What Colleges Are Doing to Address Alcohol and Other Drug Problems

In response to growing awareness of and concern about alcohol and other drug problems, institutions of higher education are implementing policies and programs in an attempt to curb alcohol and other drug use and its associated negative consequences. Momentum is now building for comprehensive prevention approaches that combine traditional educational programs with strategies aimed at changing the physical, social, legal, and economic environment on campus and in surrounding communities. This environmental management approach recognizes that student behavior is influenced at multiple levels: personal, peer, institutional, community, and public policy.

In other words, it is not enough for a college to distribute its alcohol and other drug policy printed in the back of a handbook, host a one-day alcohol awareness program, offer counseling programs for those who seek them, and expect the problem to go away. Instead, college presidents need to exert leadership. They need to bring together faculty, administrators, staff, students, parents, alumni, and local community members to develop and implement strong, effective policies and programs. The goals of these efforts must be to decrease the availability of alcohol, increase the number and variety of alcohol-free social activities for students, and create a climate that discourages high-risk drinking and empowers students who abstain or drink legally and moderately.

Programs and Policies That Make a Difference

The following are examples of the strategies many colleges and universities are implementing that can have a positive influence on the campus culture regarding alcohol and other drug use:

• Forming partnerships with local communities to ensure that alcohol is not served to minors or to intoxicated students;
• Strengthening academic requirements;
• Strengthening academic requirements;
• Scheduling classes on Fridays (This strategy emphasizes the importance of academics and discourages the alcohol-fueled partying that may occur on Thursday nights if student do not need to attend classes on Fridays.);
• Keeping the library and recreational facilities open longer;
• Eliminating alcohol industry support for athletics programs (Accepting such funding can be seen as sending a mixed message to students.);
• Restricting alcohol promotions and advertising on campus and in campus publications, especially promotions or ads that feature low-cost drinks;
• Monitoring fraternities to ensure compliance with alcohol policies and laws;
• Providing a wide range of alcohol-free social and recreational activities;
• Disciplining repeat offenders and those who engage in unacceptable behavior associated with substance use;
• Notifying parents when students engage in serious or repeated violations of alcohol or other drug policies or laws; and
• Launching a media campaign to inform students about the actual amount of drinking that occurs on campus, since most students overestimate the number of their classmates who drink and the amount that they drink.

Campuses with Award-Winning Programs

The particular programs described in this report have been recognized as effective alcohol and other drug prevention efforts. However, the U.S. Department of Education does not intend to imply that alcohol and other drug use or related problems at these institutions are any more or less pervasive than at other campuses.

Auburn University - Auburn University, Alabama

Health Behavior Assessment Center Alcohol Problem Prevention Initiative
Project Directors: Polly Dunn, Ph.D., Rudy Vuchinich, Ph.D., and James Murphy, M.S.

The Auburn University Health Behavior Assessment Center provides services to college students who have exhibited problems related to alcohol use. The program utilizes Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS), a program developed by researchers at the University of Washington. Students complete a questionnaire and, during one or two individual meetings with a counselor, receive feedback about how their drinking habits compare with those of the student body as a whole. They also learn how they might benefit by making some changes in their behavior. These sessions are supportive rather than confrontational and are designed to increase the student’s motivation to reduce alcohol consumption and related harm.

Boston College - Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

Alcohol and Drug Education Program
Project Director: Kimberley Timpf

The Alcohol and Drug Education Program at Boston College is a comprehensive, community-based effort focused on creating significant shifts in campus culture to encourage and support appropriate student behaviors regarding the use of alcohol.

Bowling Green State University - Bowling Green, Ohio

BGSU Peer-Based Misperception Program
Project Director: Terry L. Rentner, Ph.D.

Bowling Green State University’s program was designed to change student attitudes, behaviors, and the campus social environment. Surveys were conducted to determine differences between the realities of student drinking and the perceived or imagined values and behaviors of students regarding drinking. The results indicated that students typically believe that their peers drink much more than they actually do. These results were presented in focus groups where students were encouraged to discuss the misperceptions and their influence on campus culture. Group members were also asked what types of prevention messages they would respond to and what kind of campus programs would be appealing. An "I Don’t Drink as Much as You Think" campaign was launched using creative mass media and interpersonal appeals to change student misperceptions of their peers’ drinking habits. The combination of small group surveys and focus group discussions was again implemented the following year, this time targeted to high-risk groups such as fraternities and sororities, athletics teams, and first-year residents. Data indicate that the gaps between the perceived drinking norms and the actual norms are being corrected. In addition, the rate of excessive drinking among students decreased by 2.5 percent, 4 percent fewer students experienced pressure to drink, and 4 percent fewer students heard others bragging about their drinking.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Geneva, New York

The HWS Alcohol Education Project: A Model Prevention Program
Project Directors: H. Wesley Perkins, Ph.D. and David Craig, Ph.D.

