The Effects of Alternative Programming on Binge Drinking
Katy Tufts
Outcomes of Higher Education
Florida State University
The Effects of Alternative Programming on Students Binge
Drinking Rates
Please click on the sound icon shown here throughout the
presentation to hear audio.Hello, my name is Katy Tufts and for my
Outcomes of Higher Education project I decided to propose an
assessment plan. I hoped to propose a plan to be completed on the
effects of alternative programming on binge drinking rates at
Florida State Universitys Tallahassee campus.
1PurposeTo determine how often alternative programming events
are attended by students in substitution of binge drinking.
(Oglesby Union, 2014)The University strives to instill the
strength, skill, and character essential for lifelong learning,
personal responsibility, and sustained achievement within a
community that fosters free inquiry and embraces diversity (Florida
State University, 2014).
The purpose of this study would be to determine how often
alternative programming events are attended by students in
substitution of binge drinking on weekend evenings. This outcome
originates at the university level as administrators continue to
combat binge drinking rates for the safety of our students. As the
university mission statement notes, the university strives to
instill the strength, skill, and character essential for lifelong
learning, personal responsibility, and sustained achievement within
a community that fosters free inquiry and embraces diversity. Many
pieces of this statement hope to create a holistic student, but the
hope of instilling personal responsibility into a students
character can best be seen by the actions they are taking within
and outside of the classroom. Therefore, this assessment would
focus on a university desired outcome to instill personal
responsibility in our students through providing alternative
activities to engaging in at-risk behaviors such as binge
drinking.
2Defining the AssessmentAlternative Programming: campus events
held on weekend evenings during the hours of 7PM and 2AM in hopes
of combating at-risk alternative activities such as binge
drinking.
Binge Drinking: the consumption of an excessive amount of
alcoholic beverages in a short period of time.5 drinks for men over
a two-hour period4 drinks for women over a two-hour period(Center
for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014)
To define some of the terminology used throughout this
assessment, I will begin with the definition of alternative
programming. For the purpose of this assessment, alternative
programming is defined as campus events that are held on weekend
evenings (meaning Friday and Saturday nights) during the hours of
7pm and 2am in hopes of combating at-risk alternative activities
such as binge drinking. According to the Center for Disease Control
and Prevention, binge drinking is the consumption of an excessive
amount of alcoholic beverages in a short period of time. This
includes 5 drinks for men and 4 drinks for women over a two-hour
period.
3
Background Research
(Harvard, 2014)(Oglesby Union, 2014b)
In 1993, the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol
Study administered the first survey in hopes of identifying
drinking patterns of college students. 140 colleges in 39 states
and the District of Columbia received this survey and its results
gained widespread national attention. Additional studies were done
in 1997 and 1999 by Harvard, and the researchers coined the term
binge drinking. Acknowledging that excessive drinking was a problem
amongst college students, the 1999 survey showed that two out of
five students self-identified as binge drinkers. As the United
States government tried to take action to avoid this type of
risk-drinking, universities began to develop preventative programs
and measures to control the students availability to such
beverages. Creating alcohol education programs, targeting
high-volume drinking populations such as fraternities and
sororities, and hiring professional staff to deal with
alcohol-related issues were just some of the initiatives seen by
college campuses in the mid 1990s.In the 1999 Harvard study, 57% of
FSU students stated that they drink solely to get drunk and 53% of
students admitted to engaging in binge drinking activity. According
to an article that was written in 2003 in the Wall Street Journal,
three students at Florida State University had died from
alcohol-related causes since the Harvard study in 1999.
Additionally, FSU was named the nations top party school by the
Princeton Review that year. As the president of Florida State
University continued to work with local bars and alcohol
distributors to make it more difficult for students to engage in
such behaviors, alternative programming started to receive a bigger
push on campus, including funding for the Student Activities
Center. Today, we continue to deal with this issue daily and
attempt to think of new, creative, preventative measures to keep
our students safe. Seminole Sensation Week, Jimbos True Seminole
Tailgates, Haunted Harvest, Spring Fling, and Breakfast for a Buck
are just some of those alternative programs.
