white-paper-expanding-scope-of-prevention

To address the community college challenges of improving academic success and quality of student life, resources to increase healthy lifestyles by reducing high-risk alcohol, other drugs

Expanding the Scope of Prevention with Community Colleges

Purpose: This paper will address opportunities for reducing alcohol, other drugs and violence problems in community college settings with proposed evidence-based strategies It will also highlight prevention and intervention gaps and recommend pathways for community colleges

Mary Hill, Consultant for Higher Education

837 Military Drive, Canyon Lake, Texas 78133 mahill@gvtc.com Telephone: 830-935-2327

And edited by:

Mimi Martinez McKay, Chief of Staff/Information Services Director

Texas Department of State Health Services

909 W 45th Street, Austin, Texas 78751 mimi.mckay@dshs.state.tx.us

Expanding the Scope of Prevention with Community Colleges

By Mary Hill, Coordinator for Texas Statewide Prevention mahill@gvtc.com

A new vision for higher education may need to start with community colleges

I Introduction

President Obama, policymakers and many other think tanks are now

emphasizing that every American needs to complete at least one year of college

to compete in a worldwide marketplace One needs to look no further than their local community college to stand ready to accomplish this vision for higher

education Community colleges specialize in starting interested students on their path to higher education and vocational training To meet the challenges of

today’s students, community colleges must identify and improve upon areas in which they are lacking to meet the demands of a varied student population

There are areas of need outside the classroom that must be provided by

community colleges in order for them to operate within local, state and federal laws Many community college personnel are aware of these issues and

acknowledge they are not adequately providing all possible services to promote a healthful, safe and productive learning environment

To address the community college challenges of improving academic success and quality of student life, resources to increase healthy lifestyles by reducing high-risk alcohol, other drugs use and violence in community colleges need to become a major focus for these institutions and beyond Since 1986, prevention

of high-risk alcohol and other drug use and violence has focused on four-year colleges and universities, but these efforts have largely ignored students enrolled

at our nation’s community colleges Because community colleges are so closely linked to the communities they serve, prevention strategies based on

collaborations and coalitions with organizations, institutions and businesses should be fully explored since they are poised to yield successful outcomes toward addressing these problems Moreover, despite their differences,

community colleges and four-year institutions have much to learn from each other in this arena Community colleges face many of the same challenges as four-year institutions in responding to the alcohol, drug and violence problems of their students Providing a healthy, safe, and legal college and university campus environment is a major concern of campus administrators, faculty, staff, students and community leaders across institutions of higher education

Research findings indicate a weak link in our prevention efforts to utilize

environmental strategies to address prevention for our community colleges Most community colleges are jointly funded by the community and state, and as such

are a natural setting for community mobilization to draw attention to high-risk alcohol and other drug use and violence Moreover, the community college

setting represents the largest national increase in college students in 2009

This paper will address the opportunities for reducing high-risk alcohol, other drug use and violence in community colleges settings with proposed evidence- based strategies It will also highlight the prevention and intervention gaps and recommend pathways for community colleges to follow By targeting this

resource to administration, faculty, staff, students and community members, the hope is it will serve as one tool to enable them to design and implement policies and procedures to reduce underage and high-risk alcohol and other drug use and violence on community college campuses and in their local communities

II Review of Literature

Most of the attention to the issue of underage and high-risk drinking has ignored the over 5.5 million students enrolled at 1,112 community colleges across the United States Three publications that do address prevention for community

colleges include the following: Prevention Challenges at Community Colleges by

Barbara Ryan (1998); Community College Presidents’ Role in Alcohol and other

Drug Abuse Prevention by William DeJong (2006); and Engaging the Nation’s Community Colleges as Prevention Partners in A Brief Report from the

Roundtable on Community College Health and Safety: Preventing Substance Abuse and Violence (January 2002)

III History of Underage and High-Risk Alcohol and other Drug Use Prevention

at All Colleges

In 1953, a landmark study, Find College Life Affects Drinking Little; Habits

Acquired Earlier conducted by Yale University was the first formal research-based study of substance use on college campuses in the United States In

