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Weaving the Fabric of Prevention
By David S. Anderson, Ph.D.
Director, Center for the Advancement of Public Health George Mason UniversityWhen thinking about addressing alcohol misuse by students, it is helpful to think in terms of creating an outfit to wear, or even putting together a wardrobe. While shorts and a T-shirt might be the most comfortable, that is just not a sufficient repertoire of clothing for all purposes (such as winters in Minnesota or a job interview on Wall Street). Similarly, it is important, for professional purposes, that one "dresses for success" by having shoes that complement the outfit, shirt or blouse that does not clash with other clothing, and an overall aura that presents the message you want. It goes without saying that the shoes should match one another and buttons should all be alike!
While this sounds like a rather bizarre beginning to thinking about ways to address campus alcohol misuse, it’s really not too far fetched. Our campus efforts, traditionally, have been, on the whole, piecemeal and disjointed. Elements of many campus’ efforts are disjointed and even contradictory. In the May 1998 issue of The Peer Educator, I discussed the importance of creating a comprehensive and long-term perspective. Going hand-in-hand with that is the need to "integrate alcohol abuse prevention efforts into the fabric of the institution."
This integration theme is developed from recommendations emerging from the Promising Practices: Campus Alcohol Strategies project. This long-term initiative, conducted with Dr. Gail Gleason Milgram of the Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University and funded by The Century Council, is designed to assist colleges and universities in their efforts to prevent alcohol problems. The resulting Sourcebook, and newly released Task Force Planner, provide excellent and helpful resources for institutions as they begin thoughtful efforts to plan and implement appropriate strategies.
Thinking specifically about ways of "weaving" the alcohol abuse prevention issue into the institutional fabric, three main thoughts come to mind. First, campuses would benefit from thinking about the range of personnel involved directly and indirectly in the institutional efforts. These include students and student leaders, fraternity and sorority members, faculty members, staff members, campus police or security, administrators, and community leaders. The context of this "weaving" is thinking about the institutional mission. Institutions of higher education are traditionally grounded with an academic focus, and are complemented by a student development focus. Students are enrolled and receive credit for academic courses, but also need to maintain their physical, emotional and social health. Thus, each of the campus community members identified has a role to play in working on the prevention planning efforts.
The second emphasis is with the academic courses. This is a particularly important setting for getting "woven" into the institutional fabric, because courses are the universal fabric for every academic institution. Through courses, messages and materials on alcohol abuse prevention have the opportunity to reach every student. Many alcohol prevention planners note the difficulty in reaching students; courses are the "tie that binds." Whether the campus is a commuter campus or a community/technical college, or whether you are trying to reach distant or otherwise hard-to-reach groups, the classroom is a good setting.
A third approach is with faculty members themselves. As we think about getting incorporated into the institutional fabric, recall that faculty members traditionally have three areas of emphasis upon which they are rated: teaching, research, and service. Get involved in the classroom setting. Work with faculty to identify mutually beneficial approaches that help to get your prevention message across. Regarding research, you may find faculty members who have a research interest in alcohol abuse prevention efforts, and your chapter may be able to help with labor, ideas, or access to students or student groups. Similarly, you may have a research or evaluation idea, and approach a faculty member who has research skills or resources that you would benefit from. Faculty needs to provide service. Faculty may provide BACCHUS and GAMMA peer educators a particular service and may link them to the community for service. Through all of this, it’s important to look for "win-win-win" scenarios; these help the faculty member accomplish some of their needs, help your peer educators accomplish their goals, and help students get the message from a variety of sources on the campus.
Finally, as you think about getting incorporated into the institutional fabric, your ultimate aim is thinking about ways in which the purpose of peer educators complements that of the institution as a whole, as well as that of individual staff and faculty members, and other college-based groups and organizations. As you use the Sourcebook and the Task Force Planner, you are thinking strategically about how to get multiple individuals and groups involved in prevention efforts. You want multiple individuals and groups communicating messages about alcohol, about prevention, about misuse, about personal responsibility, about decisions, and about consequences. To be successful it is important to have more than a single voice (yours!) communicating. Similarly, as you weave a fabric, or build a wardrobe, you want more than a single strand of thread, a single outfit, or a single piece of clothing. With this institutionalization, your efforts are much, much more likely to be heard, and to be sustained.
David S. Anderson, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at George Mason University's Center for the Advancement of Public Health. Promising Practices: Campus Alcohol Strategies is based at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Project Co-Directors are GMU's Dr. Anderson and Gail Gleason Milgram, Ed.D. of the Center of Alcohol Studies, Rutgers University. Funded by a grant from The Century Council, Promising Practices: Campus Alcohol Strategies hosts a web site at http://www.promprac.gmu.edu; project staff can be contacted at 703-993-3697 or caph@gmu.edu.
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