California's Community Colleges Seek Partnerships for Alcohol Prevention

While many of California's public universities are actively working to reduce alcohol-related problems on campuses and in surrounding communities, the extensive community college system has so far not been involved in similar statewide efforts. The California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems have developed memoranda of understanding with other state agencies to address campus and community alcohol problems by working to "be active in the surrounding community. in order to establish a safe on-campus and off-campus environment." The resulting California Alcohol Issues Partnership (CAIP) represents a coalition of state agencies and campus-community teams working toward similar goals. National conferences convene leaders of similar partnerships from all the states to share lessons and strategies. Yet, most of the current work in this area focuses on four-year institutions.

Debbie Vereb, professor in the Alcohol and Drug Studies Program at San Diego City College, applauds the work being done by the universities, but asks, "What about the two-year community colleges? There is no strategy in place to include us in the overall work being done by the CSU and UC folks."

The California Community College System is compromised of 108 higher education institutions serving more than two million students statewide. Like most colleges and universities, community colleges experience problems related to alcohol marketing and availability both on campus and in the surrounding community. These colleges have both unique challenges and assets that are factors in addressing these issues. For instance, although m ost community college students statewide fall into the traditional "under 24" age group, there is a large population of vocational and part-time students who tend to be considerably older. Because so many students are over the legal drinking age , and live off campus, "underage drinking" and parties in student housing may not be the most pressing campus alcohol concerns. On the other hand, because community college students are more likely to remain in the surrounding community after completing their studies, they can be great assets to the development of campus-community partnerships to reduce alcohol-related problems. Community college students pursuing careers in the alcohol and drug field have a deep understanding of these issues, which makes their perspective and involvement invaluable to alcohol policy efforts.

"Community colleges are a vital part of California's higher education resources," notes the Higher Education Center's Tom Colthurst, who coordinates training and collaboration for the CAIP campus-community teams. "To tap into these resources with an eye toward prevention and collaboration makes total sense."

If you work and/or live in and around a community college, and want to reduce local alcohol problems through collaboration to change physical and social environments, please contact us at 415-257-2492 or cccommunity@MarinInstitute.org.