdrinking and drug use ifthe school and local com-munity present an environ-ment in which that behavior

can flourish and is evenencouraged.

A key part of the schoolenvironment concerns whata college does as an educa-tional institution, which isthe essence of faculty con-

cerns. A school's self-examinationcan go well beyond a review of AODpolicies and programs to look atchanges in graduation requirements,

12

the school calendar, class size, therole of faculty advisors, recreationaloptions, and student housingallwith the purpose of determininghow the college might better inte-grate its students into the intellectuallife of the school, change studentnorms away from alcohol and otherdrug use, and make it easier to iden-tify students in trouble with alcoholand other drugs.

Broader environmental effortsrely on involvement of the full cam-pus communityincluding facultyin coalitions to examine, understand,and respond to campus alcohol andother drug problems. That involve-ment includes open discussion onpolicy development and enforce-ment and on ways to influence thecampus culture through variousmeasures, from regulations govern-ing alcohol availability to social mar-keting efforts to shape communitynorms.

Fully embracing the environ-mental perspective also means thatschool officials, including faculty,

need to discuss with the local com-munity how to reduce student mis-use of alcohol in bars and restaurantsnear campus and how to eliminateillegal sales to minors. Colleges canaccomplish little acting alone.Academic officials need to work inpartnership with local neighborhoodgroups, prevention advocates, police,and local merchants to develop acomprehensive campus-communityapproach to this problem.

Helping StudentsExperiencingProblemsFaculty members are in a uniqueposition to identify and help studentswho are experiencing problems relat-ed to alcohol and other drug use.

But few faculty members areschooled in identifying and respond-ing to such problems. They just don'tknow what to do. Nevertheless, theycan help in some simple ways that areconsistent with their roles as faculty.And faculty should know they are notalone. College administrators andother staff members, such as those inhealth services, have a shared concernregarding the health and safety of stu-dents, and they can provide adviceand support to faculty members whoidentify a student experiencing alco-hol or other drug problems. In fact,many campuses have developed spe-cific services and referral mechanismsaimed at getting students the helpthey need.

Faculty Member's Handbook:

Strategies for Preventing Alcohol and

Other Drug Problems (see Resources)

describes some specific behaviorsrelated to alcohol and other drug usethat are common among collegestudents:

Ignoring or excusing behaviorassociated with alcohol and otherdrug problems. For example,

Making the

alcohol use is frequently relatedto traffic violations and motorvehicle crashes, especially amongyoung adults. Without jumpingto conclusions, faculty memberscan listen with discernment tosuch explanations as "I didn't seethe light change."

Acting irresponsibly. Less dra-matic indicators of potential prob-lems include skipping classfrequently, staying out of class-room discussions, and being con-sistently late in handing inassignments.

Maintaining that there is no prob-lem. Students may adopt thisattitude in response to a per-ceived challenge. A direct chal-lenge, because it virtually invitesdenial, is not an effective way tolearn about problems with alco-hol and other drugs. Even with-out confrontation, students maycall attention to symptoms, suchas missed classes, lethargy, moodswings, but attribute them to a"bug," the weather, or an allergy.In this way, they deny the realcause (alcohol or other drugs)and, at the same time, seem to beoffering a clue that a problemexists.

Making light of problems. Thisbehavior is somewhat differentfrom ignoring or excusing prob-lems because alcohol or otherdrug use is partially acknowl-edged. But through humor, such

use is treated as temporary or ashaving no significance.

Once a faculty member suspectsthat a student has a problem, whatshould be done? First, faculty shoulddecide if they are the person best suit-ed to respond to the individual expe-riencing the problem. In some cases,the faculty member may not be thebest person to talk with the student.In fact, faculty members can getinvolved by sharing their concernswith another individuala counselor,colleague, alcohol and other drugprogram coordinatorwho can thenintervene with the student.Remember, the desired result isreduction of the harmful involvementwith alcohol and other drugs.

If a faculty member decides to bethe person who intervenes with thestudent, that intervention involvestalking with the student to expressboth awareness of the behavior andproblem and concern for the student'swell-being.

Faculty Member's Handbook offers

some basic steps to guide thatdiscussion:

Choose a time and a private placewhen the student is most recep-tive. Make sure he or she is notunder the influence of alcohol orother drugs.

Explain why you are talking withthe person. This should be astatement that expresses your careand concern for the individual.

Describe the behavior that youhave observed, includingspecifics as to time and place.

Express concern about the behav-ior and explain what conse-quences will occur if the behaviorcontinues.

Outline what changes are needed.

Faculty members who choose tointervene with a student experiencingproblems need to be familiar withresources that can offer assistance in ameaningful way. But resources differfrom campus to campus, and withincommunities. Identifying campusresources to respond to both individ-ual and environmental problemsrelated to alcohol and other drug useis an important first step for makingchanges on campus.

14

0

Campus andCommunity Resources

Alcohol and other drug problems arenot new to American colleges anduniversities. Many campuses havedeveloped sophisticated programsaimed at preventing alcohol andother drug problems and helping stu-dents, faculty, and staff who are expe-riencing personal problems withalcohol or other drug use. Othercampuses have less comprehensiveprograms and fewer resources avail-able. Some have to rely solely oncommunity resources, such as com-munity prevention programs orAlcoholics Anonymous, to respondto problems.

Faculty members routinely famil-iarize themselves with the academic

15

Making the

resources on their campuses, such aslaboratories and libraries. They canalso identify resources available foralcohol and other drug prevention andintervention.

One ready way to identify campusresources is to read the biennial reportprepared by all campuses that arerequired to comply with the Drug-Free Schools and CampusesRegulations [34 CFR Part 861. Those

regulations say that, as a condition ofreceiving funds or any other form offinancial assistance under any federalprogram, an institution of higher edu-cation must certify that it has adoptedand implemented a program to pre-vent the unlawful possession, use, ordistribution of illicit drugs and alcoholby students and employees.

Creating a program that com-plies with the regulations requires acollege to

prepare a written policy on alcoholand other drugs

develop a sound method for dis-tribution of the policy to everystudent and staff member eachyear

prepare a biennial report on theeffectiveness of its alcohol andother drug programs and the con-sistency of policy enforcement

The biennial report must providea description of any drug and alcoholprograms that are available to employ-ees or students. And because federalregulations require updating and

V

-e-

submission of the reportevery two years, the reportshould include up-to-dateinformation regarding theavailability of programsand services.