• a print and poster mass-media campaign, based on local student survey data, to reduce drinking myths;
• an interdisciplinary course on alcohol abuse;
• an electronic multimedia campaign that brought the content of both the print media and the interdisciplinary course to computers across campus and to the World Wide Web (http://alcohol.hws.edu/); and
• a faculty and student-teacher training initiative for infusing alcohol and other drug information into the curriculum across academic programs and for community coalition building.

Along with substantial reductions in student misperceptions of peer drinking habits, follow-up program assessments have demonstrated a 21 percent reduction in actual frequent heavy drinking. During this same period, students reported a 31 percent reduction in missed classes, a 36 percent reduction in property damage, and a 40 percent reduction in unprotected sex due to drinking.

Lehigh University - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Project IMPACT
Project Director: Madalyn Eadline

Lehigh’s Project IMPACT was launched in 1996 and has since established a campus and community coalition to address the problems of abusive drinking and its secondhand effects. Lehigh has implemented an environmental approach to transform the campus and community culture by making it more acceptable for students to choose not to drink and to encourage those students who do drink to do so in moderation. The program has raised awareness of the problems of high-risk drinking, expanded the number and type of alcohol-free social events for students, and improved relationships and cooperation with residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. Some of Lehigh’s accomplishments include:

• a significant increase in the number of students living in substance-free housing, from an initial 11 students to more than 200 who choose to be alcohol and drug free in their residences;
• an alcohol server training program that has engaged local bar and tavern owners to complete training that encourages responsible sales policies; and
• improved cooperation and communication between the university and city police departments via community policing initiatives and active participation in the campus community coalition.

Rutgers University - Piscataway, New Jersey

RU SURE?: A Dangerous Drinking Prevention Program
Project Directors: Linda C. Lederman, Ph.D. and Lea P. Stewart, Ph.D.

Rutgers University utilizes a five-pronged approach of prevention, education, intervention, treatment, and enforcement to address the issue of dangerous drinking on campus. A key component of their multi-faceted approach is CHI, the Communication and Health Issues Research Partnership for Education and Research. CHI created the RU SURE? campaign which aims to decrease dangerous drinking among first-year students by reducing their misperceptions of dangerous drinking as a campus norm. The research-driven campaign is based on Lederman and Stewart’s Socially Situated Experiential Learning Model. The RU SURE? campaign includes a media campaign; a curriculum infusion plan; peer-led, hands-on learning activities in first-year residence halls; collaboration among faculty, health professionals, and students; and a community coalition. Through focus group interviews, individual interviews, and Website feedback, campaign evaluation yielded positive results. The percentage of students who could accurately report the percentage of students who do not drink dangerously rose from 17 percent to 55 percent. Students in the curriculum-infusion component reduced their typical number of drinks consumed per occasion from a mean of 4.5 to 3.7. Also, the number of reported incidents of assaults, disorderly conduct, harassment, and vandalism decreased in first-year residence halls.

San Diego State University - San Diego, California

Collegiate-Community Alcohol Prevention Partnership
Project Director: John D. Clapp, Ph.D.

San Diego State University’s Community/Collegiate Alcohol Prevention Partnership (C-CAPP) program is a comprehensive and ongoing alcohol prevention effort. Beginning in 1997, C-CAPP has developed and implemented a science-based, data-driven alcohol prevention program that strategically works to change environmental conditions related to alcohol use and misuse within the college student population residing in San Diego. The program’s goals include:

• reducing alcohol-related promotions and advertising occurring on campus or specifically targeting college students on the San Diego State University (SDSU) campus;
• reducing heavy episodic drinking by SDSU students; and
• reducing alcohol-related problems involving SDSU students.

C-CAPP uses a town/gown coalition of students, community leaders, law enforcement representatives, business representatives (including bar owners), and researchers to develop, implement, and evaluate environmental prevention strategies. Strategies include increased law enforcement, responsible beverage service training, media advocacy, normative campaigns, and policy development. The program is part of SDSU’s overall approach to alcohol and other drug problems and embraces the need to work collaboratively within the campus and the greater San Diego community.

Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Twelve Feathers Program
Project Director: Johnnie J. Wardlow

Syracuse University - Syracuse, New York

Twelve-Point Plan for Substance Abuse Prevention and Health Enhancement: Achieving Culture Shift through Shared Governance
Project Director: Anastasia L. Urtz, J.D.

Consistent enforcement of underage drinking laws and university policies has been critical to the initial success of Syracuse University’s Twelve Point Plan—a comprehensive approach to alcohol and other drug prevention. The university has worked with state and local officials, a campus-community coalition (including tavern owners, other local colleges, health professionals, and neighborhood residents), students, parents, faculty, and staff to:

• restructure the university judicial system to achieve swift adjudication, student education, and resource referral;
• create standard progressive sanctions for substance abuse-related policy violations, thereby providing advance notice of the consequences of misconduct;
• implement an enhanced parental notification policy;
• design a Neighborhood Patrol Initiative to address underage drinking and other off-campus quality of life issues; and
• report to state and local authorities incidents of unlawful distribution of alcohol to minors or intoxicated persons by licensed establishments.

The results of these efforts between the first and last quarters of the 1999-2000 academic year have been reductions in alcohol-related misconduct (412 cases down to 48 cases); off-campus student arrests and referrals for discipline (50 cases down to 3 cases); and emergency medical transports for severe intoxication (20 cases down to 2 cases). Also, student attendance at alcohol-free social options such as a Late Night at the Gym program, a campus dance club, and a campus coffee house has increased significantly.

The Pennsylvania State University - University Park, Pennsylvania

The Late Night-PennState Program
Project Director: Dolores W. Maney, Ph.D.

The Pennsylvania State University’s alcohol-free "Late Night-Penn State" is an alternative-activity program offering students multiple forms of free entertainment as a means of curbing high-risk drinking.

The goals of the program include:

• delivering quality entertainment;
• providing a variety of alcohol-free programs that meet the interests of a diverse student body;
• encouraging student involvement in designing and implementing programs; and
• increasing awareness of the program.

Events are offered during prime-time social hours (9 p.m. to 2 a.m.) on 16 weekends each semester. Programs are held at the on-campus student union building and include free movies, ballroom/swing dancing, music, comedy, traditional board games, video games, and magic shows. A majority (71 percent) of students who attended Late Night-Penn State events reported that participation in this program resulted in less drinking for themselves and for other students.

The State University of New York at New Paltz - New Paltz, New York

A Comprehensive Model Utilizing Social Norms and Community Collaboration for Alcohol Prevention
Project Directors: Raymond Schwarz, Ph.D., Robin Cohen, M.A., and Michelle Cangelosi, M.Ed., CHES

With the strong support of university leaders, the State University of New York at New Paltz has been successful in developing and implementing a comprehensive alcohol prevention program since 1986. New Paltz strives to (1) reduce high-risk alcohol use, (2) make it acceptable not to use alcohol, (3) ensure safety through the institutional and cultural intolerance of misuse, and (4) correct incoming students’ misperceptions about campus drinking behavior. In order to achieve these objectives, the following six strategies are being implemented:

• freshman initiatives that provide theatrical skits, parental involvement, and curriculum infusion;
• community/university collaboration that includes a Tavern Owner’s Agreement to reduce high-risk specials and a risk management policy for Greek Letter organizations;
• multimedia social marketing campaigns that disseminate posters, print ads, TV ads, radio ads, fortune cookies, and mousepads;
• campus activities such as "Major Connections" events (where students interact with faculty), coffee houses, video dance parties, late movie and gym hours, shopping trips, and pizza parties;
• policies and enforcement that include clearly communicated policies and an institutional response to each incident; and
• intervention strategies that include parental notification of student infractions, along with education and/or referral to counseling for those found in violation of campus policies.

University at Albany, State University of New York - Albany, New York

Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program
Project Directors: Maria Dolores Cimini, Ph.D. and Danny A. Trujillo, Ph.D.

In existence for thirty years, the University at Albany’s peer assistance center has focused on peer counseling and education in its alcohol and other drug prevention efforts. As part of the counseling center, Middle Earth has continually evolved to incorporate new information and strategies to effect positive change. In 1970, it launched one of the first hotlines of its kind, an anonymous information and referral option for students. During the 1999-2000 year, the hotline received over 1,600 calls, with alcohol and other drug concerns being one of the three primary issues raised by callers. In 1983, the center began to conduct traditional peer education workshops for students on alcohol and other drugs. Today, one of the strongest and most visible aspects of the program is an improvisational theater group, the Middle Earth Players. Their presentations involve the audience in generating solutions to conflict situations around alcohol and other drugs. Since 1998, this theatrical program has been presented to all new students during orientation. Students who join the Middle Earth program as peer educators report significantly lower rates of alcohol and other drug use as compared to the whole campus community. Also, research involving 2,300 new University at Albany students who attended Middle Earth Players’ presentations indicated reported reductions in drinking rates when measured at three-month follow-up.