4Breakfast for a Buck
(Oglesby Union, 2014)
To focus this study further, I began researching the initiatives
completed by the Oglesby Unions assessment office and specifically,
the Breakfast for a Buck program. According to the Oglesby Unions
website, Breakfast for a Buck is a program on campus that is held
once a month for individuals to indulges in a late night meal of
breakfast food items. This event is usually coupled with larger
events such as Haunted Harvest or Spring Fling. The program is held
during the hours of 11:00pm and 2:00am in the Union Food Court and
any student can attend for $1 with their FSU ID card. Currently,
the Oglesby Union completes assessment on this program pertaining
to how well the students enjoyed their experience and if they would
come back again. I suggest, that the Union further assists in
achieving university outcomes and completes an assessment of how
often students are attending this event instead of engaging in
excessive drinking.
5Assessment ProcedurePopulationEstimated 500-700 students in
attendance on averageSimple random sampling
Sample SizeEstimated 200-300 students surveyed5-7 percent sample
error
Utilizing the research already conducted by the Oglesby Union
assessment office during the 2012-2013 school year, we know that on
average, 500-700 students attend Breakfast for a Buck every month.
Therefore, researchers should conduct simple random sampling of
those students to account for generalized results. Recognizing that
only 200-300 students, on average, actually complete and turn in
the survey the Union has provided them. I estimate that researchers
will have to account for a 5-7% sample error in their results for
the purpose of assessment reliability. This estimate comes from the
Upcraft and Schuh book on Assessment in Student Affairs page
89.
6Assessment ProcedureQuantitative Data Collection Method
Survey in paper format
Recognition of students time
Promise of anonymity
Conducted monthly
I recommend that this assessment be completed through
quantitative data collection. This quantitative instrument should
come in the form of a paper-formatted survey so that it can be
taken in-person and turned in upon completion at the event. It will
be important for the researcher to recognize the students time when
they promote the survey by noting to any participants that it will
only take a few short minutes and is 9 questions in length. Surveys
should be laid out on the tables that event-goers will be seated at
while enjoying their meals and researchers should stand by the
events exit to collect responses and ask students to complete the
survey if they have not done so already. Students should be
promised confidentiality in their answers and anonymity in their
responses to avoid any biased results. Finally, the survey should
be conducted each month to see if the results have fluctuated at
all and to find peak times of the year when students are opting to
attend Breakfast for a Buck over excessive drinking.
7
As mentioned, students will be given anonymity as they will not
be asked for their name when completing the survey to avoid biased
results. Closed-ended questions will range in question type from
nominal to interval throughout the first five questions which
pertain to the event and a students drinking behavior. An
open-ended question will be added pertaining to the marketing and
engagement of Breakfast for a Buck to gauge more ways to promote
and attract higher students attendance. Finally, the remaining
three questions will be demographic questions pertaining to a
students age, race, and class standing. These questions hope to
further analyze the different identities of students attending
Breakfast for a Buck and where more promotion could take place.
Researchers should hope to find ways to attract more students so as
to avoid the alternative of binge drinking during similar hours on
and off campus. Due to the high volume of questions directed at the
success of the event itself, the Oglesby Union assessment office
could substitute this survey for their current one if they felt
comfortable consistently asking questions about a students drinking
behavior in their program assessment. This substitution would help
with any survey fatigue students may be feeling.
8StakeholdersStudent Activities Center (SAC) staff Student Affairs
departments and organizationsUpper-level administrationExternal
stakeholdersAlumniFamilyCity officialsCommunity members
The stakeholders in this assessment would include the Student
Activities Center staff who put on the events, other student
affairs departments and organizations such as the Student
Government Association who provides funding for the Student
Activities Center or FSU Healthy Campus who regularly promotes a
healthier lifestyle for our students. Additionally, upper-level
administration would be seen as stakeholders such as the University
president or the chair of the Board of Trustees, and external
stakeholders such as alumni, family members, city officials, and
community members who are directly affected by our students
behaviors and the universitys reputation would be taken into
consideration.
9Dissemination of ResultsFormal reportSAC staff1-2 page
reportStudent Affairs departments and organizationsExecutive
summaryUpper-level administrationOnline webpageAll stakeholders
The format of dissemination of the results should be considered
for each individual stakeholder. A formal report of all results
should be completed for the Student Activities Center staff to
assist the department in effectively implementing the results. A
smaller report of 1-2 pages should be compiled for other student
affairs departments and organizations so that they can implement
any findings into their programming and events as desired.