Some campuses havean alcohol and other drugprogram charged withdeveloping and oversee-ing prevention and inter-vention activities andservices. Others have adesignated alcohol andother drug program coor-dinator, who may beassigned only part-time tothose duties and housed ina health or student servicesoffice. Still others may nothave a named office or

individual responsible for alcohol andother drug services, but neverthelessprovide at least some resources to thecampus to reduce alcohol and otherdrug problems. Offices to contact tolearn about alcohol and other drugprevention and intervention resourceson campus include dean of students,residence life, health services, coun-seling services, campus police, Greekadvisors, and student affairs.

Community resources range fromvoluntary, self-help groups such asAlcoholics or Narcotics Anonymousto extensive systems of prevention,intervention, and treatment services.Campus offices may be able to pro-vide information about communityresources. If not, the Yellow Pages of

the telephone book is a good place tostart learning about communityresources and programs. Most pub-licly funded programs are managedthrough public health or social serviceagencies, although private, nonprofitcorporations may operate them.Some are operated through religiousor charitable organizations.

Faculty members who familiarizethemselves with campus and commu-nity resources are better equipped toboth understand alcohol and otherdrug problems affecting their campusand participate in the solutions tothose problems.

Sage Advice

For almost fifteen years, a sociology

professor at the University of

California, San Diego, served on an

advisory board on alcohol issues to

the county health department.

During his appointment he

participated in the development of

a large prevention and treatment

service system, promoted public

policy initiatives, and consulted

with county staff, elected officials,

and community members on how

best to spend public funds to

reduce alcohol problems. He took

the opportunity to transfer an acad-

emic interest in alcohol problems to

real-life situations.

The community benefited from

his understanding of research on

alcohol problem prevention as it

applied to the development of a

publicly funded service system.

MotivatingFaculty Interestin PreventionFaculty enjoy an enviable degree ofcontrol over the scope of their workand most take their teaching,research, and administrative dutiesseriously. Engaging faculty in alco-hol and other drug preventionrequires framing prevention work asa part of their other professionalduties or as a natural extension oftheir intellectual interests.

Most faculty see themselves pri-marily as educators. Some definethat role narrowly, thinking only oftheir time with students in the class-room or laboratory and do notbelieve that AOD prevention is theirresponsibility. Many others believethat it is.

Faculty concerns about AODissues may be more widespread thanmany on campus realize. Schoolofficials can document the depth ofconcern by administering the CoreInstitute's Faculty and StaffEnvironmental Alcohol and OtherDrug Survey, which asks about per-ceptions of the problem, awarenessof the school's response, and person-al commitment to prevention.Cooperation may be more forthcom-ing when faculty realize they are farfrom alone in their concerns.

Surveys routinely find that facul-ty members are interested in the wel-

;i fare of their students and

17

Making the

institutions, but that they may needto be encouraged to take action onthat interest. In fact, recent findingsfrom the Core Institute at SouthernIllinois University at Carbondaleshow that relatively few faculty andstaff at U.S. colleges and universitiesare currently involved in alcohol andother drug prevention. Yet, largenumbers of faculty and staff believethat student AOD use is a problem,and many indicate a wish to becomemore involved in prevention efforts.

The Core Institute compiled datafrom 2,979 surveys completed duringthe 1995-96 academic year by facultyand staff from twenty-nine institu-tions of higher education. While thisis not a nationally representative sam-ple of faculty and staff, the findingssuggest that large numbers of facultyand staff are ready to be part of acomprehensive prevention program.8

One of the respondents' principalconcerns was the impact of AOD useon students: more than 90 percentsaid that AOD use negatively affectsthe overall quality of student life; 96percent said that student academicperformance is affected by AOD use;and 49 percent reported being person-ally aware of a student whose academ-ic performance was affected byAOD use.

Even so, fewer than 20 percent ofthe faculty and staff respondentsreported being actively involved inefforts to prevent alcohol and otherdrug use problems on campus. Justunder one-third said they had provid-ed information to students concern-

ing alcohol and otherdrugs, such as in a classor as an advisor.

But there is reasonto be optimistic aboutgreater faculty and staffinvolvement in thefuture. Ninety-fourpercent of the facultyand staff respondentssaid that institutions ofhigher educationshould be involved inalcohol and other drugprevention, and 44 per-

cent said they wished to be involvedin such efforts at their university.

The Core Institute's findings alsounderscore how important it is foracademic officials to speak out onthis subject. While more than 75percent said they do not believe it isokay to get drunk, not even occa-sionally, only 33 percent said thatthis was also the most common atti-tude of the college community. Andwhile almost 90 percent said thatillicit drug use is neverokay, fewer than 50percent said that thiswas the most commonattitude of the campusin general. The viewsexpressed by facultyand staff regardingcampus attitudes reflectthe emerging findingthat there is widespreadmisperception of actualstudent norms regard-ing alcohol and other

ti

drug use.9 Faculty can help dispelthose misperceptions by promulgat-ing accurate information throughresearch efforts and in course work.

On those campuses where thepresident has made AOD preventiona priority it is easier to identify facul-ty members who want to be involved.But even on these campuses it will benecessary to actively identify facultywhose teaching and research interestsmay touch on alcohol and other drugissues and to make the case that theyshould undertake prevention work aspart of their job as educators andresearchers.

There are obvious ways of reach-ing facultyintracampus or electron-ic mail, notices in faculty and staffnewsletters, announcements at facultymeetings. In addition, faculty at manyschools are asked by school adminis-trators to submit brief summaries oftheir research interests and recentpublications. A review of thesesummaries could help identify facultywho might be especially interested in

11,

18

prevention and whom, therefore, could

be approached directly.

Publicizing the involvement offaculty members in prevention activi-ties is a good way to stimulate theinterest of other faculty members.Campus communication channels canbe used to highlight the efforts ofthose involved with preventionefforts at any level. As faculty mem-bers learn about the experiences oftheir colleagues, they may decide thatthey too can make contributions toprevention efforts on their campus.

