Talking Stick - July/August 2009 - 46

Conversations In the first year of the new program’s implementation, we have been able to identify more students at risk and get them referred to appropriate resources. These are students I am convinced we would not have identified before, when we relied too much on computer-based assessments and computer-based educational and “punitive” programs. Amethyst Initiative: For this past year I have also been part of a committee within my institution working to develop a one-day conference for college and university presidents to further discuss the impact of alcohol on campuses, taking the focus away from the drinking age and looking more at the crucial issues surrounding its effect on students and our campuses. We have come to believe strongly that the Amethyst Initiative is directed in the wrong way. It is looking at drinking age, but that should not be our issue. We should be looking at the effect of the use and abuse of alcohol on student behaviors, retention, and academic success, and we should ask presidents to consider this aspect of alcohol. Minnesota. In 2007, 35 percent of 12th grade males self-reported that they were high-risk drinkers. For female students it was 25 percent. Before they even reach our campus, we are already bracing ourselves for problems. When our vice president for student life and development arrived three years ago, she knew we needed to make some drastic changes in our approach to alcohol use. We recently completed a social norm project in our largest residence hall that sounds very similar to the NIAAA grant work Val did at NEU. Our students reported similar information in terms of drinking less than peers perceived they were drinking. We also used this program to help shape students’ understanding of consequences for drinking, community issues, and healthy lifestyle choices. We are planning to expand this to other halls next year. Campus Programs: Along with the social norm program I mentioned, we have done some aggressive work the past two years to change our image as a party school. Thanks to some internal funding, we launched the U-Choose program, which is an educational-based campus prevention effort that focuses on the reduction of high-risk alcohol use. The program utilizes empirically based theories and approaches specifically designed for college and university students. Our presenters are trained to work with small groups and conduct the sessions in a fun, interactive, positive, and intellectually stimulating manner. We also utilize E-CHUG, the online self-assessment program. Our campus conduct classes have also been revamped. IMPACT I and IMPACT II are for low-level and repeat alcohol offense sanctioning. We also have IMPACT M for substance and drug policy violations. Val, I find it interesting that you moved away from your campus online tool when you discovered that behaviors were not changing. That just reinforces how important assessment is when working with alcohol prevention programs and the value of face-to-face work in this area. Our U-Choose program, under the guidance of our new assistant dean of students, has been highly successful because of the facilitators. In fact, our assistant dean partnered with a local landlord who offered rent reductions to his student renters if they would complete the U-Choose program. That had mutual benefits for everyone. This program partnership was a feature story in USA Today, and they’ve been invited to speak nationally about the partnership. Amethyst Initiative: Related to Val’s comment, we had a very similar reaction on our campus to the Amethyst Initiative. As an institution we also put the focus of that conversation on the behaviors associated with alcohol abuse and the negative consequences in and out of the classroom – and not on the issue of age. This discussion came at an interesting time for us. We were approached by the local media on this topic at a time when another institution in our state was considering serving alcohol in select areas of a new athletic venue. The media rolled all these issues together in terms of questions because we were pursuing funding for an expansion of one of our athletic facilities. I found these discussions interesting from the perspective that there seems to be pressure and recognition of the double-edged sword when institutions consider making alcohol available at sporting events for those patrons that provide significant financial support and when they are looking at the issues of prohibiting or allowing alcohol sales for the student sections in the same venue. I know for years that institutions have also struggled with alcohol in tailgating areas as well. I would speculate that there is a Dan Pedersen: Grants and Research: At St. Cloud State, we also do some assessment internally and as a part of the National College Health Assessment. We also have students participate in a College Student Health Survey administered to our state system institutions. We found that our students are using alcohol above the national average (NCHA survey), but the numbers weren’t statistically high enough to be considered out of the norm. The upper Midwest and the Northeast seem to rise to the top often in annual reports as being the two regions of the country that have the highest alcohol consumption rates for persons between the ages of 18 and 23. One of the more shocking statistics I saw in a recent presentation had to do with high-risk drinking among high school students in the state of Talking STick

Talking Stick - July/August 2009

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