Report summarizes efforts to combat alcohol abuse
In the July 1999 report on its alcohol initiative, the
Trustee Committee on Student Life, Health and Athletics
summarizes proposals that have already been implemented or
will be implemented during the fall of 1999 to
address the problem of alcohol abuse on campus.
The report emphasizes the importance of measuring
patterns of alcohol abuse on a continuing basis. It also
establishes a mechanism to allocate funds among alcohol
abuse programs.
More than 70 new efforts described in the report are
grouped under the rubrics of "education and communication,"
"campus culture and social climate," and "policy and
enforcement." They are being undertaken by offices and
groups including the residential colleges, the offices of
the Dean of the Faculty and the Dean of Student Life, the
departments of Athletics and of Health Services, the offices
of Religious Life and of Communications, the Undergraduate
Student Government, the eating clubs and the Alumni Council.
The full text of the report is available online at http://www.princeton.edu/pr/facts/finalreport.htm.
The Student Life, Health and Athletics Committee will
"actively and closely" monitor progress on the various
initiatives through the Office of the Dean of Student Life,
according to the report. The committee proposes to do the
following:
Make clear to the University community that the
issue of alcohol abuse will remain on the board's
agenda.
Require progress reports from campus organizations
and departments by March 2000.
Evaluate progress during its regular meetings, at
least twice a year.
Continue to meet with campus constituencies.
The report underlined the importance of maintaining the
highest possible level of student engagement in the
initiative. It also warned that the University community
would have to be prepared to work on the problem of alcohol
abuse indefinitely, since it is endemic to society. The
report emphasized that the University needs to develop the
means to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of new
programs and activities.
Funding for new programs
The committee and the president agreed that funding
should be set aside for new programs and proposals that
require additional financial support, according to the
report. The dean of student life will convene and chair a
small committee of students, faculty and administrators who
will receive funding proposals and allocate these additional
resources through an open, competitive grant process.
In the spring of 1998 the trustees announced a Trustee
Initiative on Alcohol Abuse, calling on the entire Princeton
University community -- students, faculty, administrators,
staff, alumni, parents and others -- to join with the
trustees in developing a broad-based action plan to reduce
alcohol abuse at Princeton. The initiative grew out of a
yearlong study of patterns of alcohol use and abuse at
Princeton and elsewhere by a special subcommittee of the
Student Life, Health and Athletics Committee, led by Dr.
Marsha Levy-Warren. The primary purposes of the initiative
were to focus the attention of the University community on
alcohol abuse and to involve the entire community in
addressing this concern.
The trustees charged the Committee on Student Life,
Health and Athletics with oversight of the initiative and,
in particular, with development of an action plan. At the
September and November 1998 board meetings, the committee
met with more than 20 groups and University departments to
talk with them about the initiative, seek their support and
request specific action plans from each group by December.
The final report compiles these proposals.
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