Elements of a FacultyRecruitment Campaign

Faculty members are in a powerfulposition to shape both the lives oftheir students and the educationalenvironment at their institutions. Tocapitalize on their unique role atIHEs, it is worth putting the effortinto a faculty recruitment campaign,some elements of which include

At,tCAP1

cl(fl

Making the

conducting a survey such as theCore Faculty and Staff Environ-mental Alcohol and Other DrugSurvey with a mail-back "How toGet Involved," and disseminatingthe results to all faculty members

establishing a faculty advisoryboard for the campus preventionprogram

including faculty members onexisting AOD preventioncommittees

sending media articles to relevantfaculty members to generateinterest in prevention

working through the faculty sen-ate to place prevention on itsagenda

asking a well-known facultymember to initiate academic-based prevention in a popularcourse

inviting faculty members to par-ticipate in campus coalitions

developing personal contacts andrelationships with faculty

aru..5t"

7

Eight Ways for FacultyMembers to Get Involved

Faculty Member's Handbook:

Strategies for Preventing Alcohol and

Other Drug Problems (see

Resources) points out that faculty

members exercise a tremendous

amount of influence on alcohol and

other drug issues at their institu-

tions. Involvement can be direct or

indirect, as follows:

Initiate/support the develop-

ment of a multifaceted preven-

tion program.

Use serious situations as teach-

able moments.

Speak out boldly and foster

debate.

Incorporate AOD issues into

courses.

Develop specific courses/ pro-

jects on AOD issues.

Develop instruction for

enhancing interpersonal and

intrapersonal skills.

Monitor personal language

and examples.

Work with others on coalitions

to prevent AOD problems.

Benefits for Faculty

The benefits of faculty involvement inprevention are not limited to theimpact on students or campuses.Faculty members can, and have, ben-efited enormously by participating inprevention on a number of levels. Itis up to those working on campusesand in surrounding communitiestoshow faculty members how tobecome involved with preventionefforts that can provide them withprofessional and personal satisfaction,as well as benefit their students, cam-puses, and communities.

The Network for Disseminationof Curriculum Infusion atNortheastern Illinois University hasidentified three types of incentivesthat can be used to motivate facultymembers to incorporate preventioninto their course work:

1. Time. Colleges and universitiescan grant faculty members releasetime from one of their courses todevote time to developing a pre-vention curriculum module foruse in specific courses. Releasetime is frequently underwrittenby grants to the IHE.

2. Money. Colleges and universitiescan provide faculty memberswith professional developmentgrants as a way to support thedesign of a prevention modulefor their courses.

3. Recognition. Colleges and uni-

versities can recognize the contri-butions of faculty members toprevention in a number of ways:press releases, letters from academ-

ic deans that go into faculty mem-bers' files, and luncheonshonoring their work.

Other incentives for faculty mem-

bers include opportunities to presenton their work in support of preven-tion at scholarly meetings or to pub-lish articles in academic journals.And faculty members can benefitfrom working with prevention pro-grams as part of their course work,from development of real-life projects

to intern supervision.Colleges and universities can also

benefit from integrating academicand prevention efforts. For example,a campus interested in documentingalcohol and other drug problem indi-cators as a way of measuring theimpact of prevention efforts could callupon its sociology department forhelp in designing surveys and datacollection instruments. Studentscould engage in data collection andanalysis on an ongoing basis in fulfill-ment of course requirements.

Students benefit by engaging inactivities that have real-life implica-tions, and the campus benefits byhaving an ongoing surveillance sys-tem to inform prevention efforts.

2C

8.

1

'Alcohol and other drug

problems are complex

social issues that demand

interdisciplinary answers."

David Craig, chemistryprofessor at Hobart andWilliam Smith Colleges

Aft

Making the

EIE

AcademicDepartmentsThat Can SupportPreventionVirtually all academic departmentscan play a role in supporting preven-tion initiatives on campus. Clearly,some disciplines are a more obviousmatch with prevention agendas thanothers. For example, students andfaculty in the health sciences, espe-cially public health, are a naturalgroup of allies for prevention. Butfaculty members in other, less obvi-ous disciplines can also play a role inlinking academics with prevention ina variety of ways (see sidebar).

Because alcohol and other druguse, related problems, and preventionmeasures in our society are influ-enced by many of the factors studiedin the social sciences, courses in fieldssuch as economics, sociology, anthro-pology, criminology, and political sci-ence are also natural venues forlinking academics with prevention.

For example, students in an eco-nomics course could learn about therelationship of alcohol prices to con-sumption and societal problems orthe cost of alcohol and other drug useto society. Alternatively, studentscould design and conduct an annualsurvey of alcohol prices in their areain relation to the price of other goods

Go to Class! Scheduling and Attendance Strategies

Faculty members in any discipline can

use class schedules and attendance

requirements to signal to students that

course work is more important than

partying. For example, when former

Chico State University President Robin

Wilson learned that Thursday night

had become a big party night, he

asked faculty members to schedule

quizzes and exams on Friday morn-

ing. Military academies, where sched-

uling is virtually round the clock, are

the most successful users of this strate-

gy. Some faculty members advocate a

return to Saturday classes as a way to

prevent Friday night excess.10

The University of North Carolina

at Chapel Hill is trying to discourage

alcohol abuse by adding more of those

two things that many students spend

their college careers avoiding: early-

morning classes and Friday tests.11

Faculty members at Old

Dominion University concerned about

freshman who do not attend class reg-

ularly came up with an attendance

system to monitor who isand who

isn'tcoming to their lectures. Each

time they come to class, students have

to slide their identification cards

through a scanner that records their

presence. According to John R.

Broderick, vice president for institu-

tional advancement, the experimental

system is a way to combat absen-

teeism. "It helps faculty members have

a better sense of why a particular stu-

dent is doing well or not doing well in

a class," he says.

._-11116

and services for students. Sociologystudents could investigate perceivedand actual norms and reveal the dis-crepancies that exist for students todispel misperceptions that "all stu-dents get drunk frequently here" thatseem to permeate many U.S. campus-es.12 Students in a psychology classcould consider the research on factorsthat predispose young adults todrink, for example, and the differentpatterns of drinking behavior by gen-der, religious, and ethnic groups.

Other opportunities for linkingacademics with prevention are inmarketing and communications class-es. The environments that drivedrinking and drug using decisionsand behavior on any particular cam-pus are heavily influenced by themedia and by communications mes-sages on that campus. These coursescan help students understand whatkinds of messages contribute to prob-lems and provide ways to use variouscommunications channels to promoteprevention. Students at some collegesapply the theoretical knowledge gained

in these courses to real-life preven-tion campaigns on their campuses.