1986, after the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA) was signed into law, funds were distributed to state and local education agencies initiating widespread attention to prevention efforts at local, state, and national levels Through a 1989 amendment, this Act and established guidelines for policies and regulations for all campuses that received federal funding.¹ In 1986, the U.S Department of Education’s annual meeting was devoted to examining issues around alcohol and other drug abuse and violence prevention on college

campuses and in surrounding communities In 1987, The Network Addressing

Collegiate Alcohol and Other Drug Issues (http://www.thenetwork.ws/)sponsored

by the United States Department of Education was developed to address issues related to the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs and the prevention of violence in institutions of higher education In 1988, the Core Survey was

developed and most of the national research on college-based alcohol and other drug abuse originated from the Core Institute located at Southern Illinois

University and the Harvard School of Public Health (http://www.core.siuc.edu/) In

1990, the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime

Statistics Act required annual record of all crime incidents, including substance

abuse on campus.² In 1997, prevention efforts took another serious turn after the deaths of Benjamin Wynne, a student at Louisiana State University and Scott Krueger, a student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Both students died

of alcohol poisoning as a result of fraternity hazing incidents The deaths that occurred on these campuses served as a catalyst for the university

administration and prevention staff to join a community based coalition to reduce underage and high-risk alcohol use and abuse.³ In 1998, Environmental

Management (http://www.higheredcenter.org/environmental-management) was introduced as a comprehensive strategy for reducing alcohol and other drug use

by changing the campus and community environment.4 In 1999, the U S

Department of Education selected several universities for model program awards

to be replicated for other campuses.5 In 2002, The National Institute on Alcohol

Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) report A Call to Action (2002) reported heavy

drinking by higher education students as wide-spread, dangerous, and disruptive

A task force estimated 1400 student deaths in 1998 and an additional 500,000 college students suffered alcohol-related unintentional injuries This report served

as a catalyst for prevention on college campuses.6 In 2006, Weatherford

Community College in Weatherford, Texas received the first Department of

Education (DOE) grant award for community colleges

After the mass shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University in 2007,

a greater emphasis on safety at community colleges was introduced by the post-Virginia Tech task force reports.7 Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act

(DFSCA) policies are mandated for all colleges that receive federal funding and are expected to be enforced and adjudicated Recent emerging legal issues also bring attention to the fact that all community colleges must identify foreseeable risks and take reasonable action to mitigate these risks

IV: History of Prevention for Community Colleges in Texas

As discussed previously, prevention efforts addressing alcohol, other drugs and violence on college campuses was mainly focused on four-year colleges when prevention was first introduced after the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA) was signed into law in 1986 At this time, the U.S Department of

Education’s efforts in support of this law were organized and funds were

distributed to state and local education agencies initiating widespread prevention attention at the local, state, and national levels A review of literature and funding for community colleges at this time documents they were largely overlooked as

an important component in reducing high-risk alcohol, other drugs and violence

in higher education Recent survey data in Texas (Survey appendix B) indicated that a majority of the community colleges do not have residential facilities and many stated that therefore do not don’t believe DFSCA applies Until training for our community colleges was initiated in 2006, we were unaware that most of the community colleges in Texas were not aware of the federal mandates for

receiving funding for their campuses Policy development and enforcement is now a major focus with our environmental management approach for our

community colleges in Texas

All institutions dealing with young adults (eighteen through twenty-four) must become aware of the reality of drug and alcohol abuse Much has been written about the

problems and abuse on university campuses across our nation, but very little is noted

concerning use and abuse at community colleges. -Dr William R Auvanshine, Chief Executive Officer/President of Clarendon Community College (See Appendix A)

In 2002 the NIAAA report Tier I report recommended that colleges who

collaborate with community coalitions might have evidence of success

(http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh284/249-251.htm) This emphasis on collaborating with the community emerged as a part of the environmental

management model to manage high-risk alcohol, other drug use and violence This approach reframes the issue as an issue to be addressed by an entire

community, not only college campuses

V Guidelines for community colleges to forming partnership toward

addressing high risk alcohol, other drug use and violence

1 Community Colleges as linkages for building successful transitions of high school, community, community coalitions and four-year institutions

as follows:

Two-year community and/or technical colleges are a vital part of the

higher education system

Community colleges and technical colleges are a vital link between

transitions of high school students to four-year colleges

Community colleges are a vital link between community coalitions and four-year colleges

Boards of Trustees/Regents are usually elected within the community

Students at community colleges tend to reflect the societal norms of their surrounding communities

Community colleges belong to the whole community

Community colleges are funded with state and local funds

2 Community Coalitions and State Agencies Working with Community

Colleges: (Funding for a training between these groups provided by the Texas

Department of State Health Services as part of the state incentive grant program)

