Information For Faculty
Alcohol use continues to be one of the most significant problems on college campuses. Negative consequences associated with alcohol use include poor performance in academic work, delayed development of communication and social skills, and a variety of problems that can interfere with learning the skills necessary for future success in the workforce, and in life in general. Clearly, reducing alcohol use is one of the keys to creating a safer and healthier atmosphere that is more conducive to academic excellence.
Effective strategies to prevent alcohol abuse and associated problems must involve the entire university community. Faculty have a substantial impact on the campus culture, particularly since they usually remain at a college much longer than students. These web pages provide information on how faculty can become involved in alcohol-related issues at Virginia Tech.
Why Get Involved | How You Can Get Involved | Take a Minute for Prevention | Curriculum Infusion | Other Ways to Get Involved
Why Get Involved?
Alcohol abuse prevention is vital to your success as a teacher. As a member of the VT faculty, you have a unique opportunity to influence campus health and safety through your involvement in alcohol abuse prevention efforts. Faculty have a significant impact on students, as a significant role models. Involvement can be done as a natural extension of your other professional duties and intellectual interests.
^TopHow You Can Get Involved:
There are a number of ways to enhance students' health and safety, all of which are compatible with your roles as both a teacher and researcher: in the classroom, as a part of research, during advising, informally with students, in meetings with colleagues and administrators, on the VT campus, and in the Blacksburg community.
^TopTake a Minute for Prevention
| Use Your Syllabus | As you create your syllabus, and set norms and expectations for student behavior, consider including information on the effects of alcohol misuse on academic performance. Some suggestions for statements that could be added to your syllabus can be found here. |
| Debunk Student Misperceptions | Research clearly shows that students have many misperceptions concerning the role of alcohol use in the lives of other Virginia Tech students. Students consistently overestimate the amount of alcohol their peers consume, including frequency of consumption, participation in at-risk drinking (i.e., chugging, drinking games), and the frequency of negative consequences (i.e., missing classes, hangovers). You can make a significant impact by being knowledgeable about actual alcohol use statistics and avoiding statements that might reinforce these misperceptions. For an overview of current alcohol use facts see Join Most of Us. |
| Make a Comment, Or Don't | Monitor personal language and examples to avoid promoting alcohol abuse. |
| Take Advantage of Teachable Moments | Use serious situations as teachable moments. When alcohol-related events occur in the media or discussions come up in the classroom, take the opportunity to discuss alcohol. For example, discuss appropriate behavior, balancing social and academic life, the effects of alcohol use on academic performance, or challenge misperceptions concerning the role of alcohol in campus life. |
| Schedule a Class Presentation | If you need to be away from class, schedule a class presentation on alcohol instead of canceling the class. |
| Take a Few Minutes in Class | By being vocal about alcohol issues, faculty can play an important role in raising awareness. Faculty can use opportunities such as current events and upcoming campus events to speak out about alcohol issues as they relate to class topics, student conduct, and academics. |
| Bring it Up During Advising | Advising activities present an excellent opportunity to address alcohol related issues. Bring up the issue of alcohol use with your advisees and determine if alcohol may be having a negative impact on their academic performance. |
| Make a Referral | Too often, students in trouble do not ask for help directly, but faculty are in a unique position to offer help in the way of a referral to assessment or counseling services. Close contact between faculty and students may be used as a vehicle for identification and referral of students with alcohol problems to appropriate services on campus or in the community. for more information see the section on making a referral. |
| Make Connections with Students | Faculty on many campuses are involved in their students’ lives beyond the classroom, serving as advisors, dining with students, or inviting a group of students to their homes for an end of the semester celebration. This involvement encourages stronger connections between faculty and students and helps invest students in the academic life of their college. |
Curriculum Infusion
In just about any course, from English to Biology, faculty can seamlessly integrate alcohol-related content into the curriculum, facilitating awareness of alcohol issues. Curriculum infusion incorporates faculty as allies in campuswide alcohol abuse prevention efforts. In just about any course, from English to biology, faculty can seamlessly integrate AOD content into the curriculum, facilitating awareness of AOD issues.
| Create an Assignment | Because alcohol and other drug use, related problems, and prevention measures in our society are influenced by many of the factors studied in the social sciences, courses in fields such as economics, sociology, anthropology, criminology, and political science are natural venues for linking academics with alcohol issues. |
| Dedicate a Class to Alcohol Issues | Find ways to integrate discussions on alcohol and alcohol-related issues into your academic classes. |
| Create a Research Project | Having students collect data on alcohol use or other alcohol-related issues can be an excellent research topic. Alcohol-related topics can be easily integrated into the syllabus of almost any class. |
| Service Learning | Faculty can incorporate student service into course work or supervise students who work as volunteers. Student service can be connected with ongoing alcohol abuse prevention efforts or other efforts to promote safer and healthier environments. Supervise service learning activities, either as course requirements or as extracurricular events. Call the College Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center for information on current service learning activities (231-2233). |
Other Ways to Get Involved
| Participate in the Campus Taskforce | The task force examines all aspects of the university system, exploring the institution’s structure and the basic premises of the educational program to see how they affect alcohol use. As members of the task force, faculty can exercise leadership in proposing new initiatives to change the campus climate on alcohol use. |
| Speak Out | Speak out as an advocate for change and for greater attention to alcohol abuse issues. Speak out boldly and foster debate. For example, you can use opportunities such as the faculty senate and committee meetings to speak out about alcohol issues and get prevention on the agenda. |
| Work with the Community | By serving as members of campus and community coalitions, faculty can participate in shaping alcohol abuse prevention strategies. In addition, faculty can utilize their skills to design, implement, and evaluate alcohol abuse prevention programs and provide alcohol information to the community. |
Use these links to further explore this site:
This website is another step in Virginia Tech's effort to reduce high-risk drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences. It is designed and maintained by the CAAPC (Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA).
