The University’s Health Promotion Department is instituting a new program known as Campus Clarity after forming a committee that decided not to renew the university’s contract with Everfi AlcoholEdu and Haven nearly two years ago.
AlcoholEdu has been a mandatory program designed to educate first-year university students on the risks and consequences of alcohol abuse.
“I really think students were just burnt out with AlcoholEdu,” said Erin Cromeans, assistant director of health promotion. “I think that there was a preconceived notion of what it was from other students that they had heard before they got to campus, and I think students talk.”
Cromeans said the key differences between AlcoholEdu and Campus Clarity are that Campus Clarity combines education about sexual violence and alcohol use, it is more interactive, “the graphics are very today,” and it is more cost effective.
“We just know that having one single program that intertwines alcohol use, sexual assault, sexual harassment, violence prevention and other aspects was going to make it easier for students to understand, comprehend and ultimately implement,” Cromeans said.
Cromeans said there has also been a change in the focus of the program.
“We were looking at changing our focus in terms of how we are targeting alcohol use and that is by targeting sleep health and stress management and this notion of trying to fit in on a college campus, because we have heard from our students that those are the main reasons that students are using substances,” Cromeans said.
Malerie Lovejoy, a rising sophomore and orientation leader this summer, said the AlcoholEdu and Haven program “was semi-effective, but a bit long-winded and should deal with more specific issues that relate to our campus.”
Lovejoy said she felt the previous programs were not giving students the information they needed in terms of health education.
University Police Officer Dave Luna, addressing the presence of alcohol use and abuse on campus, said the University “has a culture problem, the culture of alcohol and what a college experience should be is a problem.”
The idea of changing programs to Campus Clarity originated nearly two years ago when the university’s contract with Everfi AlcoholEdu and Haven was approaching renewal and a faculty and staff group wanted increased education about sexual assault, sexual harassment and stalking.
“We originally came to the table to see if we could get one big company to do it all and we knew that Everfi did not have anything for faculty and staff,” Cromeans said.
The committee that ultimately made the decision to implement Campus Clarity was comprised of individuals from various departments on campus: Cromeans from health promotions; Leslie Banahan, vice chancellor for student success and wellness; Lindsey Mosvick from the violence prevention office; Thelma Curry from the University Police Department; and several others.
Banahan described her role as bringing together the health promotion department, the counseling center, the violence prevention office, the health center and campus recreation to look at all the different modules to determine which program was best.
Cromeans added, “It just made sense to have those individuals at the table because we are the ones that usually see the aftermath or are the individuals that are being proactive on these topics.
The committee combed through prospective options, while taking into account data collected from the RebelADE survey, the AlcoholEdu and Haven survey, other national research, and responses from the student focus group conducted last summer.
The committee narrowed its decision to Campus Clarity or staying with AlcoholEdu and Haven, but Campus Clarity ultimately won.
Cromeans and Banahan said Campus Clarity’s modules set the program apart from AlcoholEdu and Haven in terms of design and content.
“Personally, I thought that students might be a little more engaged with them (the Campus Clarity modules),” Banahan said. “We did have some students look at all of the modules and they seemed to, pretty significantly, prefer the Campus Clarity modules. What we’re trying to do throughout AlcoholEdu and Haven, and now through our Campus Clarity Program, is to provide every new student with the same information, and using online modules is an effective way to do that.”
She added, “It is hard to say that this is one thing that is going to elicit change on our campus, but I do know that it’s just a piece of the pie. So our role is to help students make good choices, to make educated choices and to also make sure that students understand that the perception that everyone at the University of Mississippi drinks is false.”
