Training for Campus and Community Change Agents

During the last 15 years, some statewide initiatives have offered conferences and workshops on alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention topics along with opportunities for networking for campus AOD coordinators. In recent years, there has been a greater focus on providing learning opportunities and experiences for campus and community change agents to apply skills in: strategic planning, assessment and evaluation, implementation of environmental strategies, and effective coalition building. A team approach to this work provides opportunities for collaboration between campuses and their community partners.

The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention (the Center) has developed a training and technical assistance progression designed to facilitate the growth and development of campus, community, and statewide AOD prevention efforts. Comprised of two training events and a significant number of pre- and post-training opportunities, the progression is process oriented and focuses primarily on skill-building. The training progression offers participants content knowledge, skill building opportunities, and time to develop action plans aimed at reducing high-risk and illegal alcohol and other drug use and attendant consequences. An important feature of the training and subsequent consultation is a campus and community readiness assessment, which gauges the level of readiness of the campus and community to engage in specific strategic objectives. Once this level of readiness is determined, activities can be designed to prepare the campus and community for the change they wish to see in their environment.

The Center also offers training on coalition building, media advocacy, using policy to create change—including an overview of the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act, and has custom designed training opportunities in collaboration with statewide initiative leaders. The Center recommends incorporating the enforcement task force training offered by the national Enforce the Underage Drinking Laws Training Center to campus and community law enforcement officials.

For more information on training visit the Learning Opportunities section of this Web site.