University of Arizona - Tucson, Arizona

Social Norms and Environmental Management
Project Director: Koreen Johannessen, M.S.W.

The University of Arizona’s program has demonstrated the effectiveness of a two-pronged alcohol abuse prevention program that reduced heavy drinking by 29 percent in a three-year period. The program also significantly reduced the incidence of negative consequences of heavy and high-risk drinking among college students. The social norms approach—the first prong—based on the knowledge that students overestimate alcohol use among their peers, exposed the difference between actual and perceived drinking norms. Through a newspaper and poster ad campaign and through working with policymakers and community groups, information on actual norms was broadcast campuswide. Environmental management—the second prong—identified specific policy and enforcement changes needed around drinking. Student leaders and administrators worked closely with campus health, campus and community police, and student and community affairs offices on shared issues of campus and community safety. Targets for action included large campus celebrations such as Homecoming, Fraternity Bid Night, and fraternity and sorority parties. Early in the semester, emphasis was placed on consistent enforcement of policies and laws related to underage drinking; type, amount, and service of food and alcohol at parties and large events; elimination of open parties; dramatic reduction in access to alcohol during athletics events; and elimination of alcohol-industry sponsorship campuswide. Specific activities encouraged safer neighborhoods, good-neighbor policies and community partnerships to reduce underage access to alcohol in the community.

University of Missouri–Columbia - Columbia, Missouri

Alcohol Summit
Project Director: Kim Dude, M.Ed.

The University of Missouri–Columbia’s program involves the Alcohol Summit, a coalition that is creating major change on the campus and in the community. The university’s chancellor appointed this blue-ribbon task force to address the problems occurring as a result of alcohol and drug use on campus. Task force members represented student organizations, faculty, and staff from campus police, the judicial office, health services, athletics, alumni relations, and admissions. Also included were community leaders such as the mayor, high school counselors, city police, local bar owners, and deans of two local colleges. After months of study, Alcohol Summit members concluded that the campus and community environment needed to be changed through an integrated approach that would include programs, policies, and public education campaigns. Positive changes have been brought about by:

• increasing the enforcement of existing policies;
• instituting new policies;
• changing the campus judicial process;
• increasing faculty and staff training;
• creating media campaigns that address social norms;
• training student leaders;
• providing early intervention strategies and services;
• creating alcohol-free social events; and
• limiting access to alcohol.

Preliminary program outcomes include a 7 percent reduction in the excessive drinking rate among freshmen, reductions in driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) incidents on campus, and a decrease in the number of alcohol violations in the residence halls.

University of Northern Colorado - Greeley, Colorado

The UNC Underage Drinking Enforcement Program
Project Director: Ann Quinn-Zobeck, Ph.D.

The University of Northern Colorado’s program uses a campus and community coalition to coordinate local ordinances, enforcement efforts, and educational programs to provide the consistent message to students and the community that underage drinking is not acceptable. A significant part of the university’s comprehensive program is a cooperative effort between the UNC Drug Prevention/Education Program and campus and local law enforcement agencies to enforce underage drinking laws. Offenders are charged under a municipal ordinance, which means that cases are heard by a local judge who takes them seriously and handles them in a timely fashion, requiring violators to pay fines, attend education classes, and perform community service. During summer orientation, incoming students are informed of the enforcement of underage drinking laws and policies and the consequences for violations. As students arrive on campus, door hangers in residence halls remind them of alcohol laws and policies and also list alcohol-free events on campus. During the early weeks of fall semester, teams of local and campus police patrol the off-campus neighborhoods where students live. When they encounter a party where alcohol is being served to minors, they stop the party and cite the host. After these policies were implemented, an on-campus survey indicated a 12 percent decrease in the incidence of heavy alcohol use and a 33 percent reduction in the percentage of students driving after drinking.

University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Comprehensive Alcohol and Other Drug Model Program
Project Directors: Max King, Ph.D. and Stephanie Ives, M.A.

