Dean of Students Justin Carroll made a special request of this year’s incoming freshman class-he asked them to complete an online alcohol education program called AlcoholEdu this summer. The Class of 2009 is the first class required to complete the personalized tutorial before arriving for orientation.
“AlcoholEdu is a science-based, non-opinionated, online course specific to the user,” said Brandon Busteed, founder and CEO of Outside the Classroom, the creators of the AlcoholEdu program. The tool is used to help put students on the “same page” with their education of alcohol and its effects, he said. The program, which personalizes itself based on a student’s responses, asks students whether they are drinkers and whether they are male or female and surveys their attitudes on alcohol-related issues.
The two-hour tutorial presents situations involving alcohol that could arise in a college situation and uses video, case studies and interactive features. Students participating in the tutorial take tests at the beginning and end of the program to gage the program’s educational effects.
AlcoholEdu targets harm prevention for students who indicate that they do not drink and harm reduction for students who may be high-risk drinkers, said Busteed.
Washington University adopted the program with the related goal of helping students reach their fullest potential, said Melissa Ruwitch, coordinator of health promotion services.
“The greatest value of the program is to help students stay on track academically,” said Ruwitch.
So far, Ruwitch is pleased with the program’s results.
“We had fabulous results from the class,” said Ruwitch. “[As of Aug. 27], 95 percent of the class has taken the exam.”
The University is concerned with helping students grow in this academic environment and reach their full academic potential, Ruwitch explained. The health issues associated with alcohol and drug misuse include injury, accidents and bad judgment. Bad judgment can result in assault, sexual abuse, unsafe sex and vandalism.
She explained that students’ recreational choices affect their academics as well as their personal lives. “What happens outside the classroom does affect what happens inside the classroom,” said Ruwitch.
Busteed founded the program five years ago, just one year out of Duke University. He was motivated to start the program after meeting bright students who were limited by their drinking, he said.
“AlcoholEdu is currently used on 500 campuses and is growing rapidly,” said Busteed.
Busteed added that the program is currently a requirement in some capacity at one half of the top 100 schools, as ranked by US News & World Report.