The Network for Disseminationof Curriculum Infusion at Northeastern

Illinois University (see Resources)provides technical assistance to cam-puses on ways to integrate alcoholand other drug prevention topics in awide range of courses. In the net-work's experience, the range of cours-es that can support preventioncurricula is very broad, and facultymembers are very creative in finding

A Stand-Down to PromoteDrinking Awareness

Faculty members at the University

of NebraskaLincoln (UNL)

Teachers College took a stand

against alcohol problems, or as

they put ita stand-down. Theterm stand-down is a military

phrase used to describe suspension

of regular activities to concentrate

on one particular problem. Faculty

members agreed to devote about

fifteen minutes of class time to dis-

cuss alcohol misuse during a week

in fall 1996.

The idea for the stand-down

came from UNL's Task Force on

Conduct Standards and Behavioral

Expectations. The Teachers College

took part in the stand-down volun-

tarily. Faculty were provided with

a resource manual containing facts,

figures, and information on alcohol

problems. The discussion format

was left to each faculty member's

discretion.

ways to incorporate prevention intotheir courses. Faculty members havelearned that including preventionissues in their courses does notdiminish their scholarly content; it isyet another way for them to helptheir students achieve their main aca-demic goals.

Gaining Experiencein Communication

Students are enrolled in literally hun-dreds of advertising and public rela-tions undergraduate and graduatedegree programs across the nation.To earn a bachelor's or master'sdegree in these programs, studentsmust be able to design and then exe-cute either an advertising or publicrelations campaign. In the publicrelations sequence, students takecourses such as Public RelationsCampaigns. In advertising, they takecourses such as Advertising Cam-paigns and Advertising Creativity.

According to Jason Berger, anassistant professor in the departmentof communications at CentralMissouri State University, thesedegree programs offer prevention ser-vices personnel the opportunity toinvolve bright and energetic studentsin real-life, hands-on campaigns."For those working at colleges anduniversities, campaigns can bearranged right on your campus.Others working in programs nearuniversities should find that the fac-ulty is both accessible and coopera-

23

Making the

tive. All you have to do is ask forhelp," he says.

Students in Berger's seminarPublic Relations and Advertisingwanted a hands-on project in order toapply what they had learned, so theyresponded to a request from thedirector of student health services fora campaign on responsible drinking.Seminar students became a focusgroup on the relationship betweendrinking and campus life and brain-stormed ideas for their campaign.They came up with "Top Ten Reasonsnot to Drink Before Finals" that ran asan ad in the campus newspaper, aswell as on T-shirts that were distrib-uted to students before finals week.

At the University of California,Santa Barbara, students in Commu-nication 117, a course in persuasiontheory, choose a specific theory andtarget audience for which to design amedia project to persuade others notto engage in specific alcohol- or otherdrug-related behavior. Topics changeeach quarter and have includeddrinking and driving, bicycling underthe influence, unsafe sexual behavior,and binge drinking. Once they com-plete the class, students have theoption of becoming interns in thecampus Alcohol and Other DrugPrevention Program, working withstaff to refine, mass produce, and dis-tribute some of the best class projectsand assisting with other media-relatedneeds. Students earn course credit fortheir internship.13

9

Two Course Descriptions

Tune In for Prevention

Using radio commercials to

target consumers is a com-

mon strategy of the business

community, and it seems to work.

Can the public health community,

including advocates for alcohol and

other drug prevention, use radio just

as effectively?

Developing Radio Communi-

cations, a course offered at the

Harvard School of Public Health, gives

students the opportunity to try.

Students in the course are led through

every step of the production process,

from background and focus group

research to script development, pilot

testing, and final studio production.

Through developing their own radio

commercial, students deal with the

challenge of how to communicate the

essence of their health message in

only thirty seconds.

Each year, several students are

successful in persuading radio stations

to play their advertisements as public

service spots. For example, one stu-

dent produced a spot that encouraged

freshmen at Boston College (BC) to

contact a campus-based prevention

program to learn more about how to

make healthy choices concerning alco-

hol use. The student-run radio station

at BC agreed to air it during unsold

commercial time.

This kind of class can be offered

at any college or university with a

campus radio or television station.

And even at campuses without such a

station, with a little effort an instructor

can find willing collaborators at local

stations.

For more information about

Developing Radio Communications,

contact William De Jong, course

instructor and director of the Higher

Education Center for Alcohol and

Other Drug Prevention (see back

cover).

An Interdisciplinary AODCourse at Hobart andWilliam Smith Colleges

Students at Hobart and William

Smith Colleges learn about an

interdisciplinary AOD course on

the Web. In addition to the following

course description, the course syllabus,

scripts, and other course-related mate-

rials are posted on the Web at

__/====\-

Alcohol is the most widely used

and abused drug in contemporary

American society. While the attrac-

tions, pleasures, and possible benefits

of alcohol consumption may be debat-

ed, there is little argument about the

debilitating effects and enormous

costs of heavy drinking and alcoholism

on the health of individuals, families,

and society in general. This course

examines the causes and conse-

quences of alcohol use from the view-

24

point that alcohol is a very potent

drug in terms of both its chemical and

social construction.

This course brings together natur-

al science and social science contribu-

tions to the interdisciplinary study of

this phenomenon by incorporating a

variety of academic perspectives,

including biology, chemistry, social psy-

chology, epidemiology, and sociology.

It explores the effect of family, genet-

ics, peers, ethnicity, and gender on

drinking behavior along with the

chemical properties and physiological

effects of alcohol on the human body.

Social patterns of drinking in various

societal contexts are also examined.

Discussion of controversial issues

concerning alcohol consumption

includes concepts of abuse, theories of

addiction and effective treatment

approaches, blood alcohol limits for

driving, minimum drinking age limits,

treatment and punishment of DWI

offenders, alcohol testing in work and

sports contexts, and restrictions on

advertising. Educational programs will

be developed to share the course out-

comes with the larger community.

BD295 can be applied for course

credit in sociology and public policy

majors and minors and is part of the

American Commitments Program of

the Association of American Colleges

and Universities. As part of their

course work students produce infor-

mative scripts of what they have

learned that are then presented in

class, videotaped, and posted on the

campus multimedia information net-

work for the community at large.

Making the

Curriculum Infusion: Two Case Studies

Shenandoah University

Shenandoah University has an

enrollment of 1,400 residential

and commuter students. By fall

1996, twenty-six Shenandoah faculty

had integrated prevention content into

courses across the curriculum.

Prevention content was assigned

for courses in nine departments from

four divisions of the university, reach-

ing 700 students per academic year.

Courses included biology, anatomy

and physiology, business and manage-

ment, psychology, philosophy, occupa-

tional therapy, education, and dance.