The Bay Area Alliance for Youth and Families and San Jacinto Community College, South Campus

o San Jacinto Community College established a coalition on their campus with the help of the Bay Area Alliance for Youth and

Families This has lead to many collaborative activities including alcohol free events, the mailing of 21st birthday cards to students to reduce binge drinking when they become of legal age, bringing in speakers on prevention The coalition and campus are now in the process of developing campus policies together The community coalition supported the Core Survey for the campus participation The Alliance on Underage Drinking (ALOUD) Community Coalition

o ALOUD organized a College Summit training and invited all

community colleges in their region (North Texas) to send a team to the training to become knowledgeable in evidence-based

strategies Five community colleges sent teams to participate The South East Harris Community Coalition

o Organized a college training and invited all community colleges in their region to send a team to become knowledgeable in evidence-based strategies Three community colleges sent a team to the South Texas region training

Rio Grande Safe Communities

o Worked with El Paso Community College by funding the Core Survey and assisted in submitting a DOE grant The community coalition facilitated training on the community college campus to help develop an alcohol and other drug policy

San Antonio Council Alcohol Drug Abuse

o Worked with three community colleges in San Antonio The

community coalition funded the Core Survey, developed a peer education consortium and facilitated focus sessions on the community college campuses to determine their prevention needs Phoenix House/Houston

o Organized college trainings on evidence-based strategies and invited all of the community colleges in the Houston, Texas area Five community colleges and 10 professional staff attended the training

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission hosted a college and university

symposium (two day training featuring evidence based strategies) as part of the Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws (EUDL) grant program that

included five community colleges in the South Texas region

VI Results of Strategy Development Sessions of Community Colleges in Texas as reported during the trainings for community colleges: (Focus

session data from 20 community colleges who attended training)

1 Challenges

Little or no support from administration for student services

Little or no budget

Little or no time to devote to program (inadequate personnel/staff

positions)

Community college staff felt intimidated with joint training of four-year colleges

2 Solutions

Focus on obtaining administration support

Facilitate a series of conference calls to determine needs and interest of professional staff of community colleges for future trainings

Host a prevention training recognizing the unique needs of community colleges

VII Summary of conference calls (January 20- 21, 2010) with forty

community colleges in Texas Department of State Health Services

facilitated the calls and the dialogue was similar to the strategy

development sessions at the trainings sessions noted above

1 What are some of the advantages Community Colleges provide to

students, community and state?

Easy transition from high school to college and often serves as a first step for students in moving forward in higher education

Opportunities for first generation students to attend classes beyond high school

Easy transition for returning students including as veterans

Training for workforce occupations in health, safety and substance abuse Provide higher education to those unable to attend year institution of

higher education due to cost and other issues

Assist individuals dealing with academic probation

Provide remediation classes

Allows high school students to receive college credit before attending four- year colleges and universities

Students from four-year colleges and universities take courses during summer and breaks

A less expensive option to attending a four-year college and university Prepare students for jobs in local communities

Leading the way in online distance learning

Student Assistance Programs (SAP)- Identification and intervention

method – Suited for transition from high school to college and easy to adapt to community colleges

Students contribute to economics of the community as many hold full or

part time jobs in addition to attending the college

Open Door Policy –ACT or SAT are not required for acceptance

Smaller classes allow to offer more individualized assistance to students Role of professors is to teach rather than focus on research

Policy makers (Board of Regents) and faculty are more closely connected

to community

Allow students who prefer to stay close to home due to either familial or economic reasons that opportunity

2 What are some of the limitations of attending a Community College?

Lack of transportation

Lack of prestige while attending a community college

No/limited residence halls

Limited instructors to teach subjects on an as-needed basis

Lack of counseling service available to assist students

No student health services

Some urban campuses perceive faculty unwilling to get involved

Lack of available information about funding

Shortage of faculty to offer a wider variety of needed/desired courses Use of adjunct faculty who may not be involved in student lives other than

to teach a class

Pros/cons of student populations from very diverse backgrounds and ages such as growing number of veterans and 18-19 year olds

Still connected to high school “buddies” who may be binge drinkers

3 Major challenges for Texas community colleges that should be targeted during the next two years?

Administration support and adequate budget for services

Access to data to assess challenges and/or limitations

Address limited resources of all kinds (esp budget and services)

