Our Goal
The Maryland Collaborative addresses and seeks to make a measurable difference in excessive drinking and related harms among college students as a statewide public health problem.
Why a Statewide Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking?
Nationwide, college student drinking problems result in enormous social and economic costs for families, friends, and the community at-large, including:
- Death (1,825)
- Unintentional Injuries (599,000)
- Physical Assaults (696,000)
- Rape
- Incidents of unprotected sex (400,000)
- Property damage
- Academic problems
- Driving while being drunk (3,360,000)
- Police involvement
- Alcohol abuse and dependency
- Alcohol-related health problems (150,000)
- Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2012). Fact sheet: College drinking. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
This is not the colleges’ problem alone. It is a shared problem and needs solutions that can be developed on each campus as well as by developing partnerships locally and statewide.
The Collaborative engages with colleges, universities, and their partners to create communities where students are supported to make healthy decisions, succeed in college and be prepared to become productive contributing community members.
How Does the Collaborative Help Colleges Reduce Excessive Drinking?
- Raise the profile of the problem and provide the momentum and leadership needed to bring new partners to the table to be part of the solution.
- Provide public health expertise and support to implement effective interventions, promote evidence-based alcohol policies, and reduce alcohol problems.
- Provide a forum for sharing information and support among colleges statewide working to reduce college drinking.
- Expand funding opportunities for sustainability.
- Develop and deploy a standard measurement tool for Maryland colleges, creating consistency for measuring progress toward their respective goals.
- Assist colleges in assessing the effectiveness of new strategies on multiple campuses.
- Build synergy among and provide peer and professional support to multiple campuses planning and implementing tailored interventions that best fit their individual environments.
- Provide a platform for the development of resources and insights that can be useful across all campuses in the state, whether part of the formal Collaborative or not.