UA Wins National Alcohol Prevention Excellence Award

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama has been awarded a national 2006-2007 Prevention Excellence Award from Outside The Classroom Inc.

The Prevention Excellence Awards honor higher education institutions and Greek organizations that have achieved excellence in their alcohol prevention efforts. While a total of eight institutions received Prevention Excellence Awards for 2006-2007 and five received honorable mentions, UA was the only institution awarded Highest Honors in the program. UA’s award included a $10,000 donation to the University.

According to Outside The Classroom Inc., award recipients demonstrated their dedication to the health and safety of their students by implementing comprehensive alcohol prevention programs on their campuses.

Last summer, UA introduced AlcoholEdu for College, an educational program designed by Outside The Classroom Inc. to help incoming students make well-informed decisions about alcohol. More than 94 percent of the fall 2006 freshman class completed the program. The award recognized UA’s overall campus initiatives to address prevention education and the involvement among partners across campus.

“The University of Alabama has done a phenomenal job integrating AlcoholEdu in the context of a comprehensive set of strategies and programs. From their student focus groups and peer education program to their collaboration with Academic Affairs, Judicial Affairs, and the Tuscaloosa community, UA’s AlcoholEdu team has truly shown its commitment to students’ safety and academic success,” said Brandon Busteed, Outside the Classroom’s founder and CEO.

“AlcoholEdu is a part of our overall goal of fostering an environment for student safety and academic success,” said Margaret Garner, assistant dean for health education and outreach in the College of Community Health Sciences and coordinator of AlcoholEdu at UA.

“The misuse of alcohol is the single greatest public health concern for colleges and universities across the nation. Being proactive and reaching out to our students is a choice we make to help ensure their safety and success in college,” Garner said.

AlcoholEdu is a Web-based program designed to educate students about alcohol and its effects on the mind and body, offering a confidential, personalized experience for each student. Whether or not they drink, AlcoholEdu empowers students to make well-informed decisions and to better cope with the drinking behavior of peers.

“Our applicant pool was phenomenal; it was truly an honor to get a view into the excellent work being done on campuses around the country,” Busteed said. “These institutions have created and implemented comprehensive prevention programs that will impact both the individual student and the broader campus culture in very positive ways.”

Award applications were evaluated by a third-party panel of experts in the prevention field. Their decisions were based on five criteria: implementation practices, communication, evaluation, programmatic linkages, and organizational linkages.