What’s Happening with Maryland Colleges this Year?

Oct 19, 2013 | Archive

newspaperThis fall has been a busy and exciting time for The Maryland Collaborative as we begin working with participating colleges and their community partners to address college drinking statewide.  In September the Advisory Board of the Governance Council met for the first time. The V.P.s of Student Affairs and members of the Governance Council conceived of the Advisory Board to ensure that those most actively addressing college drinking in Maryland would inform and guide the direction of The Collaborative.

The Advisory Board is made up of representatives of college administrators, health center personnel, students, faculty, campus law enforcement, community coalitions, and State’s Attorney who are active in their communities working to reduce college drinking and related problems. The Board sees its role as sharing information with peers around the state, recommending broader policy changes to the Governance Council at the state or local level, and serving as a resource for Maryland’s colleges and communities.

On October 1 we held our first training for participating colleges and universities. Our training and technical assistance to participating institutions began this summer with conversations between our consultant, Michael Sparks, the Collaborative staff, and college administrators.  These conversations helped us better understand the high-risk drinking environments at each participating campus and design environmental strategies trainings to meet the needs of their individual campuses.

The October 1 training on Selecting Strategies and Planning Action was well attended, with over 40 campus and community participants from ten institutions from across Maryland.  College teams identified their high-risk drinking environments and the best practices to address those environments, and created action steps to begin implementing those strategies.

Our second training is scheduled for November 7 and will focus on improving the measurement of college student alcohol use and related problems on campus and in the surrounding environment.  Stay tuned to this space for more details.

Throughout the coming year, we will hold a series of in-depth training events, variously open to colleges and universities that are part of the Collaborative, as well as to other campuses and concerned community stakeholders from throughout the state.  The topics will evolve to meet the needs of our participating institutions, but possible topics include:

  • Strategic planning
  • Changing individual behavior to reduce excessive drinking
  • Building local coalitions
  • Engaging parents in prevention and intervention efforts
  • Off-campus party intervention strategies
  • Addressing pricing in local alcohol outlets
  • Collaborating with on- and off-campus law enforcement

We will also be designing and developing a web-based resource targeted for parents of students who attend a college or university in Maryland.

Many thanks to all of you who are working with us this year to reduce college drinking in campus communities throughout Maryland.  Your participation energizes us!

What’s Happening with Maryland Colleges this Year?

Oct 19, 2013 | Archive

newspaperThis fall has been a busy and exciting time for The Maryland Collaborative as we begin working with participating colleges and their community partners to address college drinking statewide.  In September the Advisory Board of the Governance Council met for the first time. The V.P.s of Student Affairs and members of the Governance Council conceived of the Advisory Board to ensure that those most actively addressing college drinking in Maryland would inform and guide the direction of The Collaborative.

The Advisory Board is made up of representatives of college administrators, health center personnel, students, faculty, campus law enforcement, community coalitions, and State’s Attorney who are active in their communities working to reduce college drinking and related problems. The Board sees its role as sharing information with peers around the state, recommending broader policy changes to the Governance Council at the state or local level, and serving as a resource for Maryland’s colleges and communities.

On October 1 we held our first training for participating colleges and universities. Our training and technical assistance to participating institutions began this summer with conversations between our consultant, Michael Sparks, the Collaborative staff, and college administrators.  These conversations helped us better understand the high-risk drinking environments at each participating campus and design environmental strategies trainings to meet the needs of their individual campuses.

The October 1 training on Selecting Strategies and Planning Action was well attended, with over 40 campus and community participants from ten institutions from across Maryland.  College teams identified their high-risk drinking environments and the best practices to address those environments, and created action steps to begin implementing those strategies.

Our second training is scheduled for November 7 and will focus on improving the measurement of college student alcohol use and related problems on campus and in the surrounding environment.  Stay tuned to this space for more details.

Throughout the coming year, we will hold a series of in-depth training events, variously open to colleges and universities that are part of the Collaborative, as well as to other campuses and concerned community stakeholders from throughout the state.  The topics will evolve to meet the needs of our participating institutions, but possible topics include:

  • Strategic planning
  • Changing individual behavior to reduce excessive drinking
  • Building local coalitions
  • Engaging parents in prevention and intervention efforts
  • Off-campus party intervention strategies
  • Addressing pricing in local alcohol outlets
  • Collaborating with on- and off-campus law enforcement

We will also be designing and developing a web-based resource targeted for parents of students who attend a college or university in Maryland.

Many thanks to all of you who are working with us this year to reduce college drinking in campus communities throughout Maryland.  Your participation energizes us!

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