Sue Scheff: College Drinking - Changing the Culture

Creation of the Task Force on College Drinking

In response to the increasingly complex issue of alcohol abuse among college students, the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism created the Task Force on College Drinking in 1998.

Prior NIAAA Activities on College Drinking

NIAAA has maintained a small portfolio of grants on this issue for many years; however, this Task Force represents an effort to address this issue in the most coordinated, comprehensive manner possible.

Composition of the Task Force

The Task Force comprises college presidents, researchers, and students. The two co-chairs of the Task Force are Reverend Edward Malloy, President of the University of Notre Dame and Dr. Mark Goldman, Distinguished Researcher at the University of South Florida. The members were selected by Dr. Enoch Gordis, former NIAAA Director, and Reverend Malloy.

In addition to the expertise of the Task Force Members, the group has heard presentations on the activities of outside groups which also focus on college drinking. These groups included, Mothers Against Drunk Diving, The Higher Education Center, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, other Federal Agencies (such as Department of Education, National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration), the Inter-Association Task Force, and the Century Council.

Goals


The goals of the Task Force are threefold:

1.Provide research-based information about the nature and extent of dangerous drinking to high school and college administrators, students, parents, community leaders, policymakers, researchers, and members of the retail beverage industry;

2.Offer recommendations to college and university presidents on the potential effectiveness of current strategies to reverse the culture of drinking on campus; and

3.Offer recommendations to the research community, including NIAAA, for future research on preventing hazardous college student drinking.
 
Learn more at http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/Default.aspx