For more information on Systems Thinking, please visit our website at www.outsidetheclassrom.com/systemsthinking.aspx

Systems thinking teaches us that in order to enact change, we need to view problems in the broader context of the whole system—including its various subsystems and the relationships between the subsystems. You couldn’t imagine improving the health of the human body (a highly complex system) without contemplating its many subsystems (circulatory, respiratory, nervous system, etc.) and how they connect to one another.

Embracing systems thinking in college alcohol prevention requires recognizing that there is no single solution, but rather several interconnected processes that together lead to change.

Achieving

Breakthrough Progress

A Systems Approach to Alcohol Prevention

“ Vision without systems thinking ends up painting lovely pictures of the future with no deep understanding of the forces that must be mastered to move from here

to there.”

— Peter Senge

The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization

Gathering and Evaluating Baseline Data

Effectively addressing high-risk drinking requires, fi rst and foremost, a clear understanding of the problem—not just how much students drink, but where, when, why, and how they drink, as well as the consequences of their drinking. Without that baseline data, it’s impossible to effectively set goals and know where to allocate resources.

That’s where Outside The Classroom’s online education program, AlcoholEdu, makes all the difference. Through its comprehensive surveys, AlcoholEdu provides you with a wealth of data on your fi rst-year students’ alcohol use. But more importantly, we analyze that data for you, mining for trends and insights that are most meaningful, so that you can start building a prevention strategy that makes sense for your institution.

Assess and Analyze

Pre- and post-course surveys capture hundreds of data points for every student.

Surveys can be customized to allow campuses to assess areas of particular interest.

Surveys yield a robust database on fi rst-year students’ alcohol use, including frequency, negative consequences, attitudes towards drinking, high-risk locations, and more.

The AlcoholEdu Student Survey

1. What percentage of your students fall into each drinking category?

Abstainers %

Light drinkers %

High-risk drinkers %

2. What percentage of your prevention resources do you allocate to each of these groups?

Abstainers %

Light drinkers %

High-risk drinkers %

3. How do your campus’s drinking rates compare to the national average?

Higher Lower At Average

to peer institutions?

Higher Lower At Average

4. In what settings do your students most often drink?

For a more comprehensive version of this diagnostic inquiry and others presented in this guide, and to score your campus on key metrics, please visit our website at www.outsidetheclassroom.com/diagnostic.aspx.

DIAGnoSTIc InQUIRY

Each report includes benchmarks against national aggregates and peer institutions.

Data are also available online via the StudentVoice platform for customized analyses, cross-tabulations, “deep dives,” and comparisons over time.

Outside The Classroom provides an annual Executive Summary review of your data to share with key stakeholders on campus.

Your Institution National Average

ImPACt

CO

St

Building an Informed, Effective Prevention Strategy

Plan and Set Goals

With prevention dollars scarce and investments increasingly scrutinized, good strategic planning is more critical than ever. Yet knowing which evidence-based strategies might work on a given campus can be challenging. Campuses often select a few strategies without truly understanding whether the programs or policies they are implementing are appropriate or effective, and frequently fail to set concrete goals in advance.

To help campuses navigate through the goal-setting and strategic planning processes, Outside The Classroom has developed a proprietary decision-making tool called The Alcohol Prevention Compass. The Compass evaluates the relative strength of more than 30 alcohol prevention policies and programs in terms of their effectiveness, cost, and reach. In addition to this invaluable resource, our staff provides hands-on support and expertise—via phone, email, and on-campus briefings—to guide your planning efforts.

To help guide programmatic decision-making, The Compass uses an innovative methodology to map common alcohol prevention strategies in terms of their effectiveness, cost, and reach.

Examples of Other Prevention Strategies Examined:

BASICS Curriculum Infusion Fake ID Policies Friday Classes Group Motivational Enhancement Invited Speakers Online Education Parental Notification Policies RA Training Safe Rides Social Norms Marketing Substance-Free Housing

Alcohol-Free Options

Medical Amnesty

THE AlcoHol PREVEnTIon comPASS

DIAGnoSTIc InQUIRY

1. What are your top three alcohol prevention goals for the coming year?

1.

2.

3.

2. When was the last time your campus underwent a formal strategic planning process for alcohol prevention?

Date:

3 . Are all components of your prevention strategy informed by the latest research?

