Florida State University

Background

In 2002, Florida State University (FSU) developed a paper on alcohol issues (Shaping Our Campus Community) and a set of priorities and activities to reduce high-risk drinking. The white paper reflected FSU’s comprehensive approach to prevention, which aims to increase the safety and health of its students and the surrounding community. In general, these activities focus on five areas: safety, education, healthy alternatives, enforcement, and resources for help. The prevention effort is coordinated through the One Voice/Healthy Campus 2010 Alcohol Initiative, which is co-chaired by the provost/vice president for academic affairs and the vice president of student affairs.

One Voice encourages individual, institutional, and community responsibility for providing a low-risk environment for students and community members. One Voice is based on strategies recommended by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) report A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges and the U.S. Department of Education’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention, which calls for a comprehensive approach that includes education, early intervention, treatment, and environmental management. This comprehensive approach was developed to change the culture of drinking at FSU and in the surrounding community by addressing three broad fronts:

• Individual students at risk for immediate and long-term alcohol problems
• The student population as a whole through a social norms marketing campaign
• The college and the surrounding community through a campus and community coalition and the hospitality resource panel

FSU has pursued resources to implement a number of initiatives to reduce alcohol-related harm for students and the community. FSU received funding from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Social Norms Resource Center, through a grant from the Anheuser Busch Foundation, to implement a social norms marketing campaign called “The Real Project” through December 2005. FSU also received a $700,000 grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to implement a campus and community coalition called the Partnership for Alcohol Responsibility (PAR) to employ environmental management strategies through August 2008. Both of these projects are integral partners in the comprehensive One Voice/Healthy Campus 2010 Alcohol Initiative

Program Summary: The Real Project
In January 2000, The Real Project, an organization sponsored by the Florida Center for Prevention Research (FCPR), began a social norms marketing campaign to correct misperceptions about student alcohol use and reinforce healthy, protective norms.

Baseline data from the Spring 2002 National College Health Assessment Survey (NCHA) at FSU found that 49.4 percent of students surveyed reported having four or fewer drinks the last time they partied/socialized; however, their perception was that only 24.7 percent of their peers were drinking a similar amount. In addition, 17.3 percent reported abstaining from drinking, while they perceived that only 1 percent of their peers were abstaining.

For the first year of “The Real Project” campaign the objective was to develop creative messages that combine positive campus alcohol norms with other positive student norms under the theme “Celebrating the University’s Strengths.” The campaign adopted creative strategies aimed at reinforcing positive protective behaviors, such as avoiding drinking games, using a designated driver, and so on, with messages highlighting:

• academic achievement
• individual fitness
• community involvement
• financial responsibility

For the second year the campaign’s creative strategy was “Typical Student,” with the objective of developing creative messages that highlight a 0–4 drink norm, in a tone that is fun, energetic, and “in your face.” The campaign messages:

• reinforced the norm that “Typical Students” have 0–4 drinks when they party
• challenged the audience to reconsider their opinion of a “Typical Student”
• highlighted non-offensive stereotypes of FSU students
• reinforced the positive protective behaviors (avoiding drinking games, using a designated driver, and so on) from the campaign’s first year

For the third year the campaign’s creative strategy was “Skeptical Bubble,” with the objective of using humor to highlight student drinking norms in a tone that acknowledges student skepticism about campaign statistics. The campaign messages:

• provided subtle reasons why campaign statistics are credible
• reinforced the norm that most students have 4 or fewer drinks when they party or do not drink at all
• reinforced the positive protective behaviors from years 1 and 2

The primary marketing methods for “The Real Project” included the following:

• Print media: Half-page, four-color and black and white ads in school newspaper, 18 ½ x 11 four-color bus cards on campus buses and for use as posters at authorized posting locations around campus, 8” x 10” four-color prints of ads for distribution in freshman residence halls
• Electronic media: Backgrounds and screen savers on computers in campus computer labs
• Outdoor media: Billboards at locations around campus with high student traffic

Evaluation
FSU conducts a cross-sectional study of undergraduate students annually in the spring using the NCHA survey. Approximately 4,500 students are selected randomly from a list of current undergraduates provided by the registrar in the spring semester. Undergraduate students less than age 18 and greater than age 26 are excluded from the sampling frame, as well as those students who are participating in the longitudinal study described below. Students selected to participate receive an introductory letter followed by a mailed survey, with postage-paid response included. Follow-up mailings to increase sample size are accomplished if needed. Ten $50 prizes are awarded at the conclusion of each survey period as an incentive to increase return rates.

Undergraduates who participated in a previous iteration of the NCHA survey are invited to participate in a longitudinal study of behavior and perception of student norms related to alcohol use. Participants receive an introductory letter followed by the NCHA survey tool at the same time that the cross-sectional study is implemented. Responses are included in the overall study results. Participants in the longitudinal study are surveyed as long as they remain undergraduate students at FSU for the duration of the study. In addition, nonrespondents receive a follow-up mailing and will continue to be surveyed in subsequent years.

Project Results (Comparison of 2002–04 NCHA Data)
Since 2002, high-risk drinking at FSU has declined 13.8 percent overall, with a 15 percent reduction among male students and a 5 percent reduction among female students. In addition, there has been a 21 percent increase in the number of students that reported abstaining from drinking. However, these findings cannot be attributed solely to The Real Project.

As noted above, the FSU One Voice/Healthy Campus 2010 Alcohol Initiative is a comprehensive approach to prevention that includes The Real Project, which was implemented in 2000, as well as several other strategies, such as environmental management, counseling, education, and campus and community collaboration.