Additionally, upper-level administrators should be provided an
executive summary of the results to be briefed on the assessment
and how it will affect Florida States students. Finally, an online
webpage should be created by the Student Activities Center for all
stakeholders, including those external to the university, to access
and reflect on findings and further plans for implementation.
10Implementation of Results(1) Adaptation of the Student
Activities Centers mission statement to include alternative
programming terminology. (2) Creation of a mission statement for
Breakfast for a Buck and other alternative programming events.
(3) Creation of a webpage displaying research results.
(4) Further development of programs to include higher levels of
engagement and incentive for attendance.
(5) Development of a marketing campaign for alternative programs
on campus.
(6) Potential adaptation to university mission statement.
A plan for implementation should come in six stages. First, the
Student Activities Center should further develop their mission
statement to include the need for alternative programming. Second,
Breakfast for a Buck and other alternative programs should be
provided with their own mission statement to support the university
desired outcome of student responsibility. Third, a webpage should
be created by the Student Activities Center in partnership with
university administrators so that all assessment results and
implementation plans can be easily accessed by assessment
stakeholders. Fourth, programs should assess further ways of
engaging students and increasing attendance so that the rate of
alternative activities such as binge drinking reduces. Fifth, a
marketing campaign for alternative programs should be designed and
implemented into campus culture so that students are more likely to
be aware of events taking place on campus during late night,
weekend hours and their importance. Sixth, university
administrators should consider adapting the current university
mission statement to include the importance of student safety and
health. This statement will encourage students to uphold the values
of their university and shed further light on the epidemic of
at-risk binge drinking behavior.
11LimitationsRepresentative of student bodyPopulation
SizeDemographics
Promise of anonymity
Inconclusive results
Researchers should recognize some limitations in this potential
assessment. First, due to the low attendance numbers of 500-700
students in comparison to a student body of over 40,000, results
may not be generalized to the entire student body. Additionally,
the representation of different demographics of students attending
the event will depend on the results of the survey. If the event is
attended by 75% Asian American females, this is not representative
of our entire student body and therefore results cannot be
generalized. Second, the promise of anonymity will only go so far.
If students are taking the survey together results may be biased
based on differing opinions. If students do not stick with their
own opinions or are concerned about their answers, they may be
likely to lessen the number of drinks they consume on average or
why they attended Breakfast for a Buck that evening. Finally,
results may be inconclusive, meaning that they do not show a firm
conclusion as to whether students were attending the event in
comparison to binge drinking. This result may happen for many
reasons including the limitations already listed as well as the
students attending the event for reasons other than drinking
alternatives such as being hungry or to meet new friends.
12Any questions or inquiries,
please contact [email protected] YOU!
I thank you for taking the time to listen to my assessment
proposal about the university outcome of instilling personal
responsibility in our students by combating binge drinking behavior
through alternative programming. If you have any questions or
further inquiries about my assessment, please do not hesitate to
contact me at [email protected]. Thank you!
13ReferencesCenter for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014).
Fact sheet- Binge drinking. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/binge-drinking.htmFlorida
State University. (2014). About Florida State
https://www.fsu.edu/about/mission_vision.htmlGruley, B. (2003,
October 14). How one university stumbled in its attack on alcohol
abuse. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB106608568326890400Oglesby
Union. (2014a). Assessment. Retrieved from
union.fsu.edu/education/assessment/Oglesby Union. (2014b). Fridays
at the union. Retrieved from http://union.fsu.edu/fridays/Survey
Monkey. (2014). Create survey. Retrieved from
https://www.surveymonkey.com/mysurvey_create.aspxUpcraft, M.L.,
& Schuh, J.H. (1996). Assessment in student affairs. San
Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass.Wechsler H., Kelley K., Weitzman
E.R., SanGiovanni J.P., Seibring M. (2000). What colleges are doing
about binge drinking: A survey of college presidents. Journal of
American College Health, 48, 219226.Wechsler H., Lee J.E., Kuo M.,
Lee H. (2000). College binge drinking in the 1990s: A continuing
problem. Journal of American College Health, 48, 199210.
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