Sourcebook | Action Planner | Task Force Planner & Guide | Highlights | Publications CD
When we undertook the Promising Practices: Campus Alcohol Strategies project more than 5 years ago, we did so with the belief that our colleagues would benefit from sharing information and strategies with one another. Based on our experience with college alcohol education and prevention efforts over many years, we also believed that professionals would adopt and adapt what others were already doing. And that's precisely what happened!
At the beginning of this process, we anticipated a fairly straight-forward journey. What a journey it has been! The willingness of colleagues to share the results of their hard work and the openness of other colleagues to draw from and expand upon others' good works attest to the sense of a shared national mission. We have been continuously encouraged by the quality of the strategies that professionals across the nation have developed and are impressed with their continued interest to learn more effective ways of grappling with alcohol abuse and related problems.
We feel a tremendous satisfaction with how this journey has unfolded. It began as an initial solicitation within a framework of a comprehensive program and emerged into more solicitations and related resources. The Task Force Planner and Action Planner complement this Sourcebook; these resources were designed to help campus officials, community leaders, state and federal policymakers, and others interested in making campus alcohol abuse prevention efforts constructive, thoughtful, and comprehensive.
Throughout this process, our underlying belief has been that providing grounded resources in a user-friendly format would help promote meaningful and long-term change on campuses. We have maintained that individuals in leadership positions, as well as concerned others, can make a difference, but that they need the tools to assist them. We have continued to observe a positive regard for the quality of institutions and quality of students who enroll in these institutions of higher learning. We have been positively reinforced with the optimism widely held about the possibility of change for a healthier learning and living environment on campus.
Upon reflection, what strikes us now is that many challenges still remain to address alcohol abuse and related issues on college campuses. While many of these are articulated in the introductory and closing pages of this Sourcebook, the premise we hold is that through active use of these and complementary resources, significant change, vis-à-vis reduction of harmful consequences that are often associated with college student drinking, can occur on our campuses.
Just as in the case for meaningful campus-based efforts, partnerships have been critical to our successful preparation of these resources. Our advisory panel, the same individuals who collaborated with us in Fall 1995 as we conceptualized this project, have been continuously honest and forthright in their views. Their dedication to developing meaningful resources to help promote quality efforts on campuses has been outstanding. The Century Council, which funded the grant for preparing these resources, has been very supportive of the nature and scope of our efforts. The trust of The Century Council, especially B. J. McConnell, and the respect shown for our independence, has helped maintain the academic integrity of our work. Our heartfelt thanks goes to the Honorable John C. Lawn who served as the Chairman of the Board and CEO of The Century Council from the initiation of this project to the Fall of 2000; his vision of and full support of Promising Practices: Campus Alcohol Strategies helped make this project a true joy and honor for us. The kind and unwavering assistance of the project staff, including Noel Goldberg, Pat Copeland, and Jacques Newgen, has made the attention to detail and the bigger picture manageable. Last but not least, we thank our colleagues who have openly and vigorously shared their efforts, commented on the helpfulness of the resources, and suggested new initiatives for our consideration.
As always, we welcome your comments and observations; we hope that you will use this as a platform for adaptation and modification of current efforts and strategies. We wish you every success as you strive to create healthier campus communities.
David S. Anderson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
George Mason UniversityGail Gleason Milgram, Ed.D.
Professor
Rutgers University
February 2001
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