Yes No

4. Which of your currentprevention programs arehaving the greatest impacton student drinking?

5. Do you have a method for identifying which students want to be involved in planning alcohol-free events?

Yes No

Guiding You Through The compassTo ensure that each partner institution gleans value from The Compass, our research team is available to share their expertise regarding each prevention strategy, as well as assist campuses in evaluating their prevention programs and policies in light of the Compass framework.

using Alcohol-Free Options to Promote a Healthy Campus EnvironmentThis report takes a comprehensive look at alcohol-free options as a prevention strategy, including:

Research on the impact of alcohol-free options

Challenges campuses face in implementing alcohol-free options

Case studies and best practices for maximizing their impact

Additional Planning Resourcesfor alcohol-free options

Student Engagement DataAlcoholEdu’s student engagement tools allow campuses to capture data on:

What alcohol-free activities your students are most interested in Which students are interested in participating in these activities Which students are interested in planning these activities

The Compass online includes extensive background materials, tools, and implementation support for each strategy

COST

IMPACT

Gain Institutional Buy-In

Alcohol prevention simply cannot succeed in a vacuum. Before prevention efforts can move forward, campus constituents beyond the Student Affairs office must be bought into the vision and process behind prevention and clearly see the importance of their role in addressing high-risk drinking.

Engaging senior administrators, faculty members, and community leaders in alcohol prevention requires connecting the goals of alcohol prevention to broader stakeholder goals, as well as to the institution’s overall mission. Outside The Classroom’s on-campus briefings, research studies, and tools (like our Cost Calculator) help you educate and motivate your key stakeholders and build a culture of shared responsibility.

Engaging Key Stakeholders in Alcohol Prevention

on-campus BrieFings

Disseminating Research Findings to Your ColleaguesOutside The Classroom experts bring our most relevant and meaningful research findings to an audience of your choosing.

Facilitating Productive Discussion and PlanningOur staff guide your team members through productive discussion to help bring focus to prevention planning efforts and provide a framework for thinking about current and future programming and policy making.

other Resources for Institutionalizing Alcohol Prevention on Your campus

DIAGnoSTIc InQUIRY

1. Is there an individual/ individuals on your campus who are accountable for alcohol prevention?

Yes No

2. How many individuals outside of Student Affairs play a role in achieving your institution’s prevention objectives?

3. Where does most of your prevention funding come from?

Hard dollars in the budget

Grant dollars

4. Has your President or Provost publicly spoken about the alcohol issue in the past year?

Yes No

5. Does your campus measure the impact of high-risk drinking on institutional priorities (such as student success, retention, and financial performance)?

Yes No Don’t know

Increase awareness of the need for alcohol prevention among senior leaders

Presidential Cabinet, Board of Trustees, Provost, Vice Presidents

The Impact of High-Risk Drinking on Mission-Critical Priorities

Gain buy-in from key institutional and community stakeholders

Campus Community Coalition, Faculty Senate, Departmental Leadership (Athletics, Alumni Affairs, Admissions, etc.)

“Alcohol 101”— Understanding the Value of Alcohol Prevention

Align the institution’s alcohol prevention programming with data-driven needs and stated objectives

AOD Task Force, Student Affairs Division, Student Leaders

Choosing a Prevention Strategy that Makes Sense for Your Campus

Alcohol-Related Cost CalculatorQuantifies the total cost of alcohol use (in dollars) on your campus

Alcohol-Related Attrition—Lost Revenue CalculatorQuantifies the total revenue lost due to retention issues related to alcohol use

Institutionalizing Alcohol Prevention: Strategies for Engaging Key Stakeholders Detailed research report with guidance on how to establish a culture of shared responsibility and accountability for prevention work on campus

ObjECtIvE AuDIENCE CONtENt

$

representative on-campus brieFings

Develop Leadership

Absent effective leadership, even the most carefully planned prevention efforts often fail. Prevention professionals need to be not just practitioners, but powerful catalysts for change in their organizations and within their communities. In many instances, they need to expand their skill set to include communicating vision, storytelling, navigating institutional politics, crisis management, and innovation.

Outside The Classroom, in partnership with NASPA, has developed a Professional Development Institute–Certificate in Alcohol Prevention Leadership to cultivate leadership skills that the field has acknowledged to be lacking, yet are critical to achieving exceptional practice. The Institute provides a unique, highly interactive learning experience, empowering participants to be inspiring and effective stewards for progress on their campuses.

creating Agents for change

PRoFESSIonAl DEVEloPmEnT InSTITUTE- cERTIFIcATE In AlcoHol PREVEnTIon lEADERSHIP

Writing and Communicating Your Personal vision StatementReview examples of powerful vision statements, develop your own statement, and practice delivering it in small and large groups.

understanding Your Leadership StyleTake a pre-course self-assessment to reflect on your strengths and weaknesses as a leader, benchmark against peers, and identify areas of focus.

building Relationships with Key Stakeholders Discuss the challenges, opportunities, and strategies for enfranchising colleagues and stakeholders in prevention and practice techniques to open lines of communication and build trusting and productive relationships.

bringing Innovation and Creativity to Prevention WorkDevelop a personal action plan to challenge your own assumptions about your role as a change agent and innovator on campus.