Prevention content designed for

courses at Shenandoah is similar to

that at other institutions with curricu-

lum infusion programs. For example,

the instructor of anatomy and physiol-

ogy, a course required of many

Shenandoah students, integrates infor-

mation on the physiological harm of

alcohol and other drugs. In other

cases the prevention content is highly

creative. In the dance course, students

write poetry about their experiences

and perceptions of the effects of alco-

hol and other drugs. They choreo-

graph their poetry and perform before

fellow students.

The experiences at Shenandoah

illustrate why development of effective

curriculum infusion programs takes

time. A snowball effect was created

as faculty learned of curriculum infu-

sion from their colleagues and through

the campus marketing efforts of

Program Director Judy Landes, who

kept faculty informed of faculty suc-

cesses in integrating prevention con-

tent into courses. In fall 1993 only

one faculty member was involved. By

April 1995, twelve faculty had devel-

oped prevention modules.

Shenandoah Vice President for

Student Affairs William Berghaus said:

"This is the first time in my more than

twenty years in higher education that

I've seen faculty involved and

enthused about this issue." According

to Berghaus, Shenandoah did not have

a history of collaboration between stu-

dent affairs and academic affairs.

"This is a real breakthrough," he said.

Colorado State University

Colorado State University is a

residential campus with a

total of 20,000 undergraduate

and graduate students. Curriculum

infusion at Colorado State has

involved 41 faculty teaching 35 sec-

tions in 22 courses. Prevention con-

tent has been integrated into courses

in 19 departments across 5 divisions

of the university: agriculture, business,

natural sciences, forestry, and liberal

arts. More than 2,900 students attend

classes that include prevention content

each year.

While half the faculty involved in

curriculum infusion at Colorado State

developed the prevention content for

the courses they teach, a distinctive

feature of this program is the active

involvement of Program Coordinator

Maureen Conway in the design and

delivery of alcohol and other drug pre-

vention curriculum. In some courses

Conway serves as the guest lecturer,

delivering prevention content she has

designed to fit a specific course. For

example, her presentation in a busi-

ness and management course provides

information on losses in productivity

attributable to substance abuse and

the role managers can play in treat-

ment and prevention. In other cases,

she co-teaches course sessions devot-

ed to prevention. She serves as the

"client" in graphics arts classes where

students design prevention campaign

posters in response to her description

of alcohol and other drug problems

among students.

The experience of Colorado State

illustrates the potential impact of pre-

vention personnel who know the fac-

ulty and work well with them. A

number of faculty said that they

became involved in curriculum infusion

because of their relationship with the

program coordinator, who had been a

guest speaker in their courses or to

whom they had referred students

experiencing alcohol and other drug

problems. They also said that preven-

tion information both strengthened

the curriculum and helped students.

Faculty who carried out curriculum

infusion at Colorado State received a

$125 gift certificate as an incentive for

participation.

"It is important not only to be able

to engage in new ideas but to be

willing to make a public declaration

of one's convictions, and then

translate them into actions and

deeds."Vartan Gregorian, president ofthe Carnegie Corporation and for-mer president of Brown University

t

Active LearningOpportunitiesHigher education has a growinginterest in student service, oftenreferred to as service learning, cam-pus and community service, or volun-teerism. Student service can beincorporated into course work as arequirement or for extra credit, or itcan be offered as an extracurricularactivity for student enrichment or tomeet other student needs or interests.

Student service, in whatever formand under whatever name, is notnew, of course. For over thirty-fiveyears community service has been agraduation requirement at WarrenWilson College in Asheville, NorthCarolina. Students must have per-formed a minimum of 100 hours ofservice by the time they graduate,resulting in more than 10,000 hoursof student-provided service everyyear according to the school'sService Learning Center. TheUniversity of Colorado at Boulder

started its Volunteer Clearinghousein 1965 to match students withservice opportunities.

While the scope of student ser-vice is as broad as the expanse of aca-demic offerings and students'interests at any given campus, theseopportunities can also promote safeand healthy learning environments, agoal shared with alcohol and otherdrug prevention efforts. TheSyracuse University Center for Publicand Community Service's missionstatement says that students volun-teer ". . . to help those in need, usetheir own time constructively, con-tribute to the community and thegreater good, feel better, fulfill courserequirements, embellish and supple-ment classroom learning, explorecareer interests, and as an alternativeto partying." The statement acknowl-edges the university's belief that stu-dent service can also be a valuableprevention strategy.

Proponents of service learningaffirm that it is an effective pedagogi-cal strategy for enhancing the learn-ing experience of students. Effortsare under way to document outcomeassessment at Indiana University, theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder,the University of California atBerkeley, and other research centers.

. . . community service has

become a tool for people to envision

and work toward a more just and

fair society. It is idealism in action.

[Dartmouth] encourages students

to act on their idealism."

Dartmouth Community Services

Community Serviceand Prevention

Community-based prevention pro-grams often rely heavily on volun-teers for their services and activities.Here are some ways service learningstudents can combine academic inter-ests with community preventionwork:

Journalism students can developpress kits and other press materi-als in prevention media campaigns.

Library science students can orga-nize prevention resource centers.

Urban planning students canassist in drafting guidelines for

Making the

the placement and operations ofalcohol outlets in a community.

Sociology students can makedetailed observations about howpublic spaces and alcohol anddrug problems interact.

Nursing students can volunteerin community AOD treatmentprograms.

Business students can documentthe economic costs associatedwith alcohol and other drug prob-lems at a local level.

Criminology students can helplocal law enforcement agenciesanalyze crime statistics.

Medical students can volunteer indetoxification centers.

Five Elements of Meaningful Service

COOL is committed to quality commu-

nity service that includes the five critical

elements of meaningful service, as

follows:

1. Community voice is essential if we

are to build bridges, make changes, and

solve problems. Any community ser-

vice organization should make sure that

the voice and needs of the community

are included in the development of the

community service program.

2. Orientation and training are impor-

tant first steps for any community ser-

vice experience. Information should be

provided for student volunteers about

the community, the issue, and the

agency or community group.

3. Meaningful action means that the

service being done is necessary and

valuable to the community itself.

Meaningful action makes people feel

like what they did made a difference in

a measurable way and that their time

was utilized well. Without this, people

will not want to continue their service,

no matter how well we do with the

other four elements.

4. Reflection is a crucial component of

the community service learning experi-

ence. Reflection should happen immedi-

ately after the experience to discuss

reactions, share stories, and explore feel-

ings. Reflection is also a good time to

present additional facts about the issues

and thus dispel any stereotypes or an

individual's alienation from service.

