University of Massachusetts Amherst

As part of a strategic plan to build an effective, comprehensive prevention program, the University of Massachusetts Amherst implemented BASICS (Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students), a nationally recognized program with a strong research basis, for students who violated the campus’s alcohol or other drug policies.

UMass Amherst has implemented BASICS for more than two years. Results from a quasi-experimental design indicate that students who participated in BASICS showed significant reductions in high-risk drinking rates and consequences when compared with those who did not. Because BASICS was implemented as part of a larger comprehensive environmental management framework, campuswide data show a 38 percent decline in binge drinking, a 26 percent decline in frequent binge drinking, and a 14 percent decline in underage binge drinking.

Because BASICS was implemented as part of a larger comprehensive environmental management framework, campus-wide data show a 38% decline in binge drinking; 26% decline in frequent binge drinking; and a 14% decline in underage binge drinking.

This year, the university implemented two program enhancements:

• A change in program delivery method which increases the number of students who can be seen without additional staffing, while reducing wait times between referral and intervention.

• The use of an electronically-delivered feedback intervention ("e-booster") sent to students three-months after completing BASICS.

Through the use of an e-booster, the university seeks to further decrease high-risk drinking, negative consequences, and recidivism. Results of this enhancement can inform the prevention field about the e-booster's potential for additional reductions in drinking rates among highest-risk students.

The university is disseminating to the field not only the BASICS program, but the process by which it was implemented, emphasizing a comprehensive approach to prevention and situating BASICS within a larger environmental management framework.