REPRESENtAtIvE WORKSHOPS

DIAGnoSTIc InQUIRY

1. Have you created and clearly articulated a vision for addressing high-risk drinking on your campus?

Yes No

2. Are the professionals responsible for alcohol prevention on your campus empowered to lead change on this issue?

Yes No

3. Has your campus been successful

in developing effective campus/community coalitions to address high-risk drinking?

Yes No

4. Does your campus have effective

channels for communicating your prevention goals to key campus and community stakeholders?

Yes No

Who Should Attend the Professional Development Institute?

The Institute is intended for professionals who carry primary responsibility for alcohol prevention on their campus. This may include:

Module 4

42 Certificate in Alcohol Prevention Leadership – Program One

Application Exercise: Identifying Your Current Sphere of Influence Step 1: Complete the following chart. Write the names of key stakeholders in the parts of the sphere in which they currently reside. Try to name a particular person, rather than a group of individuals.

Step 2: On the circles above, CIRCLE the three stakeholders that are most important for you to move closer into your sphere of influence. Step 3: Building a stronger relationship with these stakeholder starts with a first step. List one action step—however small—that you will take with each stakeholder when you return to your campus to begin fostering that relationship (e.g., introduce yourself via email, share important data, have lunch, etc.)

Stakeholder Initial Action Step #1

#2

#3

Certificate in Alcohol Prevention Leadership – Program One 61

Group Exercise: Working with Your “Change Coach” Directions: Work with a partner and take turns being a “change coach” for each other. In that role, please do the following:

Step 1: Learn what program and policy changes that your partner wants to make on campus, and then what barriers your partner is facing in trying to introduce these program and policy innovations. Step 2: Using Kotter’s framework as a guide, ask questions to help your partner think about what he or she has done regarding each step, and what remains to be done. Step 3: From these ideas, help your partner identify up to three key steps for an action plan that will help them better lead change on campus.

Note: Please watch your time. Spend 20 minutes on developing each person’s action plan.

Kotter’s 8 Steps Activities Step 1: Create a sense of urgency

Past: Future:

Step 2: Build the team Past: Future:

Step 3: Create a vision for change

Past: Future:

innovative learning activities and interactive exercises

AOD coordinators Directors of health promotion/education

Directors of student wellness

Directors of residential life Directors of Greek life Judicial affairs administrators

The curriculum has been carefully designed to be relevant and engaging for both practitioners new to the field and seasoned professionals.

innovative learning activities and interactive exercises

”The Professional Development Institute gave me the tools to be able to deliver my message to senior-level administrators and really get them engaged in an effective way.”— Kate DiEmidio

Health Educator, American University

Employ Best Practices

Success in alcohol prevention requires more than simply choosing the right strategies—those strategies also must be well-executed. A social norms marketing campaign, for instance, is only worth the dollars invested if it is properly designed and appropriately implemented.

As the fi eld evolves, best practices for implementing prevention strategies are emerging across campuses. Outside The Classroom is committed to bringing those practices to light, distilling their critical success factors, and sharing these insights broadly so that institutions can maximize their prevention investments. Not only do we serve as a clearinghouse for good ideas, but a vital forum for prevention professionals to learn from one another’s successes—and failures.

Implementing State-of-the-Art Strategies

Sample Research Studies

The Greek Challenge: Effective Strategies for Reducing Alcohol Risk and Harms Among Fraternity and Sorority Members

The Game Day Challenge: Effective Strategies for Reducing High-Risk Drinking at College Athletic Events

Using Alcohol-Free Options to Promote a Healthy Campus Environment

Strategic Drinking: The Growing Danger of Pregaming on College Campuses

Addressing High-risk Drinking around Major Events and Campus Traditions

AnnUAl RESEARcH SUmmIT DIAGnoSTIc InQUIRY

1. Do your prevention programs and policies reflect the “state-of-the-art” in the field?

Yes No Don’t know

2. Are your prevention programs

cost-effective?

Yes No Don’t know

3. Have you established a broad

network of colleagues at other campuses for sharing best practices?

Yes No

4. Which specific high-risk populations are you targeting with prevention efforts (e.g., athletes, fraternity/sorority members, first-year students)?