Reflection should place the experience

into a broader context.

5. Evaluation measures the impact of

the students' learning experience and

the effectiveness of the service in the

community. Students should evaluate

their learning experience and agencies

should evaluate the effectiveness of the

students' service. Evaluation gives

direction for improvement, growth, and

change.

Q. 27

Campus Outreach OpportunityLeague (COOL) is a national, nonprofit

organization that helps college stu-dents start, strengthen, and expandtheir community service programs.COOL is committed to student voiceand empowerment by linking stu-dents to resources, ideas, and to eachother. By providing opportunities tospeak, participate in state and nation-al trainings and initiatives, and act asstaff or board members, COOL servesas a platform for students to becomelocal, state, and national leaders.Among its 5 Elements of Meaningful

Service, COOL advocates that schoolsmeasure the impact of the experiencefor students as well as for the com-munity (see sidebar).

Can service learning be an effec-tive strategy for preventing alcoholand other drug problems at collegesand universities? While that questionhas not yet been fully examined, arecent report from the NationalCenter for the Advancement ofPrevention concludes that so-calledalternative activities and programsmay successfully serve as preventionmeasures.14 Because these activities

have been shown to developenhanced personal and social skills,positive self-concept, and a future-oriented outlook among youth, suchprograms are worthy of continuedresearch and funding.

Campuses across the countryhave developed a wide range of pro-grams based on student service, asthe following examples indicate:

26

Headrest, one of Dartmouth's stu-dent service programs, provides a24-hour crisis hotline to respondto calls on alcohol and other drugproblems, suicide, depression,and other requests for informa-tion and referrals.

Students at the University ofRhode Island (URI), through itsCenter for Service Learning, canvolunteer at the Ocean StateCenter for Law and CitizenEducation, a project of the URIUrban Field Center. Through thiswork, students can provide"youth with the skills and knowl-edge they need to become advo-cates in the prevention of crime,drug problems, violence andvictimization, and the peacefulresolution of conflict."

For-credit service learningoptions at the University ofMichigan at Ann Arbor includeSociology 389/Education 317, acourse that combines service inthe community with academicrequirements, including a semi-nar, course readings, journals,and papers. Students can choosefrom over fifty sites focusing oneducation, health care, women'sissues, criminal justice, and alco-hol and other drugs. Psychology211, a community-based experien-tial learning program in whichstudents combine volunteer workin community agencies with arelated seminar on campus, isanother option.

The University of Louisvilleoffers students a chance to learnand apply community organiza-tion skills through SustainableUrban Neighborhoods (SUN), anoutreach-oriented partnershiphelping to revitalize the city'sWest End. Students are placedthrough the University's ServiceLearning Program and can helporganize crime prevention work-shops, update computer-assisted-design (CAD) maps that identifyhot spots of drug and prostitutionfor community groups to combat,and help organize neighborhoodclean-up programs and blockwatch groups.

The CARES (Community ActionReaching and Educating throughService) Volunteer Center at theUniversity of South Floridarecruited student volunteers forFirst Night Tampa Bay, a safe andsober event ushering in the 1997new year.

Spring 1997 courses at Virginia

Tech offering a service-learning

r

Making the

IME

option range in disciplines frombiology to women's studies.Those enrolled in Sociology 2004

(Social Organization and SocialProblems) and Urban Affairs andPlanning 3014 (Urban Policy andPlanning) can conduct neighbor-hood surveys and engage ingrass-roots organizing throughTotal Action Against Poverty, aRoanoke community agency.

Campus-community coalitionsare another way to engage stu-dents in community life. Forexample, twenty campuses haveformed the Philadelphia HigherEducation Network forNeighborhood Development(PHENND). Among its objectivesis development of model trainingprograms for student service vol-unteers. The Western New YorkConsortium is a similar organiza-tion of twelve colleges and uni-versities in the Buffalo area.

"O.

-4 I II n1^

4

2.9

"A good college affirms that service to

others is a central part of eduction."

Carnegie Foundation, TheCollege Undergraduate Experience

in America

Using Academicsto GenerateStudentInvolvementThere are two tried and true incen-tives for involving students in pre-vention efforts: pay and coursecredit. In general, offering coursecredit is the preferred route, sinceboth faculty and students will bemore highly motivated (and moretightly constrained by academicrequirements) to make the work anenriching educational experience.

Prevention work calls upon abroad range of skills that studentsmay need in their future work,including problem assessment, strate-gic planning, policy and programdevelopment, political organizing,media advocacy, data collection andanalysis, and report preparation.Students will often seek out opportu-nities to do this work where they canlearn such skills and come into con-tact with faculty, other academic offi-cials, and community leaders.

Finding student volunteers isanother possibility. Many studentsare truly motivated to help maketheir campus a better place, not sim-ply for themselves, but for students inyears to come. Others recognize thatthey will be more attractive to futureemployers and graduate schools iftheir academic experience is round-

ed out with community-based volun-teer work.

Enlisting volunteers may be easi-er if the initial focus is not on alcoholand other drug use per se but on itsconsequences. In the Core Institutedata from over 40,000 student surveysadministered during the 1995-96school year from both two- and four-year institutions, respondents wereasked whether students on their cam-pus cared about several problems thataffect campus climate. While 44 per-cent said that their fellow studentscare about AOD use, far greater num-bers said that students care aboutother problems, such as sexual assault(84 percent), nonsexual assault (76percent), and campus vandalism (61

percent).15

These problems are associatedwith alcohol and other drug use, sostudent concern about them can bechanneled into a broader concernabout alcohol and other drugs. Part ofthe answer is to raise awareness ofthese problems and to identify stepsthat individuals can take to avoiddangerous situations. The other partis to engage students in a broadereffort to change the campus environ-ment and social norms about AODuse by linking prevention with theacademic mission of their college.

30

"You CAN make a difference.

INTERACT INVOLVE, VOLUNTEER!"

Office of Student CommunityService at Northwestern University

Student Incentives

Student demand for service learningand campus and community servicein higher education is growing.National organizations such asCampus Opportunity OutreachLeague (COOL), Campus Compact,and the National Society forExperiential Education identify arange of reasons why students valueservice opportunities:

Academic Credit. Students oftenlook for ways to earn academiccredit that are relevant to real-lifeissues. For example, graduate

Making the

students in one school of socialwork earned credit for conduct-ing an assessment (and classreport) on the alcohol messageenvironment on their campus.

