Alcohol Solutions Group update
Jun 10 2019
The following was emailed to all students.
Dear students,
I’m pleased to send you an update from the Alcohol Solutions Group. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to learn more about the great progress made by this committed group of students, faculty and staff, due in part to the input provided by many of you during their winter and spring outreach processes.
Sincerely,
Susie Brubaker-Cole
Vice Provost for Student Affairs
***
We are writing today to provide an update on the Alcohol Solutions Group, launched in February by Provost Persis Drell to ensure that Stanford is using empirically-based solutions to address high-risk drinking and its consequences. In particular, we would like to report on what we heard from students and the factors shaping our recommendations. Provost Drell placed particular emphasis and concern on emerging literature on the deleterious impacts of high-risk drinking on the developing young adult brain.
How we organized our work
The students, faculty and staff of the ASG began our work by forming three formal subcommittees:
- Policy;
- Programs and Environment; and
- Outreach.
Two other work groups were utilized to inform the workings of the subcommittees:
- Data/Analytics, and the
- Law and Policy Lab at the Stanford Law School.
Each of the subcommittees have been meeting on a regular basis and are on track to meet the deadlines outlined by the provost for recommendations and next steps.
What we heard from students
The Outreach Subcommittee, chaired by students, hosted many opportunities to gather input from the community and also launched an online feedback form to gather impressions directly from students on policy, culture, programs and services.
We are grateful to the student community for their intensive engagement with our outreach efforts and the intelligence and passion of their comments. Student input has been invaluable for informing our work.
Through outreach events in seven dining halls, four town hall conversations with Greek community members and Row House residents, focus groups with nearly 60 resident assistants (and more than 40 resident fellows) and feedback received via the online form, we heard from more than 400 students who expressed:
- understanding that Stanford's community operates with a strong ethic of care and support for each other where peer-to-peer support is especially valuable
- desire for greater transparency and consistency in university practice related to student alcohol use
- recommendations that Stanford adopt an alcohol policy that is understanding of and realistic about student drinking behavior
- desire to be engaged by the university in efforts to develop strategies aimed at reducing dangerous or unhealthy drinking behavior on campus
- appreciation that Stanford values student health, safety, and well-being
- gratitude for open and honest relationships between undergraduate residents and resident assistants that are centered on trust and mutual respect
- great need for additional social outlets and opportunities, more all-campus gatherings, and more inventory of spaces accessible for student group programming
- strong appreciation for Cardinal Nights alcohol-free programming and 5-SURE resources
- need for additional alcohol-free spaces and events on campus to assure inclusion of the large percentage of Stanford students who do not use alcohol
- awareness that binge drinking and pre-gaming can be problematic behaviors resulting in undesired consequences for students
- need for greater levels of alcohol education and support for new students as they navigate their first year and additional educational resources for all students for the balance of their time at Stanford
- need for greater training and support for residence student staff to help RAs help students make good choices, as well as counsel students who are running into problems
What we learned from empirical research
The ASG met in full in March to hear from students enrolled in a Law School Policy Lab regarding its six months of research on university alcohol policies. General ideas that emerged centered on the role of hard alcohol, services and support for students in recovery from addiction, and the impact of alcohol on campus life and student health and well-being.
In April, the ASG met again in full for a half-day working retreat to hear directly from the various subcommittees on their direction and thinking. Also, during that retreat, the group received briefings on both quantitative and qualitative data reports that showed strong support for the RA/student relationship, and, a robust link between binge drinking, pregaming and serious alcohol-related negative outcomes, particularly among frosh.
Through a series of analyses, we identified a collection of behaviors that most contribute to negative outcomes for our students. These behaviors fall in three broad categories:
- amount of alcohol consumed;
- use (or lack of use of) risk reducing strategies; and
- hard alcohol.
The data suggests that these are the areas where we need to effect change in order to reduce harms related to alcohol use, and these will likely be key areas of focus for strategies coming out of the ASG.
Plans for our final report and recommendations
The ASG subcommittees diligently and thoughtfully worked on specific recommendations that were outlined and discussed among the larger ASG group at another half-day working retreat in mid-May. The ASG convened again in late May to finalize recommendations.
We will present a report including vetted recommendations to Provost Drell by fall 2019. Among our recommendations will be a public comment period.
The dedication and thoroughness of the ASG demonstrates a strong commitment to find novel solutions that fit our culture and address the pressing alcohol issues impacting our campus community. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us.
Sincerely,
Professor Keith Humphreys
Esther Ting Memorial Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Alcohol Solutions Group faculty lead
Ralph Castro
Associate Dean of Students and Director, Office of Alcohol Policy and Education
Alcohol Solutions Group staff lead