5. Which specific high-risk events are you targeting with prevention efforts (e.g., Homecoming, sporting events, Halloween)?

Maximizing Alcohol Prevention Investments: Critically Analyzing Programmatic Expenditures in a Time of Scarce Resources

Alcohol Use and Student Success: The Impact of High-Risk Drinking on Retention, Academic Performance, and Student Engagement

Enlisting Today’s Parents in Alcohol Prevention: Challenges and Opportunities for Leveraging Parental Influence

Mental Health, Social Connectedness, and Alcohol Use: Original Analysis of National Data

The Future of Alcohol Prevention: Navigating Changes in the Higher Education Landscape

Promoting Student Engagement in Alcohol Prevention: Tapping an Underleveraged Resource

Topics addressed at prior Research Summits include:

”Every time I attend the Annual Research Summit, the data that is given to us and the research that is provided really helps to move things forward….and benchmark where we are compared to our colleagues at other colleges and universities.”— Kate Shurick

Dean of First-Year Students, Union College

Each year, Outside The Classroom’s Alcohol Prevention Coalition convenes a Research Summit—a forum for sharing our original research findings and promoting learning and collaboration among student affairs professionals.

In order to understand whether your prevention strategy is working, not only do you need to set discrete goals, but regularly measure performance against them. This process of planning, action, evaluation, and reflection ensures that institutions remain focused in their prevention efforts and redirect their strategy as necessary along the way.

To help campuses close this loop, Outside The Classroom provides data demonstrating performance across a wide range of metrics and points in time. Our staff guides each partner institution through an extensive diagnostic evaluation that allows benchmarking against an institution’s own performance over time, as well as comparison to peer institutions. We work closely with your team to use the data captured to identify areas of weakness and opportunities for improvement—and provide tools and support to move forward.

Measureand Improve

Tracking Results and RedeFining Strategy fi

Complete comprehensive online diagnostic assessment of your campus’s prevention efforts.

STEP TWoSTEP onE

Based upon your responses and other data you capture, your campus will receive a total score and scoring across several key dimensions.

A-B-

PrEvEnTIOnSCOrECArD 2010

Programming

Policies

Processes

Institutionalization Total Score

B-c-B

Institutionalization Score based on:

• Resource Commitment

• Senior Leadership Support

• Campus Partnerships

• Community Partnerships

Sample Questions:

• What are the primary components of your alcohol prevention programming?

• What is the total FTE # devoted to alcohol prevention and intervention on your campus?

• Do you have specific, quantifiable goals for your alcohol prevention efforts?

Diagnostic Inventory captures 200+ data points to build a baseline measure of your prevention program

Measureand Improve

DIAGnoSTIc InQUIRY

1. Does your campus capture data to track progress against specific prevention goals?

Yes No Don’t know

2. Does your campus capture data

that allow you to evaluate trends over time?

Yes No Don’t know

3. Are the metrics you capture shared with others on your campus/in your community?

Yes No Don’t know

4. How often do you revisit your broader prevention strategy and readjust as necessary?

5. Who is held accountable if your campus does not achieve its prevention goals?

Outside The Classroom staff reviews your scorecard with you to identify challenges, weaknesses, and develop an action plan for improvement.

STEP THREE

STEP FoUR

Performance is measured at regular intervals, allowing you to track progress over time and benchmark against other institutions on various metrics.

PrEvEnTIOn ACTIOn PlAn 2010/2011

Strategic prevention goals:• Three-month • Six-month• One-year• Five-year Obstacles to address Programs/strategies to consider

Programs/strategies to discontinue

Additional data needs Key constituencies to enfranchise

2010 2011 2012 2013

Your Institution

national Aggregate

Peer Institutions

How can we help you?There are three ways to partner with outside The classroom to begin tackling the challenge of high-risk drinking on your campus:

If your campus is poised to embrace a systems approach for achieving breakthrough progress in alcohol prevention, the Alcohol Prevention Coalition offers a comprehensive set of research and advisory services to support your efforts, including best practice reports, on-campus briefings, expert consultations, and professional development. For more information on The Alcohol Prevention Coalition, please see pages 18-21.

If your campus is ready to take the single most effective step for reducing the harms associated with high-risk drinking and capturing critical data—AlcoholEdu for College provides an evidence-based online alcohol education program with demonstrated efficacy when administered at a population level. For more information on AlcoholEdu for College, please see pages 22-28.

If your campus seeks to educate students on the risks of alcohol use but is constrained by a limited budget, College Alc provides a basic online alcohol education program for all first-year students. For more information on CollegeAlc, please see page 29.

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