Affinity. Students want a sense ofcommunity and so affiliate withvarious campus organizations tobe with kindred spirits who areengaged in meaningful activities.

Building Résumés. In an increas-ingly competitive job climate, thecollege graduate who can claimoutside-of-class experience andmuster testimonial letters from awide range of campus referencesis likely to be more attractive toprospective employers.

A Student-Driven Prevention Initiative

The Creating Healthy Opportunities in

Campus Environments (CHOICEs)

Project at Brock University, St.

Catharines, Ontario, Canada, is a pre-

vention project that gives students an

opportunity to develop many initia-

tives in fulfillment of their academic

requirements. For example, students

majoring in the communications pro-

gram developed the CHOICEs concept,

logo, and marketing strategies. Two

health studies students with a career

interest in dietetics developed the con-

tent for a nutrition and healthy eating

initiative. Another health studies stu-

dent, who was interested in learning

about Web page construction, drafted

the content for the CHOICEs Virtual

Community Centre on the World Wide

Web <http://www.brocku.ca/choices/>.

CHOICEs also developed ways to

bring health issues into nonhealth-

related courses. For example, for a poli-

cy course offered in the business

school, faculty members examine and

evaluate the current alcohol policy, and

students provide suggestions for

improving policies. Marketing stu-

dents evaluate the effectiveness of

existing alcohol awareness programs.

Human geography students examine

the relationship between drinking

establishment location and drinking

behavior.

"Faculty want to be involved

with student life in ways that

are consistent with their role as

faculty."

Gerardo M. Gonzalez, pro-fessor of counselor education

at the University of Florida

Career Exploration. Through

involvement in prevention activi-ties students can explore a range

of fields for prospective graduate

education or work, such as com-

munications, marketing, politi-cal science, public health, theater

arts, or any of the other academic

disciplines or professional fields

that can contribute to the preven-

tion of alcohol and other drugproblems.

Citizenship. During the college

years students confront issues of

social justice and public responsi-

bility and begin to define theirown civic values.

Leadership Opportunities. Students

involved in prevention learn thatthey can be leaders and make a

difference in campus and commu-

nity life.

Learning by Doing: Students can

augment the cognitive learning ofacademic life with the experien-

tial learning of being involved inreal-life issues of importance.

Work Study. Five percent of feder-

al work study financial assistance

must be connected to service

learning. For most college stu-

dents, paying the bills is often a

high priority.

Making the LinkPart of the job of those working on

prevention issues is to remind facul-ty that alcohol and other drug pre-vention work is vital to their successas teachers. Campuses across the

country are linking faculty with pre-vention through a wide range of

activities. Faculty can wield institu-tional influence in a number of ways

to enhance campus health and safety,

all of which are compatible with their

roles as teachers and researchers.

Alcohol and other drug preven-

tion provides numerous opportunities

for linking faculty academic interests

with student affairs needs. But those

links need the encouragement and

support of the campus community to

reinforce the mission of academic life:

research, teaching, and service.

Making the

Notes

' Schlechty, P. C., School for the Twenty-First Century: Leadership Imperatives forEducational Reform (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991).Edmundson, M., "Dealing with Drugs: What Cultural Studies Could Contribute,"Chronicle of Higher Education (July 18, 1997).Ninth Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health (Rockville, MD: U.S.Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse andAlcoholism, 1997).Wechsler, H.; Davenport, A.; Dowdall, G.; Moeykens, B.; and Castillo, S., "Health andBehavioral Consequences of Binge Drinking in College: A National Survey ofStudents at 140 Campuses, " Journal of the American Medical Association 272 (1994):1672-77.Presley, C. A.; Meilman, P. W.; and Cashin, J. R., Alcohol and Drugs on American CollegeCampuses: Use, Consequences, and Perceptions of the Campus Environment (Carbondale,IL: The Core Institute, Southern Illinois University, 1996).

6 Binge Drinking on American College Campuses: A New Look at an Old Problem (Boston:Harvard School of Public Health, 1995).

' op. cit.Presley, Meilman, and Cashin, op. cit.

9 Perkins, H. W., and Wechsler, H., "Variation in Perceived College Drinking Norms andIts Impact on Alcohol Abuse: A Nationwide Study," Journal of Drug Issues 26, no. 4(1996): 961-974.

10 Eigen, L. D., Alcohol Practices, Policies, and Potentials of American Colleges andUniversities: An OSAP White Paper (Rockville, MD: Office for Substance AbusePrevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1991).

11 "To Deter Drinking, U. of North Carolina Mulls 8 A.M. Classes and Friday Exams,"Chronicle of Higher Education (March 25, 1997).

12 Perkins and Wechsler, op. cit.13 "Getting the Message: Don't Drink and Bike," Prevention File: Alcohol, Tobacco and

Other Drugs 11, no. 2 (Spring 1996).14 A Review of Alternative Activities and Alternative Programs in Youth-Oriented Prevention,

CSAP Technical Report 13, DHHS Publication no. (SMA) 96-3117, 1996.3Presley, Meilman, and Cashin, op. cit.

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

33

ResourcesBuilding Community: Service Learning in the Academic Disciplines, edited by

Richard J. Kraft and Marc Swadener (School of Education, University ofColorado at Boulder). Published by Colorado Campus Compact, 1994.

Campus Life: In Search of Community. The Carnegie Foundation for the

Advancement of Teaching, May 1990. Based on a yearlong study of campuslife undertaken in cooperation with the American Council on Education, thisreport suggests six fundamental guiding principles for building community onthe contemporary campus. It includes a thoughtful analysis of current problemsand challenges and highlights two major surveys of presidents and studentaffairs officers.

Faculty Member's Handbook: Strategies for Preventing Alcohol and Other Drug

Problems, 1991. A publication of the federal government designed to involvefaculty members on college and university campuses in campus efforts toaddress alcohol and other drug problems. Available from the NationalClearinghouse on Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI), (800) 729-6686 and

via the Internet <http://www.health.org/pubs/catalog/>.

Partners for Prevention: A Guide for Faculty. This educational pamphlet from

BACCHUS offers suggestions on how faculty can become a partner in campusprevention efforts. For information contact the BACCHUS and GAMMA PeerEducation Network, P.O. Box 100430, Denver, CO 80250-0430; (303) 871-3068;

fax: (303) 871-2013.

A Review of Alternative Activities and Alternative Programs in Youth-Oriented

Prevention, CSAP Technical Report 13,1996. Available from NCADI, (800) 729-

6686 and via the Internet <http: / /www.health.org /pubs /catalog / >.

