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Article Excerpt
The authors describe the Substance Information Program, a university alcohol and other drug (AOD) assessment and intervention program. The Substance Information Program is housed in a counseling department's on-site training and research clinic and gives counselors-in-training an opportunity to gain practical addictions training.
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Existing literature clearly demonstrates the frequency and negative consequences of alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse by college students (Abbey, 1991; Meilman, 1993; Presley, Meilman, Cashin, & Lyerla, 1996; Presley, Meilman, & Lyerla, 1994; Wechsler, 1995). Some of the most frequently cited negative consequences of AOD abuse by college students included fighting, acquaintance rape, unprotected sex, and poor assignment and academic performance (Abbey, 1991; Meilman, 1993; Presley et al., 1996; Wechsler, 1995). It has also been noted that a significant correlation exists between violence and AOD abuse (Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992).
Arrest rates for AOD violations among American colleges and universities increased 7.2% in 1996 and 3.6% in 1997 (Nicklin, 1999). One 1997 collegiate binge drinking study found that 2 of 5 students were binge drinkers and 1 in 5 was a frequent binge drinker (Wechsler, Dowdall, Maenner, Gledhill-Hoyt, & Lee, 1998). These researchers also noted that surveyed students on 16 college and university campuses who reported consuming alcohol specifically to become intoxicated increased from 39% in 1993 to 52% in 1997. More than one third of the surveyed students, using the CORE Survey, an AOD survey that assesses frequency and severity of AOD use and correlated behaviors, reported that they had done something they regretted while under the influence (Presley et al., 1994).
It seems logical for counselor educators to work jointly with student affairs officers to provide on-site counselor education research and training clinics. This view is based on the close proximity of university students to on-site counselor education research and training clinics, the need for AOD abuse services for university students, and what seems to be a consistent trend in the classified advertisements that appear in The Chronicle of Higher Education and Counseling Today that specifically seek counselors and counselor educators who have addictions-related training and skills. This seems especially relevant to counselor education programs that offer specialized addictions courses.
The need for such a joint program became clear in 1994 when two of this article's authors noted that their university's AOD violations nearly tripled from 21 during the 1992-1993 academic year to 61 during the 1993-1994 academic year (C. Callahan, personal communication, August 6, 1994). This number of AOD violations was the highest in the state's 16-campus university system (C. Callahan, personal communication; the next highest number of AOD violations on a single campus within the 16-campus university system at that time was 38.) Given the addictions expertise both at the university counseling center and among the faculty within our counseling department, the decision was made (by Juhnke and Schroat) in 1994 to develop and implement a joint program called the Substance Information Program. The program increased the number of on-campus counselors who were specifically trained in collegiate addictions assessment and used clinical supervisors from both the university counseling center and the counseling department.
In 1996, the program shifted from being primarily one of assessment to being both assessment and intervention focused. At that time, the program was moved from the...
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