The University of Pennsylvania has consistently worked to fight alcohol and other drug abuse on campus. In 1990, the university developed an alcohol and other drug prevention task force to begin the solution process. The university undertook a social norms approach in 1995. Three years later, the president convened a Special Committee on Alcohol Abuse. By the spring of 1999 the university decided to consolidate the goals, objectives, and activities of a variety of campus stakeholders into a comprehensive alcohol and other drug prevention program through the Working Group on Alcohol Abuse (WGAA). This group devised five goals to support cultural change:

• increasing and improving alcohol and other drug education;
• ensuring an environment supportive of low-risk alcohol use and abstaining behaviors;
• ensuring individual and group responsibility relating to alcohol-associated behaviors and consequences;
• minimizing individual, group, and community risk associated with substance use; and
• expanding opportunities for students to socialize without alcohol.

With the visible and vocal leadership of the president and provost, the WGAA has made considerable progress. In the spring of 2000, 33 percent of students responding to an online survey reported engaging in binge drinking in the previous two weeks. This is a significant decrease from the 49 percent binge drinking rate among Penn students reported in the 1993 and 1997 College Alcohol Study surveys conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health.

Utah State University - Logan, Utah

Judicial System Model
Project Director: JoAnn Autry, M.S.W.

Utah State University’s program consists of a coordinated prevention program and judicial process for students who violate the student code related to alcohol and other drugs. Participating in the referral of student violators are campus departments—including housing, athletics, and university police—as well as faculty and staff, and the city courts. Student violators participate in a six-week, peer-led group that includes self-assessment, self-discovery, self-monitoring, and self-management exercises; behavioral skills training; content-oriented alcohol and other drug education; relationship building; and hands-on activities. The purpose of the group is to reduce the likelihood of the student being involved in violating the university’s alcohol or other drug policy in the future. An important component of the sessions is information to correct students’ misperceptions of the extent of alcohol use by their peers and of how their peers regard heavy drinking behavior. Of 364 students who participated in the program over a seven-year period, only six students were involved in repeat violations after completing the skills-building group. Another measure of the program’s effectiveness is the recruitment of past participants to become part of the peer facilitation team. Currently 90 percent of the peer team were referred into the system, completed their obligation, and then made enough change in their behavior that they were able to sign a professional ethics contract limiting their alcohol intake to no more than three drinks per occasion and to zero if they are underage. Like all peer facilitators, they receive extensive on-going training and supervision.

Washington State University - Pullman, Washington

Project Culture Change–Greek System
Project Directors: John A. Miller, M.S., M.Ed. and Jeanne M. Far, Ph.D.

Washington State University (WSU) has implemented Project Culture Change—Greek System, a program using small-group, norms-challenging interventions. Developed in 1988, piloted in 1991, and implemented and researched in 1995-1996 and 1998-2000, the university’s model is designed to reduce alcohol abuse in selected high-consuming populations. The project aims to correct misperceptions of student alcohol use among students living in fraternities and sororities through 45-minute small-group interventions led by trained chapter presidents. The student leader presents previously collected campus-wide and group-specific data about student alcohol use and attitudes, elicits discussion regarding typical behavior, and responds to questions. Survey data gathered before and after the presentations indicate significant decreases in quantity of drinks per occasion and increases in accurate perceptions of student drinking attitudes and behaviors among students belonging to fraternities and sororities and among WSU students as a whole. At WSU, the number of students having five or more drinks per occasion has decreased from 58.7 percent in 1991 to 34.8 percent in 1999. Moderate drinking increased from 29.7 percent in 1991 to 48.5 percent in 1999. Students choosing to abstain from alcohol use increased from 11.6 percent in 1991 to 17.4 percent in 1995 (and stayed constant in 1999).

Western Washington University - Bellingham, Washington

“WE CAN Works”: A Model, Multi-tiered, Social-Norms Project
Project Director: Patricia M. Fabiano, Ph.D.

Western Washington State’s "WE CAN Works" is a prevention initiative that utilizes three different strategies to alter social norms on campus and in the surrounding community. First, this program developed, market tested, implemented, and evaluated a mass-media campaign involving media such as campus newspaper advertisements, posters, bulletin board displays, and radio. In 1998, one year after implementation of the mass media campaign, students reported a 20 percent decrease in high-risk consumption. Second, the project works with heavy alcohol users who have violated campus policy, giving them information comparing their own quantity of alcohol consumption, consequences of consumption, and perceptions of consumption with that of other students on campus. Of the students sanctioned into this Social-Norms Risk Reduction program between 1997 and 1999, 62 percent reported reducing their typical number of drinks by one or two drinks per occasion. Third, the project gave key campus and community opinion leaders a more accurate and positive perception of student contributions and behavior. As coalition members’ opinions and focus shifted, they were better able to see students as part of the solution rather than simply as part of the problem.

Last Update: February 21, 2003

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