The International Coalition of Addiction Studies Educators (INCASE) is aprofessional society of educators dedicated to enhancing the quality of educa-tional programming in alcohol, drug, and other addiction studies. Founded in1990, INCASE is devoted to educational issues relevant to addiction studies,including counselor education, prevention and treatment, research, and socialpolicy. For information, contact Janet Feenstra at (715) 833-6418; fax: (715) 833-

6470; e-mail: jfeenstra@mail.chippewa.tec.wi.us.

The Network for Dissemination of Curriculum Infusion (NDCI) has pub-lished a monograph on its analysis of successful curriculum infusion programs.A set of video materials introducing the curriculum infusion process and

34

Making the

another set on faculty training for curriculum infusion are available for purchasefrom NDCI, which also conducts workshops and provides consultation for thedevelopment of curriculum infusion programs in higher education. For additionalinformation, contact NDCI at Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis,Chicago, IL 60625; (773) 794-6697; fax: (773) 794-6242.

The New Jersey Higher Education Consortium on Alcohol and Other DrugPrevention and Education has developed an extensive compendium of statewidecurriculum infusion projects. For additional information, contact Linda Jeffrey atRowan University (609) 256-4500, ext. 4874.

Service Learning Resources on the Web

The following resources provide information on how to develop service learningopportunities for students in a variety of settings, from volunteerism at communitycolleges to alternative spring break activities in low income communities.

American Association of Community Colleges Service Learning Site:<http: / /www.aacc.nche.edu/spcproj/service/service.htm>

AmeriCorps is the national service program that allows people of all agesand backgrounds to earn help paying for education in exchange for a yearof service: <http: / /www.cns.gov/americorps.html>

Break Away: The Alternative Break Connection, Break Away ConnectingCampuses and Communities, 6026 Station B, Nashville, TN 37235; fax: (615)343-3255: <http:/ /www.vanderbilt.edu /breakaway />

Campus Compact National Center for Community Colleges:<http: / /www.mc.maricopa.edu/academic/compact/>

How to Do It packets and publications. Brevard Community College Centerfor Service-Learning, 1519 Clearlake Road, Cocoa, FL 32922 (cost recoveryfees apply): <http://www.brevard.cc.fLus/CSL/X.HTD.htm>

Listing of Campus-Based Community Service Programs organized byCOOL, the Campus Outreach Opportunity League:<http:/ /www.cool2serve.org/servprogms.html>

National Service-Learning Cooperative Clearinghouse:<http://www.nicsl.coled.umn.edu/otherweb.html>

National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE):<http:/ /www.tripod.com/nsee/>

Service-Learning on the World Wide Web Home Page:<http:/ /cslcolorado.edu/s1/>

Service-Learning Faculty Handbook. Virginia Tech University Service-Learning Center: < http: / /ccserver.phil .vt.edu /www /SL /fachand.html>

s 35

Publications available from ...

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug PreventionThe following is a partial list of publications available from the Center. To receive a complete list,call us at (800) 676-1730 or check our Website at http:11www.edc.orglhecl to download copies ofmost of our publications or to place an order for print versions.

Setting and Improving Policies for Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Problems on Campus:A Guide for Administrators (114 pp.)

Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems on Campus:Acquaintance Rape: A Guide for Program Coordinators (74 pp.)Methods for Assessing Student Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs (48 pp.)Substance-Free Residence Halls (62 pp.)Vandalism (8 pp.)

College Alcohol Risk Assessment Guide: Environmental Approaches to Prevention (103 pp.)

A Social Norms Approach to Preventing Binge Drinking at Colleges and Universities (32 pp.)

Complying with the Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Regulations (34 CFR Part 86):A Guide for University and College Administrators (36 pp.)

Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention: A Bulletin for Fraternity & Sorority Advisers (16 pp.)

Binge Drinking on Campus: Results of a National Study (8 pp.)

Secondary Effects of Binge Drinking on College Campuses (8 pp.)

Designing Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Programs in Higher Education:Bringing Theory into Practice (292 pp.)

Social Marketing Strategies for Campus Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems (32 pp.)

Annotated Bibliography: Focus: Environmental Management Strategies (38 pp.)

Last Call for High-Risk Bar Promotions That Target College Students: A Community Action Guide (fromthe Center for Science in the Public Interest) (61 pp.)

Be Vocal, Be Visible, Be Visionary: Recommendations for College and University Presidents on Alcoholand Other Drug Prevention (A Report from the Presidents Leadership Group) (58 pp.)

Understanding Evaluation: The Way to Better Prevention Programs (98 pp.)

A College Case Study: A Supplement to Understanding Evaluation: The Way to Better PreventionPrograms (24 pp.)

"Fixing Broken Barroom Windows" (A Prevention File reprint) (8 pp.)

Fact Sheets/ Prevention Updates

Alcohol and Other Drug Use and Sexual AssaultCollege Academic Performance and Alcohol and Other Drug UseAlcohol and Other Drug Use Among College AthletesAlcohol, Other Drugs, and Interpersonal ViolenceAlcohol Use Among Fraternity and Sorority MembersRacial and Ethnic Differences in Alcohol and Other Drug UseGetting Started on Campus: Tips for New AOD CoordinatorsResponsible Hospitality ServiceSocial Marketing for PreventionCampus-Community Coalitions in AOD Prevention

3E

nterFor Alcohol And Other Drug Prevention

How We Can Help

Our MissionThe mission of the Higher EducationCenter for Alcohol and Other DrugPrevention is to assist institutions ofhigher education in developingalcohol and other drug (A00) preventionprograms that will foster students'academic and social development andpromote campus and community safety.

The Center offers an integrated array of services to help people at collegesand universities adopt effective AOD prevention strategies:

Training and professional development activities

Resources, referrals, and consultations

Publication and dissemination of prevention materials

Support for the Network of Colleges and UniversitiesCommitted to the Elimination of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Assessment, evaluation, and analysis activities

Read Our NewsletterKeep up to date with the Catalyst. Learn about important developments inAOD prevention in higher education. To receive free copies, ask to be puton our mailing list.

Get in Touch

Additional information can be obtained by contacting:

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug PreventionEducation Development Center, Inc.55 Chapel StreetNewton, MA 02158-1060

Website: http://www.edc.org/hec/Phone: 800-676-1730; Fax: 617-928-1537

E-mail: HigherEdCtr@edc.org

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education

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