East Stroudsburg University - Current Students - Health Services - Alcohol Task Force

This Strategic Plan institutionalizes efforts to change the campus drinking culture from one characterized by dangerous consumption to one in which students are empowered to make responsible choices about alcohol use in order to enhance their prospects for personal success, academic achievement, and healthy life styles. The following strategic goals provide a blueprint for sustainable reduction of harmful drinking practices by students at East Stroudsburg University.

Environmental conditions: Review physical, social, economic, and legal factors/conditions that impact student decisions about alcohol use with a focus on alcohol availability; alcohol marketing and promotion; enforcement of regulations and laws; availability of alcohol-free social and recreational options; and campus social norms and expectancies.
- Establish a UMADD chapter on campus to educate students, faculty and staff concerning the scope of alcohol-related problems and engage them in effective prevention strategies (2007-2008).
- Enhance late night programming on weekends to increase opportunities for alcohol-free social/recreational options.
Law Enforcement: Review campus disciplinary procedures involving the campus judicial system and campus law enforcement practices to ensure appropriate sanctions for under-age drinking, the consistent administration of those sanctions, and the development of pro-active strategies to prevent under age drinking.
- Design and implement a "Good Samaritan Policy" to safeguard intoxicated students from health dangers by encouraging students to seek medical assistance for their own or an friend's altered state of consciousness without fear of judicial consequences; provided behavior would otherwise qualify as non-disruptive (Spring 2008).
- Publicize drinking sanctions/penalties throughout campus on cleverly designed posters so that students can gain greater awareness of the consequences of their drinking behavior before they engage in it.
- Identify an on-line alcohol assessment instrument to be used with allnewly enrolledstudents prior to, or during, their first semester of enrollment.
- Develop and promote specific/automatic sanctions for certain alcohol violations in the student code of conduct.
- Send notification letters to parents for all alcohol violations.
Curriculum Infusion: Develop a curriculum infusion plan that leads faculty to integrate discussions about the impact of alcohol abuse and its associated issues into the syllabuses of courses that are offered regularly across the curriculum.
- Assess current practices related to where and how alcohol is infused in courses
- Seek funding for faculty training to infuse alcohol abuse and associated issues into coursework
- Deliver a training workshop for faculty on how best to incorporate alcohol issues into their courses
- Incorporate the impact of alcohol and its issues in the First Year Experience (FYE)
Campus Communication: Develop/implement a plan to increase awareness about the work of the Task Force, promote the initiatives undertaken by the various Task Force teams, and conduct social marketing campaign to inform campus constituencies about alcohol norms.
- Create a dedicated AOD (alcohol and other drugs) web page, with link from the front page of the ESU site, to post/maintain current information related to the AOD mission and planning efforts.
- Consider the development of a student blog to facilitate peer-to-peer communication about information and issues related to alcohol issues.
- Utilize a screen saver(s) in campus computer labs to deliver responsible use announcements/messages to students.
- Collaborate with an academic department and/or the campus media clubs to create a PSA that would send a message about abusing alcohol, to be viewed campus wide on all TVâ€™s.
- Utilize press releases to inform members of the campus and local community about important AOD initiatives/developments.
Community collaboration: Foster partnerships thru collaboration with community leaders to address high-risk alcohol use and its impact on external communities.
- Create a campus/community coalition consisting ofTavern Association members, Stroud area Regional Police, Crime watch, Health Care Providers, other community members to meet monthly and update/inform one another on issues that arise while keeping lines of communication open between the university and community (Fall 2008).
Outcomes Assessment: Conduct evaluation and assessment activities to acquire relevant data about student alcohol consumption; attitudes and perceptions about alcohol use; and the influence of environmental factors that contribute to risky drinking practices.
- Administer either the Core or NCHA survey annually on an alternating basis.
- Identify evaluation tools for use in the assessment of AOD programs/initiatives.
- Make recommendations to the AOD Task Force regarding alcohol program assessments.
- Centralize/house the results of campus alcohol assessments.
- Facilitate the administration of a periodic review of the ESU AOD program every five years.
- Identify ways to collect, analyze, and utilize data to evaluate the effectiveness of campus efforts related to alcohol.
Campus Programming: Design, deliver or facilitate programs/activities that raise awareness about alcohol abuse and that address prevention and intervention methods for high-risk students, based on the strategies recommended in the NIAAA "Call to Action" report
- Provide comprehensive educational programming and information using tactics from all tiers of the NIAAA "Call to Action" to meet different student needs and learning styles.
- Explore and recommend an intervention program (such as BASICS) for at risk individuals.
- Explore and recommend a population level education program to be administered to at risk groups particularly targeting freshmen, fraternity & sorority members, and athletes.
- Create a social norms campaign that challenges the beliefs and expectations of students surrounding alcohol use and abuse in our community.
- Create an annual poster/essay competition in partnership with area schools with the involvement of our targeted high-risk populations.
- Eliminate/prohibit programs/special events on campus that mimic drinking behaviors "root beer pong", "mocktails" etcâ€¦ by working closely with and gaining support from residence halls and Student Activity Association.
- Assist existing departments in current programming needs (administering assessments, identifying resources, etc).
Resources: Develop funding to support Task Force initiatives including the pursuit of grant opportunities and university departmental sponsorships, as well as the development of an E/G budget proposal.
- Identify potential campus funding sources to support AOD program/service proposals.
- Consider PLCB Grant opportunities to fund AOD initiatives, Develop an E/G budget proposal for creation of a dedicated AOD coordinator position.



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