 On
behalf of the Inter-Association Task Force on Alcohol
and Other Substance Abuse Issues, let me welcome you
to another National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week!
This year will certainly be the biggest and best yet
as more than 1,000 colleges and universities in North
America jointly recognize the importance of campus prevention
efforts.
In
recent years, several new resources and reports have
entered the higher education horizon that provide science
based learning and recommendations for effective practices.
Our NCAAW theme for this year of Putting the Pieces
Together for Year-Round Prevention highlights some of
the methods and studies that encourage our efforts to
reach our students in a meaningful way on these important
health and safety topics. This theme also indicates
that your NCAAW activities are only a part of your year-round
prevention program. Now is a good time to not only just
plan an outstanding series of NCAAW events, but also
to utilize the planning calendar that arrived with this
guide, along with your campus calendar, to determine
what outreach and educational events will make up your
comprehensive prevention program.
You
have received this resource manual, year-round programming
calendar, and ad slick on our student writing contest,
because you as a campus professional are in a position
to make NCAAW a success on your campus! Now is the time
to start planning who you will partner with to build
something spectacular in your campus prevention program.
And as you will see in reviewing the materials in this
manual, one key element for success is to involve many
different groups in the planning process for educational
efforts. Our prevention programs need you to bring together
a variety of student groups and offices to implement
programs that will support student learning and support
positive actions to keep our campuses safe. Gandhi said,
“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.”
We need you to lend your talents and lead the way in
this effort.
Each
year, we produce these resources in hopes that they
will spark worthwhile ideas for your campus alcohol
abuse prevention efforts. National Collegiate Alcohol
Awareness Week is a very timely observance because it
brings attention to important campus issues early in
the academic year. But, it’s crucial to understand
that prevention is not a “one-week activity.”
The healthy choices your students make (or don’t
make) can be largely impacted by your commitment to
year-round efforts.
In
recognition of your outstanding year-long efforts, the
Task Force awards cash prizes to outstanding campuses
whose alcohol abuse prevention programming shows special
innovation and effectiveness. You’ll find brand
new application criteria and guidelines at the end of
this manual, and I hope you’ll consider applying.
No matter how large or small your school, no matter
how large or small your budget, your efforts are important
and deserve recognition! You will also find the winners
from the 2002-2003 award competition to gather some
good ideas.
Another
exciting element of NCAAW efforts is our student writing
competition. This writing contest focuses on the positive
influence college students can have on peer behavior.
It is a great program to work in cooperation with journalism
and writing faculty to promote NCAAW and reward the
talented writers on your campus.
As
you use these resources to assist you in the planning
of your programming, your marketing, your public relations,
and your evaluation, we hope that you will realize that
only you can know what will work best on your campus.
The
22 higher-education organizations that make up the Task
Force are dedicated to making our campuses safer and
more enjoyable for everyone. From campus security, to
fraternities and sororities, to athletics, to residence
halls and peer education programs, we all have a vested
interest in making NCAAW activities a memorable part
of our year-round pevention program.
-
Dr. Edward Hammond, President, Fort Hays State University,
NCAAW Chairperson |