Provide support for the development and dissemination of alcohol, other

drug and violence policies on campus

Address gaps in remedial education, domestic, substance abuse and mental health programs

Increase the level of faculty support, visibility and knowledge about

substance abuse

Provide student services (staff and time) to facilitate alcohol screening and

motivational interviewing

More support and funding for law enforcement on campuses

VIII Moving Forward to Address Major Challenges: (Time frame will begin April 2010 The goal is to reach 50% of the community colleges in Texas during the first year)

1 Engaging Administration Support

Recruit top-level administrators who understand prevention from each geographical area of Texas to take a lead among community colleges (Include rural and urban campuses)

Host a conference of community college presidents, community college chancellors, presidents and board of trustees to review the state and federal mandates and cover evidence based strategies during the

conference

Request community college presidents to appoint a team leader on each campus to work with statewide initiatives for prevention in Texas

Engage the President of each community college to appoint a campus wide task force that will include administration, faculty, staff, students, and community representatives to address the campus alcohol, other drugs

and violence problems

2 Conduct a campus and community data assessment and present to administration, faculty and community leaders (The majority of community

coalitions and state agencies have access to some relevant assessment data The Center of Community College Engagement at (located at the University of Texas at Austin) has useful data from their 242 member community colleges across the country data (http://www.ccsse.org/)

3 Develop a strategic/action plan with key stakeholders on campuses and

in communities to manage the environment The strategic plan will be

developed in conjunction with the office of the campus president and local board

of trustees

4 Engage community coalitions and state agencies to collaborate with prevention and intervention efforts on at least 50% (36 campuses) of

community colleges in Texas

5 Review, update or develop, enforce and adjudicate policies and laws through the development of a webinar to reach each community college campus The webinar will include skills in developing, enforcing and adjudicating

the policies These polices will then be distributed to all students, staff,

community coalitions and local media

6 Develop a faculty education program and mandate that all faculty attend

This program will include methods to recognize substance use and abuse

disorders and method of referrals

7 Continue online conference calls on a bi-annual basis to determine

needs and interest of professional staff in reducing alcohol, other drugs and violence prevention

8 Establish contact with local boards of trustees, parents, community coalitions and local foundations to enhance prevention and intervention efforts for community colleges

IX Additional Reading: (Cited in Section II on Review of Literature)

DeJong.W.etal (2006) Community College Presidents’ Role in Alcohol and

Other Drug Abuse Prevention,

http://www.higheredcenter.org/services/publications/community-college-presidents-role-alcohol-and-other-drug-abuse-prevention

Barbara Ryan (1998) Prevention Challenges at Community Colleges

http://www.higheredcenter.org/services/publications/alcohol-and-other-drugs-prevention-challenges-community-colleges

Brief Report from the Roundtable on Community College Health and

Safety: Preventing Substance Abuse and Violence (2002) Engaging the Nation’s

Community Colleges as Prevention Partners www.edc.org/hec/pubs/

Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy

(2007) www.hhs.gov/vtreport.pdf

X References and web sites

¹ U S Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Regulations (34 CFR 86) Biennial Review Compliance – Http://www.higheredcenter.org/mandates/dfsca

² The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (1998) or Clery Act is a federal statute codified at 20

U.S.C § 1092(f), with implementing regulations in the U.S Code of Federal Regulations at 34 C.F.R 668.46

http://www.securityoncampus.org/index.php?option=com_content&vie

³ Working in Partnership with Local Colleges and Universities Strategizer 34 – Prepared by William DeJong, Ph.D., Director and Joe C Epstein, J.D., U S Department of Education’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention http:// www.higheredcenter.org/services/publications /strategizer-34-working-partnership-local colleges-and universities

4 DeJong.W et.at (1998) Environmental management: A Comprehensive

strategy for reducing alcohol and other drug use on college campuses,

www.edc.org/hec/pubs/enviro-mgnt.html

5 DeJong.W et.at (2007) Experiences in Effective Prevention, U S Department

of Education’s model programs,

searchpubs.higheredcenter.org/services/publications/

6Task Force of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2002) A Call to Action

Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S College (Washington, D.C.: National

Institutes of Health, 2002) http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/ _TOC.aspx

7 Darby Dickerson Stetson University College of Law (FL), Lessons in

Collaboration: Learning from the Post-Virginia Tech Task Force Reports

www.naca.org