National Center for College Health and Safety

The National Center for College Health and Safety at EDC assists colleges and universities in developing, implementing, and evaluating prevention policies and programs that address a broad range of health and safety issues at institutions of higher education. The Center also conducts research to expand current knowledge about effective strategies in promoting health and preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, violence and injuries, and high-risk sexual activity. With a core staff of 24, the Center’s services include professional development, technical assistance, publications, and a broad array of electronic communication resources.

The Center’s programs include the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, the nation’s primary resource for assisting colleges and universities in preventing substance abuse. Another is the Social Norms Marketing Research Project, a national, multi-site study that is testing the effectiveness of campus-based media campaigns in reducing high-risk drinking among college students. It is the first large study of its kind to evaluate the effect of social norms marketing on student perceptions of drinking norms and actual drinking behavior.

Challenges

Heavy drinking and other drug use, violence, hate crimes, and high-risk sexual practices among college students result in injury, property damage, unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, decreased academic performance, rape, and even death. Research demonstrates that education and intervention strategies that target individual students have a limited impact. A broader approach, which involves changing the social, cultural, and policy environment on campuses and surrounding communities, appears to be more effective.

Mission

The center’s focus is to develop and implement environmental approaches that link student behavior to the larger social and policy environment. The Center also recognizes the importance of prevention and early-intervention strategies focussed on individuals and devotes resources to promote them.

Services

Provide strategic planning services to campus and community teams, including senior campus administrators, prevention professionals, community leaders, faculty, and students.

Offer technical assistance on specific challenges to college and university administration, staff, faculty, students, and concerned community representatives.

Create and disseminate publications and materials to meet the diverse needs of the post-secondary education community.

Identify and disseminate promising prevention practices, interventions, policies, and enforcement strategies.

Conduct research to explore various interventions and disseminatethe results.

Results

The Center has helped mobilize and support more than 35 statewide initiatives to reduce alcohol and other drug use through the work of local campus and community coalitions.

Baseline data from the Social Norms Marketing Research Project indicate that college students overestimate peer alcohol use and underestimate their peers’ desire for stricter alcohol policies. (For more information, see www.edc.org/hec/snmrp.)

The Presidents' Leadership Group, convened by the Center in 1997, marked the first time that a national group of college presidents met to review various approaches for curbing student substance use and develop a comprehensive plan of action. It resulted in "Be Vocal, Be Visible, Be Visionary," a publication and video aimed at college presidents and administrators.

Moving to Action, a two-day interactive professional development workshop, has been offered to teams of more than 500 campus and community representatives across the country. Participating campuses have since expanded existing programs to include environmental prevention strategies and created frameworks to establish campus and community coalitions.

The Center has provided consultation services to more than 1,400 of the nation’s two-and four-year colleges.

Selected Products and Publications

The Center distributes more than 85 publications, ranging from brief fact sheets and prevention updates to guides and manuals, a selection of which are described below.

“Environmental Management: A Comprehensive Strategy for Reducing Alcohol and Other Drug Use on College Campuses,” by W. DeJong et al. (1998). A short, accessible document that articulates the philosophy of the Center and presents a comprehensive strategy based on lessons learned from prevention research, public health, and case law.

The Center's newsletter, Catalyst, publicizes events, resources, and reports on innovative alcohol, other drug, and violence prevention policies and programs. Catalyst is published three times a year and reaches an audience of more than 5,000.

HECNews, an electronic news bulletin published by the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention, includes press reports on alcohol, other drug, and violence prevention issues on campuses.

“Campus Mental Health Issues: Best Practices/A Guide for Colleges,” provides guidance and information to college administrators, faculty, police, resident advisors, and students on how to identify and assist students who appear to be under severe stress or are suffering from a mental illness.

Funders:

The U.S. Department of Education

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board

Vermont Department of Health

Outside the Classroom, Inc.

Directors:

William DeJong, Ph.D.
617-618-2399

Cheryl Vince Whitman, Senior Vice President, EDC; Director, Health and Human Development Programs
(617) 618-2300